PROJECT ICONE/MANILA : AN EVALUATION

This special evaluation is based on interviews with conference participants. ICONE is phase two of an international effort to establish small/medium scale enterprises (SME) in LDC"s by identifying promising joint LDC/developed country business ventures. To its credit are 19 ventures (possibly including significant participation by two U.S. firms) with capitalization of $27-31 million and creating 750-1,150 jobs, and initiation of an informal global network to address common joint venture problems. Despite this success and ICONE"s strong conceptualization of its purpose, problems arose in organizing and executing the conference. Objectives were unclear; entrance fees were too high; there was neither prior information on participants" business interests nor a post-conference follow-up; the conference was too short to develop meaningful contacts; and participants included too many facilitator organizations and too few businesses. Thus, most participants were undecided or negative as to attending future conferences. It is recommended that: (1) the U.S. Government (USG) consult with the Government of the Philippines to develop a follow-up to ICONE/Manila; (2) the USG fund up to 10 feasibility studies over 3 years to identify specific opportunities in targeted sectors of LDC economies; (3) the USG fund a pre-conference phase to disseminate feasibility study results, orient participants, and facilitate specific joint venture negotiations during ICONE conferences; (4) businessmen be given co-venture materials at U.S. forums; (5) special U.S. training programs be developed to deal with the problems facing SME"s in LDC"s; (6) international donor agencies assume a leading role in SME joint ventures; and (7) co-venture partners be aware of the longer start-up time (2-3 years) and various definitions of "small business" in different parts of the world. Evaluator also notes that many of the problems of ICONE/Manila are apparently being rectified in preparations for ICONE/Panama City to be held in 1982.