As the first Reunion collaborative export group enters its operational phase, a second grouping project around local skills in tropical construction is taking shape. At the same time, the Reunion Export Club looks to 2024, beyond the Indian Ocean, to Africa and India. Its president, Laurent Lemaître, comments on the rise in power of the organization, increasingly in demand.
Meeting Leader : Three years ago, the Export Club and the Chamber of Trades and Crafts launched the project of a collaborative export group bringing together agri-food artisans. This group is now constituted under the umbrella brand Émotion intense, a taste of Reunion Island. What are the next steps ?
Laurent Lemaître : The assembly of the group is now complete. Ten companies make it up*. About fifteen had applied. The group, the brand and marketing around this group, the catalog, the site is created. Distributors have been identified. The group chose to export to Switzerland and Belgium. We will now launch the marketing of the products. Although it includes two SMEs, Chatel and Royal Bourbon Industries, this first group was intended for food SMEs. The difficulty was to mix companies with different strategies, constraints collective project management. It's a
different financial needs, which could compete with each other locally, to manage ten business leaders, ten different egos. It was necessary to find complementarity between products to constitute a coherent and satisfactory offer for all.. The group's priority will be to maintain this cohesion until the project is completed..
What lessons have you learned from this first experience? ?
The first, there is a demand in Reunion, a need, a desire to export on the part of small, even very small businesses, who don't know how to do it. At best, they group together and create common websites, but all this lacks structure, of strategy, logistics, marketing. The collaborative export group is a form of structuring and professionalization, one of the answers to this need. The second teaching of experience, This is because the Export Club itself had to restructure itself to meet this demand.. We have developed our level of expertise accordingly, by integrating new skills. And it's not over : we are planning new hires to strengthen our skills in collective project management. It is a necessity for us to transform the Export Club : we must be able to personalize our support. The first group taught us that it was essential, to succeed, to understand each of the companies, with their specificities, their strategies, their constraints, their own desires. Finally, we realized, with this first grouping, that export is increasingly seen as a possibility of diversification by companies who are concerned about the economic future of Reunion Island. All these reasons mean that more and more companies are requesting information on all aspects of exporting. : regulation, prospecting, marketing, commercialisation, logistics… Our role is to respond to all these requests.
Can this collaborative approach to export meet other export needs in Reunion? ?
The agri-food sector is in fact not the only one interested in this approach. The building and tropical habitat sector, For example, is positioning itself in its favor. We wish, at the Export Club, launch a second collaborative export group this year in this other area of recognized expertise in Reunion Island. Il s’agira cette fois de vendre des services et non plus des produits physiques. L’approche sera donc différente. Cet autre groupement va unir des PME aux savoir-faire complémentaires dans le but de répondre ensemble à une demande globale. Un projet de smart city, For example. Un tel projet repose sur une réflexion urbanistique touchant l’énergie, mobility, logistic, l'habitat, etc. Un développeur de smart city aura besoin de faire appel à plusieurs expertises, à des ingénieurs, des urbanistes, des architectes ayant une vision de la ville. Nous avons cette spécialité à La Réunion. Nos savoir-faire, adaptés au contexte tropical, sont très développés dans ce domaine. Local design offices are already operating in the area and as far away as Africa.
The Export Club is strongly involved in developing trade with Madagascar. What about today ?
Madagascar is regaining interest among many business leaders from Reunion Island. We are seeing strong demand from Reunion companies, but also parapublic entities, to be present there. For Madagascar, the Export Club has changed its strategy. We no longer just want to show what we do and wait for people to come see us. We meet major Malagasy private players to present our skills to them and offer them our services.. This also corresponds to an expectation on their part, because these big companies, these Malagasy conglomerates, who are very dynamic, need to develop the expertise that they lack in Madagascar and that we have in Reunion. We must be aware that the Big Island is seeing the creation and development of European-level factories., whose objective is to export to Europe. The question is therefore : do we want to work with these players or compete with them in European markets ? I think it is better to cooperate with them for common development.
