2021 – key challenges for Ukrainian exporters. Under this slogan a meeting of the Export and Investment Support Committee at the Kiev Chamber of Commerce and Industry was held on December 23.
According to preliminary surveys among the members of the Kiev Chamber of Commerce and Industry, it was revealed that one of the main “painful” points of business is the export of goods and services. To help and assist business exporters in this matter, it was announced the restart of the Export and Investment Support Committee, which should become a real instrument of Ukrainian business.
The committee already numbers 33 companies and includes government officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture, the State Customs Service and the Export Promotion Office.
The newly elected chairman of the committee Viktor Shevchenko, co-owner and CEO of the ZAMMLER group of logistics companies, spoke about the tasks and vision of the Committee’s work in 2021: “We will collect business opinions on priority and urgent issues in the form of a questionnaire, and in January we will postpone it to a specific action plan with specific goals and objectives. By the end of the year we should come up with results in terms of performance. No vague formulations, only real deeds – I’m using to do it in business, so I’ll try it during my chairmanship of the Committee. “
Vice-President of the Kiev Chamber of Commerce and Industry Volodymyr Kolyadenko insisted on using all available tools of the Kiev Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce, including:
- representatives of chambers of commerce and industry in different countries of the world, authorized to represent our interests;
- embassies and diplomatic missions abroad, the Council of Exporters and Investors;
- information and analytics;
- cooperation agreements with foreign partner chambers of commerce and industry and again the public union “International Kyiv club of partner chambers”;
- good advice, bilateral and multilateral commissions;
- participation in national stands at international exhibitions.
“The arsenal of our possibilities is wide. The most important thing is to use it correctly, ” – stressed Vladimir Kolyadenko. The plans are to digitalize processes and create modern electronic tools and platforms to support and represent business interests abroad. According to him, an important place is occupied by familiarization with the programs of international financial organizations and with the programs of international technical assistance to small and medium-sized businesses in Ukraine in the field of export and internationalization. The Kiev Chamber of Commerce and Industry has prepared information on all donor programs that are currently working in Ukraine. In January, a questionnaire will be developed, it will become an indicator of requests and problems. This will form the basis for work in 2021.
Dmytro Ponomarenko, Director of the Department of Economic Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reset the Council of Exporters and Investors, and now goes into practical open work directly with companies, associations, chambers of commerce and industry. New algorithms for interaction between the Council and foreign diplomatic institutions, the practice of consultative online briefings with the participation of heads of foreign diplomatic institutions were introduced.
“Our task is to mitigate the negative consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic for the Ukrainian economy, which is under the influence of the economic recession; assisting Ukrainian exporters in finding counterparties abroad and overcoming existing trade barriers, ” – Dmytro Ponomarenko said. He also shared the ministry’s goals for the next year:
• assistance to Ukrainian exporters in entering new markets, including the search for new product niches for Ukrainian products (high-tech and agro-industrial), protection of the rights and legitimate interests of Ukrainian business abroad;
• attracting foreign direct investment into the economy;
• inclusion of Ukraine in international energy, transport, infrastructure projects, ensuring the strengthening of Ukraine’s energy security, in particular in matters of transit of energy carriers and diversification of sources of their supply, attraction of modern scientific developments and energy saving technologies;
• increasing the role of Ukraine in global food security by strengthening its position in the world food markets, increasing the export of agricultural products.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry joined the working group on export issues for 2021 together with the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine. Alexandra Shtonda, Head of the Department of Interaction and Communication with Exporters of the Ministry of Economy, noted that the working group is already working on an operational plan.
Igor Ramus, Deputy Head of the Department of Origin of Goods and Administration of Free Trade Agreements of the State Customs Service, took part in the meeting of the Export and Investment Support Committee. He shared with the Committee members on innovations next year, including ensuring the implementation of the diagonal cumulation of the Regional Convention on Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Preferential Rules of Origin, the introduction of the implementation of the free trade agreement with the State of Israel, and the development of electronic certification.
Andriy Lytvyn, Deputy Director of the Office for Export Promotion of Ukraine, noted that a survey was conducted among exporters on issues of state support for business. A numerous request – is help in finding partners and promoting the brand of Ukraine. These are the areas that need to be guided in plans for the future. As Mr. Lytvyn emphasized, we also hope for the development of the Export Credit Agency and insurance and crediting of export activities.
Representatives of companies that are members of the Export and Investment Support Committee expressed their position on the problems of export activities: tariff and non-tariff regulation, the need for state funding for the representation of Ukrainian exporters at international exhibitions, slow digitalization and translation of obtaining permits, certificates, etc. in electronic format, the lack of a single database of all structures that can help in export.
The committee has already begun its work and is preparing a questionnaire to study the requests of members of the Chamber of Exports, on the basis of which a strategy for work for 2021 will be developed in January.
Based on the materials of the KCCI
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