REC Creates Online Platform for Exporters to Find Professional Contractor

The ‘Export Professionals’ online platform - a sort of directory for professional services - started working within the digital platform ‘My Export’ (the ‘Single Window’ information system), the Russian Export Centre JSC (part of VEB.RF Group) says.

"The service will make it possible for exporters who already sell their goods abroad or are planning to start doing so to find qualified specialists. Companies can choose a contractor in their profiles on the ‘My Export’ platform, who will provide them with logistical or legal services and help them enter an international market place or find a foreign buyer," the report reads.

The Russian Export Centre emphasises that five extra service lines will be available on the platform next year, making a total of more than 15 services for exporters. At present, the service presents 130 service providers.

"We have created a marketplace of services, which will help exporters and foreign trade contractors to find each other. It’s a unique platform which provides all necessary services, model contracts, competitive offers according to set parameters, as well as quality control, automated provision of services etc. This is a big step towards the creation of an organised export consulting market, which Russian exporters lack," Veronika Nikishina, chief executive of the REC said.

"We created the service in accordance with the questions commonly asked by exporters, such as: where would we find the right person? Would it be difficult? Will the contractor be reliable? It was by considering all these questions that we were able to build our concept," Nikishina added.

The REC says "the services are updated by the exporters’ digital profiles on the ‘My Export’ platform. The system automatically uploads data from the tax and customs services and other agencies. It takes only five minutes to make an application and even if the exporter is looking for technical assistance for the first time, the system already has a bank of frequently asked questions for each activity.”

Moreover, exporters will be able to select contractors according to needs. For example, the exporter can select a company because it is the fastest at doing what it does, or because it does no need advance payment. Contractors' reliability is ensured by the profile, which contains all data provided by the contractor and that generated by the REC during accreditation.