Back 1. Luis Miguel Valle: his professional pathway.
Luis Miguel Valle is a consultant for the Spanish Agency INT.COM. He is also an online trainer for Femxa. He advises companies and professionals from different sectors on internationalization projects. He regularly collaborates with foreign trade organizations such as Chambers of Commerce. He designs training and training resources for students and professionals in the area of international trade. He works from theory and practice – one-on-one advice. I have been doing this for over 25 years.
2. What is the greatest success (name of your company/organization) has achieved so far in your field of competence?
The current main professional project of Luis Miguel Valle, as expert trainer and consultor, is his Youtube channel on international trade. It is called “El canal del Comercio International”. In his channel, he proposes short videos on key topics such as:
3. His opinion on the added value of project START in relation to the existing training material for the internationalization of SMEs:
In Spain, there is not a degree or common training for all universities within the Spanish educational system that includes studies related to international trade. Some universities have their own international trade titles, but we cannot rely on that. In the adult training field, their is an area of international trade with two professional certificates, with a series of elements that can form the basis of what should be international trade training. But it is very circumscribed in the field of professional certificates. Then you can find other programs: the PIPE program of the Chamber of Commerce where I wasworking, the ICEX NEXT, the ICEX, the SPANDE program, etc. Tthey all start more or less from the same thing, from the idea of business in the case of entrepreneurs, or business as such in the case of companies, to see the strategy of expansion, of internationalization, and then go to practical aspects such as promotion, the realization of offers and later the international negotiation and the development of the operational side, that is, the international logistics transport and the means of payment. To summarise,starting with the company when they plan to export and ending withan international trade operation.
I have participated in company advisory programs: in the end everyone does the same thing, then the company gets lost. And when it’s free, people don’t have much value. EDX Network that has many resources, the ITC also gives courses, the world bank also. You cannot do a project that will require a lot of money and will result in one more due to excess supply. It is necessary for you to do a study of what already exists. If START is sector focused (retail) and really interactive, it will be a good start.
4. In what way the collaboration between Luis Miguel and the START project can beneficiate in the present and in the future?
Luis Miguel Valle participated to START focus groups organised in June 2022, and provided the project with a full insight as an expert on his perception of what a international trade course should include. This focus group was very inspirational for the START team to build a tailored course. Also, we recommend Luis Miguel’s YouTube channel for all spanish speakers: “El canal del Comercio International”
