The ITC team in Ukraine held the 2nd Steering Committee Meeting

In the hall of Kherson Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the 2nd Steering Committee Meeting of the International Trade Center (ITC) project in Ukraine “Linking Ukrainian SMEs in the Fruits and Vegetables Sector to Global and Domestic Markets and Value Chains” was held last week.

The ITC project in Ukraine was presented by the Regional Trade Promotion Adviser of ITC Armen Zargaryan, the National project manager Olena Kolomoytseva, the Assistant to the national manager Anna Syrchyna, consultants Oleksii Yerokhin, Vladyslav Faleev and Ivan Antypenko.

The meeting was also attended by a representative of the donor – the First Secretary/Reform Support Officer of Embassy of Sweden in Kiev Daniel Gronvius. The event was visited by the Head of the Business Opportunities of the Export Promotion Office Mariya Shevchuk, the President of the Kherson Chamber of Commerce Viktoriya Ostroumova, Deputy Director of the Department of Agricultural Development of Kherson Regional State Administration Andriy Nedelko.

Among the project participants from the side of producers and processors of fruit and vegetable products were representatives of the companies Rozdolne, Nash product, Enogray, Vladam, EuroService Group, Fruit and Vegetable Complex “Kherson”.

The meeting was devoted to discussing the results of activities in the previous period and plans for 2018 and 2019.

During the last year, the ITC team in Ukraine organized and held a large number of activities aimed to increase the competitiveness of Ukrainian small and medium enterprises. Among them: the training about participating in foreign trade shows (FruitLogistica, Gulfood, PolAgra), the training “ITC Market Analysis Tools”, the training “Cost Estimating and Pricing in Export Operations”, Global GAP Standard training, the training “Branding and Creating Value for the Client”, individual consultations for project partners and others.

ITC consultants in Ukraine also helped southern companies in Ukraine to prepare and participate in international trade fairs: FruitLogistica, Gulfood, PolAgra, ProdExpo (study visit).

National Project Manager Olena Kolomoytseva noted some aspects of the project’s mid-term evaluation. This is the difficulty in attracting more SMEs, low interest in participating in trainings/seminars, the need for technical advice tailored to the specifics of the company and others. Olena Kolomoytseva also noted that business support organizations need to identify the range of services that the private business needs (which they are willing to pay for). More attention should be paid to the development of additional services and increased competence of local business support organizations in organizing international events and involving participants.

Speaking about plans for 2018, Olena Kolomoytseva noted that the ITC consultants are preparing entrepreneurs to take part in the trade fairs SIAL, China International Import Expo, AGROPORT South Kherson. In addition, the project team is preparing new trainings for producers and processors of the fruit and vegetable industry. They will focus on optimizing customer service, writing business plans, defining and managing productivity, features of exports to France (in preparation for the SIAL trade fair), as well as the importance of creating business strategies and other. Consultants will also continue to support pilot companies in implementing quality systems based on Global GAP and HACCP standards.

During the steering committee meeting, entrepreneurs expressed their views on cooperation with the ITC project, wishes for participation in international trade fairs, participation in educational programs. Also, the participants discussed opportunities for participation in projects of international technical support, product standardization, export directions and further cooperation. The project participants agreed that in order to enter new markets and increase competitiveness, it is necessary to use all the opportunities provided by the ITC project and to encourage entrepreneurship support organizations to create quality business services.

The project “Linking Ukrainian SMEs in the Fruits and Vegetables Sector to Global and Domestic Markets and Value Chains” aims to help Ukrainian enterprises from Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa regions to integrate into domestic and global value chains and access new markets, with a focus on the EU. The Project is funded by the Government of Sweden and the International Trade Centre.