On May 3, the International Trade Centre in cooperation with the Ukrainian Berries Association organised its first seminar in Kyiv on the possibilities of exporting berry products to EU markets. The seminar was held within the framework of the three-year ‘Ready to Trade’ project, a regional programme funded by the EU across the Eastern Partnership under the EU4Business Initiative.
The project started in Ukraine last September, and identified the berry sector as a priority area for support in Ukraine, with the Ukrainian Berries Association becoming the key beneficiary. In Ukraine, the aim of the project is to increase the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises, in particular in the berry sector, and to support their access to European markets.
Ukraine's berry production is developing extremely dynamically as a sector of agriculture, with more and more players coming from the SME sector, and there are excellent prospects for Ukrainian berries on European markets.
The main goal of the seminar was to provide Ukrainian exporters in this sector with full information on the project activities and the upcoming survey of enterprises in order to identify key Ukrainian exporters who will receive targeted support in the form of training, individual professional advice from Ukrainian and international experts, participation in international exhibitions, trade missions, study tours, etc.
In addition, the project will support the entire Ukrainian berry sector. This will include development of a roadmap for the industry, creation of training manuals and a directory of berry producers, establishment of a web portal, training events and B2B meetings, etc.
The seminar was attended by interested enterprises engaged in the production and processing of berries (including organic), as well as representatives of the Ministry of Agricultural Policy and Food of Ukraine, who spoke about available state support programmes for horticulture and berry production. Participants were also presented with an overview of the main trends of Ukrainian and global berry markets with a focus on EU markets, the requirements they put forward, and the most relevant international events and exhibitions in the sector.
Currently, Ukrainian exporters (20-25 companies) are selected to participate in the project. Applicants can fill out a questionnaire until May 21, 2018 inclusive:
- electronically, following the link http://es4b.org/survey/view.php?id=29824
- in a document form https://drive.google.com/file/d/15busArj_Tsu_JC-1iyYxN7fpb1cUqp0G/view
If you have any questions, please Natalia Bondaruk for information +380970550607, info@uaberries.com.ua
