KINGSTON, Jamaica - Regional entrepreneurs and companies have been urged to form consortiums and strategic alliances to improve their chances of benefiting from ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 business opportunities. Speaking in the wake of the current round of advertising for the Licensing & Merchandising Programme (L & M) and the Central Procurement Programme (CPP), ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 Venue Development Director and Chief Operating Officer Donald Lockerbie noted that, given the scope and world-class magnitude of cricket’s signature tournament, Caribbean businesses must be prepared to consider uniting with peers in their respective industries to strengthen their prospects of being successful in tendering for certain jobs or to supply equipment. Regarding the CPP – which will acquire the myriad “temporary elements” such as video replay boards, tents, public address systems and magnetometers for stadium overlay in the nine Host Venues – he pointed out that Caribbean firms are likely to have many of these items though maybe not in the quantities required. Therefore, if two or three companies in the same industry combined, they would stand a better chance of launching a successful bid to provide the particular item. “Caribbean nationals should consider looking for partnerships within the region and to create consortiums. In Trinidad and Jamaica and a few other regional countries, we are aware that there’s a very lively entertainment and event industry – certainly with stage equipment, sound systems and tents and perhaps even temporary grandstands. It might make sense for those companies to create consortiums. “That would be a great option as we are hoping and expecting that Caribbean firms will be able to step up, in some of the industries we have listed, and provide the world-class-standard inventory that we need for Cricket World Cup 2007,” continued Lockerbie. In the CPP, he added, even after companies are pre-qualified as Primary or Secondary Suppliers for various items and services – and therefore eligible to tender when their particular item or service is advertised next year – those pre-qualified businesses will be allowed to unite and strike deals if they desire. “At that point, when we start tendering, we will advertise the lists of all the Primary and Secondary Suppliers. Two or three pre-qualified companies could then create consortiums, based on the knowledge that as a united entity they have the right amount of equipment that we need,” explained Lockerbie. Disclosing there will be more opportunities for Caribbean businesses to get involved in the 2007 Event in the future, he urged such persons to be ready with their consortiums to seize advantage of these programmes. “We will need office equipment at all the stadiums. We will need hospitality facilities, furniture and publication services. Then there are uniforms to be sourced for volunteers and staff. There’s so much else, business-wise, that will be out there,” declared the Venue Development Director. ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 Commercial Manager Stephen Price echoed his colleague’s sentiments, citing the ongoing L & M Programme as the perfect reason for regional companies to enter partnerships. “CWC 2007 is currently seeking Expressions of Interest for print and music publishing as well as for a venue concessionaire for the nine Host Venues. Given the volume of business involved, one Caribbean company may not be able to handle it alone, but a few of them together – or even partnering with an international company – would stand a much stronger chance of running a successful operation,” he noted. “In this era of globalisation and, as these companies look to service a major international sporting event and further compete on the expanding global marketplace, they must realise that building strong consortiums is the way to go. In fact, what we are saying to them is that this is a great avenue to show the CSME (CARICOM Single Market and Economy) in action, with Caribbean companies partnering with each other as strong competitive consortiums capable of competing and holding their own against large multi-nationals who usually participate in tenders of this nature. “Overseas companies have already been joining together to try and secure various CWC 2007 contracts and we would certainly like to see similar initiative among regional businesses.” More information on all ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 business opportunities can be found on the Jobs & Tenders link on the home page of the Event website (www.cricketworldcup.com). Reprinted from caribseek.com