MEIA LEVEL OF BUSINESS RATING, FACILITIATE AND MATCHING SERVICES

Level I – Information Service on Trade and Business Opportunities

Information services on trade and business opportunities are easiest to manage. We provide an initial contact point for potential businessmen. This is not of very high value, as the information tends to be general, comprising of basic corporate information such as the name of a company, contact person, address, telephone number and fax. These services are usually provided with minimum charge for members of the MEIA.

• Trade enquiry service – enquirer’s walk-in, telephone, fax or e-mail their request to the MEIA and the MEIA provides a list of potential contacts to the enquirer. In some cases, the MEIA may also arrange quick appointments for the special visitor.

• Trade Information Service (TIS) – MEIA plans to publish a newsletter or magazine containing a list of business enquiries for its members. The newsletter contains the name of the enquirer, address, telephone, fax, e-mail, contact persons and the product of interest (See Appendix VI). In some cases, a short write-up and photographs of the product is included (see Appendix VII). The TIS may be published either fortnightly or monthly.

Level II – Contact-Based Services

Level II services require organizational, research and analytical abilities. The value of these services is greater than at Level I since the information is more specific and customized to the needs of the user. The services include the following:

• Market Contact Services – assist the client to identify key market contacts specific to the client’s needs and to verify the contact details. A brief description of each contact is provided. This service requires 15 to 25 hours of research time as the MEIA staff has to do some initial desk research and to visit the market contacts.

• Outbound Business Missions – The MEIA organizes a mission to a specific country or group of countries, with the aim of exposing members to actual market conditions. During the mission, the members participate in one-to-one business meetings that are pre-arranged.

• Inbound Business Missions – similar to outbound missions except that the mission members come from another country. Again, one-to-one meetings are arranged to facilitate initial contact or to negotiate deals.

• Participation in Trade Fairs and Exhibitions – the MEIA organizes a group of members to participate in a trade fair or an exhibition to help members to establish contacts with potential buyers and sellers. During the fair, the members may participate in one-to-one business meetings with potential buyers and sellers.

• Partner Identification Service – provides the client with details of potential partners and market representatives; and with an assessment of their interests in the client’s business and recommendations for action. This service builds on the market contact service and adds further value by providing an action plan. The service requires research and fieldwork. This provides a customized search overseas (depends on network affiliation) for interested and qualified foreign representatives on behalf of an importer. The client is usually given a report identifying up to six foreign prospects.

• Escort Service – is a total package service that provides the client with details of potential partners and arranges for business meetings. In some cases, the MIEA or trade promotion organization also provide translation and interpretation services during the meetings, and secretarial support. The service provides customized information for CHINA firms visiting a country, market orientation briefings, one-to-one business meetings, an interpreter for the meetings, assistance in developing a market strategy and a follow-up plan. A trade officer designs an agenda of the meetings, screens and selects the right companies and arranges meetings with key persons of the selected companies.

• Buyer-Seller Meetings – This is an efficient and low-cost method to foster business matching between buyers and sellers. A variation of this type of arrangement is the Entrepreneurs’ Meeting.2 A Buyer-Seller Meeting is basically a special session organized by the MEIA for buyers to meet for “face-to-face” discussions with potential sellers. Like all business matching services, the MEIA must ensure that the buyers and sellers are properly selected and qualified, based on each other’s business needs.

• Promotion of linkages between medium and big companies – under this service, the MEIA organizes regular business meetings between the large and smaller member companies. During the meeting, one or two large companies present their procurement needs, inviting the suitable companies to supply the required items. MEIA may also invite the government agency or GLC to present their procurement needs to the members.

Another method of promoting linkages between the medium and big companies is to create a Subcontract Exchange. Subcontractors are invited to register with this exchange and they are matched with potential clients. Subcontract exchanges may be operated by government agencies or business hall and associations.

Level III – Research Based Services

Level III services involves market research and consultancy. The services allow the client to develop a thorough understanding of the market conditions prior to entering any business relationship. This will help to minimize the risk of failure. Most clients are prepared to pay for such information, as the cost of failure is much higher. Given the limited expertise in the MEIA, Level III services are usually outsourced to professionalize. The following are the Level III services:

Market Selection

Under this service, the MEIA will provide the client with information on market demand and possible market entry barriers affecting the product.

Market Research 

The research helps the client to understand the operations of the target market, the expected competition, prices of similar products, promotion and distribution.

Level IV – Joint Ventures and Business Collaboration

This form of business matching is usually not within the scope or capability of the MEIA as it involves months of detailed negotiations and a large amount of legal, finance, operation and planning work. Such matching is best left to the professionalize firms specializing in mergers and acquisitions. These companies charge a fee for performing such a service. However, the MEIA is still lead the project. The fees are typically determine by commission based on total project cost.