On 16 April, the International Trade Centre in partnership with the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine conducted a Round Table discussion on the Road Map of Ukrainian berries sector development, as part of the EU4Business Ready to Trade project.
The event was attended by the representatives of government and state institutions, as main stakeholders, and by the business support organisations – the main project beneficiaries – the Ukrainian Berries Association, ‘Ukrsadprom’ Association, and the Public Union ‘Organic Ukraine’.
The Road Map is a strategic document on export-oriented middle- and long-term development of the Ukrainian berries sector, developed by ITC experts and the Ukrainian Berries Association.
All parties were engaged and provided their inputs and comments regarding the main Road Map objectives:
- Strengthen the supply of Ukrainian berries (berry certification in Ukraine with the EU standards; quality of crops and post-harvesting practices; registering of berry pesticides, seeds and plant varieties for use in Ukraine);
- Strengthen Ukrainian institutions (establish an innovation/technology research Centre, development of educational programmes, promote the export of Ukrainian berries);
- Government strategic approach to support sector development (provide state financial support; establish a national branding of the berry sector; improve market intelligence; support technological modernisation; infrastructure improvement).
Actively discussed questions included strengthening the role of national equipment and machinery producers, adaptation of educational programmes to sector development requirements, issues with registration of seasonal workers and others. The Ministry proposed to include business support associations into the inter-authority workgroup on legislation enhancement of the crop protection chemicalslife cycle.
As a result of the meeting, it was agreed to work in close cooperation of the ITC and the Minagro to coordinate detailed the Road Map development.
This initiative will contribute to the strengthening of export capacity of Ukrainian SMEs – berries producers and processors. The event was carried out under the framework of the EU4Business project ‘Eastern Partnership: Ready to Trade’, funded by the European Union.
The Ready to Trade project works with micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to help them target and access foreign markets, with a special focus on the European Union.