Best practice in GERMANY No. 1:

Procurement Advice Centre Rhineland-Palatinate

Service for KMU to access public tenders

Country and Region: Germany, federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate (NUTS I)

Actors: IHK/Hwk-Europa- und Innovationscentre GmbH - EIC Trier, Trier Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Trier Chamber of Skilled Crafts

Financing: Trier Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Trier Chamber of Skilled Crafts, European Union (Enterprise Europa network) and own revenues (services liable to pay costs)

Project period: permanent institution

Objectives:

Helping regional SME to access public tenders.

Short description of the project:

The Auftragsberatungcentre Rheinland-Pfalz (Procurement Advice Centre, Rhineland-Palatinate), in cooperation with the local chamber of Industry and Commerce and the local Camber of Skilled Crafts, is the central information and service centre for public procurement for this German federal state. It advises businesses and contracting bodies on all aspects of public procurement.

The Procurement Advice Centre forms just part of the many projects awarded of the IHK/Hwk-Europa- und Innovationscentre GmbH - EIC Trier which primarily serves to improve the chances of SMEs on the European domestic market. As the official procurement information centre in the area, the Procurement Advice Centre is the Rhineland-Palatinate representative on the Ständigen Konferenz der Auftragsberatungsstellen (German Standing Committee of Procurement Information Centres).

The Procurement Advice Centre serves as intermediary between the regional economy and public contracting bodies (national, regional and municipal projects.) Under the terms of its assignment, it is the first point of call with regards to the following areas:

• Advice and information about public procurement, relevant laws and regulations for contracts by tender. It offers advice in the field of public procurement both at a national and international level and provides information on procurement law in Germany.
• Supporting businesses bidding for contracts put to tender. For example, this includes researching and making information about public procurement available as well as supporting its own distribution and marketing activities.
• Researching public procurement contracts specific to individual businesses ET@P europa (Europewide) and ET@P regio (in the region Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, Luxembourg, Lorraine, France and Belgium). It also operates the procurements platform www.transbau.com
• Helping businesses from outside the area or abroad to make contact with local business partners with the help of our extensive database.
• Organising training programmes, seminars and conferences for businesses and contracting bodies.

Results:

Generally spoken, the abc is a great success and example for other initiatives in Germany and other European countries.

(Mrs. Lübeck will add general information and numbers later.)

Contact:

Mrs. Dagmar Lübeck M. A. (languages: German, English)

IHK/Hwk-Auftragsberatungscentre Rheinland-Pfalz
c/o EIC Trier - IHK/Hwk-Europa- und Innovationscentre GmbH
Bahnhofstr. 30-32
54292 Trier

Tel.: 0651/97567-16
Fax: 0651/97567-33

E-Mail: luebeck@abc-rlp.de

http://www.abc-rlp.de