Relevance and importance

The market for the portal was made up of the following basic target groups:

1. Companies and organisations that required services in the field of foreign trade.
2. Organisations and companies which offered services in the field of foreign trade.
3. National and international public-sector bodies that organised public tenders at international, national or local level - such tenders are open, as a minimum requirement, to the participation of any company established within the EU (and on occasion, beyond).

Overview

The main features offered by the XportPlus portal were:

	Advice on tax, customs duties, legal and administrative requirements
	Production of commercial, transport, customs and export documents
	Total price for an exported product including insurance, freight, import taxes, port fees
	TARIC code search facility
	List of suppliers who provide export services e.g. shipping agents, haulers, insurers
	A facility to select the most competitive suppliers’ quote
	Exporters can display their products in a web page and have access to statistics of importers
	An on-line order negotiation & invoicing system
	Current customers order status, new orders, new quotation requests, previous orders and price lists for each customer

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Recommendations and practical tips

The use of European research project to find help and support in international business and trade is mandatory for SMEs.

Warnings and potential pitfalls

SMEs have to deal seriously and put a lot of effort into research projects, as they represent a strong tool to face the power of large enterprises in the field of R&D. SMEs have to force themselves to invest time and money in such activities, even if sometimes they are not able to see immediately the possible advantages they could have in the future.

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