Which refers to this notion of regional economic cooperation and exchanges between the islands. Are things progressing? ?
We just talked about Madagascar. With Maurice, the will to cooperate exists at the political level, but economic relations remain complicated for reasons of protectionism. Reunion has very little economic cooperation with Mauritius. I think the best route economically, with Maurice, would consist of developing joint projects in Africa. We have complementarities and the ability to join forces to reach African markets.. What you need to understand, it's that, if the Export Club obviously takes into account the geopolitical context, it is above all an association of companies. Its purpose is to respond to requests from companies wishing to export. We welcome the political progress in regional cooperation, but we are not waiting for him to act.
Do you think that a regional shipping company would help develop these trades? ?
Yes, but it all depends on the model it would have. Is it a question of creating a shipping company which would ensure the connection between the islands? ? It would help the development of inter-island trade to transport products, for example between Reunion and Madagascar and vice versa. But what will its business model be?, while there is very little trade between our islands. The development plan of Reunion Island remains overwhelmingly oriented towards the metropolis. Seychelles has a very strong link with AAbu Dhabi, and Mauritius with India. All these islands, so close to each other, ultimately cooperate very little. I take the example of waste : European regulations prohibit Reunion operators from selling waste for export. This is why we cannot develop an inter-island waste treatment and recycling sector.. Everyone has to cope. Another regional shipping company model is possible : it would connect France to Reunion, which would strengthen services to Reunion and help reduce the cost of maritime transport. Economically, this solution would be more reassuring, but it would not promote relations between the islands. Or else, it would take a mix of both : a company providing both the link with France and cabotage between the islands. What is sure, there is a need.
The Réunion Region is working on a territorial brand. Does the island need a global image to promote externally? ?
Clearly, oui. It is even essential. As an entrepreneur, when I'm traveling abroad, three times out of four I am asked : “Reunion, what is this, where it is ? » Every time I have the impression of having to justify the qualities and skills of a lost island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, that few people know, while we belong to the European Union and our know-how meets the best European standards ! This is not normal. We must therefore develop an image of Reunion Island that is perceptible internationally.. It will be useful to business leaders, but also tourism, to the attractiveness of the island in general.
* Arranged Blard, Bourbon Organic Banana Grove, West Brewery, Calicoco, Chatel, Émilie’s confectionery, The Part of the Angels, Nature here and elsewhere, For Provan, Royal Bourbon Industries.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE EXPORT CLUB IN 2024
AVRIL
French week in Kinshasa. Organized by the Franco-Congolese CCI, this new edition of the SFK, the eighth, will be devoted to the growth levers of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Export Club is traveling to Kinshasa for the first time, the capital.
MAY
Madagascar. The Export Club is back in Antananarivo for a business mission from May 21 to 25, on the occasion of the Madagascar International Fair 2024 (May 23-26). Opportunities to be seized in the renewable energy sectors, waste management, construction, you transport, information technology.
JUNE
Export Night. The Export Club celebrates its twenty-five years of existence on June 13. This evening will be placed under the high patronage of the Ministry of Foreign Trade. A great recognition, for the Export Club, of his patient work to encourage Reunion companies to export and open avenues for them.
AUGUST
Comoros. An exploratory trip (to be confirmed), as a precursor to a possible business mission linked to Comorian development projects.
SEPTEMBER
Country focus on Ivory Coast and Benin. Reunion is not an entirely unknown land in Ivory Coast and Benin. A delegation of entrepreneurs from these two countries has already visited Reunion.
OCTOBER
Rwanda. An outreach mission responding to a request for information on Reunion Island and its know-how. A first contact with this country for the Export Club.
DECEMBER
Country focus on India. A focus which will have been preceded by a mission to discover India. Quoi, or, comment, When : everything remains to be done on the economic level between India and tiny Réunion. An approach strategy to be defined.
