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Embassy Event Teaches Éducation Internationale Tips for World Bank SuccessIn early 2001, Éducation Internationale (EI) submitted a letter of interest for a World Bank (WB)-funded project in Lebanon but wasn't short-listed. Several months later, the Quebec organization submitted letters of interest for four similar projects, and this time was short-listed for two. The difference? Between submissions, EI attended an education seminar organized by the Canadian Embassy in Beirut and learned an important fact: for WB-funded projects in Lebanon a Lebanese partner is required. Finding two partners through contacts made at the Embassy event, EI won a US$500,000 project for automatization of exams for the Lebanese Ministry of Education in April 2002. Created in 2001 and headquartered in Quebec City, Éducation Internationale is a cooperative of approximately 50 Quebec school boards and other organizations in the education community, pooling resources to offer their expertise internationally in the areas of general, vocational, and adult education. Also offering student and teacher exchanges, EI focuses about 85 percent of its work on international development. The cooperative is currently active in Beijing, China. A project in Gabon, funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB), is also in the pipeline, while individual EI members have carried out projects in conjunction with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The project in Lebanon is EI's first World Bank-funded project. The participation of EI in the Embassy's education seminar in April 2001 followed its participation in a trade mission to Lebanon sponsored by the Quebec Ministry of Commerce. Also taking part in the education seminar were representatives of Lebanon's Ministry of Education and the World Bank representatives responsible for the country's education projects. "One day we met to discuss vocational projects, the next day projects for technical education," explains EI's Secretary General Colette Giroux. "It was after attending this education seminar at the Embassy that we understood we had to have a Lebanese partner." EI found that partner –Development Services – through contacts made during the education seminar. The Beirut-based education company has several mandates in international development and plenty of previous experience in Lebanon. As Giroux explains, Development Services president Jean Akl had been Lebanon's director of Technical and Vocational Education before the war. "Lebanon is a very well educated country; it's just that after so many years of war they need a little assistance to get back on track." With its ability to draw on the expertise of its members, EI was well poised to lend that assistance. Technical expertise for the contract is being provided by EI member company Société de gestion du réseau informatique des commissions scolaires (GRICS), a Montreal-based information technology (IT) firm providing solutions to the education sector in Quebec, Canada, and around the world. GRICS has become a supplier of choice for educational consultants, as well as for IT products and services. For the contract, the EI partnership is establishing an automated database of examination questions for the Electronics Specialization for the Directorate General of Vocational and Technical Education of the Lebanese Ministry of Education and Higher Education. A third partner, Swedish firm Hifab Swedec, a company with which Development Services had worked with before, is also involved. (The decision on the second project for which EI was short-listed is pending.) The contract involves defining course content for an electronics program, creating the bank of exam questions, and developing the software to manage the bank of questions. The project, due for completion in June 2003, is a pilot project. "If it goes well, they'll extend it to other courses," explains Michel Fréchette, Société GRIC's Director of Pedagogical Services. Fréchette has also been able to use technology, in the form of e-mail, to keep the project going when unrest in the Middle East prevents him from going to work in Lebanon. EI's relationship with the Embassy in Beirut did not end with the education seminar. "Each time I go to Beirut, I visit the Embassy to meet with the commercial officer responsible for education, Lajos Arendas," says EI's Giroux. "We informed him of our continued interest in being active in Lebanon and of our areas of interest. I also wanted him to know my Lebanese partner, and arranged for them to meet. I know we need the Embassy; they can recommend us to local contacts, or let us know about small projects that we might not hear about otherwise." For the pending AfDB-funded project in Gabon – providing technical and vocational education strengthening for the Ministry of National Education – the Embassy in Gabon has, says Giroux, "helped a great deal. The Ambassador, Louis Poisson, himself went to the Ministry of Education to deliver our proposal on time. It showed the Gabon government that EI has the support of the Canadian government. The Ambassador followed the proposal and decisional process; he was our legs on the ground. I always tell other companies: go to the Embassy and you will see how they can help you." EI also makes sure it keeps in contact with Stéphane Charbonneau, Director of the Office for Liaison with International Financial Institutions (OLIFIs) at the Canadian Embassy in Washington. "I let him know about our involvement in Lebanon and our interest in other projects, and he's been very helpful in keeping us informed about upcoming projects." In addition to tapping into the assistance of the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, the most important thing for winning World Bank-funded projects, says Giroux, is finding the right partner. "There are many people who want to work with you; you have to be very careful." Her advice is to find a partner that has proven experience in the market and area you are working in, as well as experience in partnering with other companies. For more information, contact:
Export Financing Division, DFAIT
Ms. Colette Giroux, Secretary General Publication date: 2003/04/29 |
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