OpenDoorUkraine.NL's Business Café highlights economic sectors with potential

September 03, 2019

ODU - ECONOMY · The Economic Table of OpenDoorUkraine.NL held its first public event with a Business Café on August 31. The meeting allowed to investigate the business potential of Ukraine with interested Dutch and Ukrainian partners.
The Business Café took place in the framework of the “Oekraïne Dagen” (Ukraine Days). Set in the lush surrounding of National Park De Hoge Veluwe in the eastern Netherlands, ODU’s Economic and Humanitarian Tables received many Dutch and Ukrainian persons and partner organisations to discuss needs and opportunities in Ukraine.

Dutch-Ukrainian business advisor Irina Papusha gave an overview of the various sectors in Ukraine that offer opportunities for foreign companies and entrepreneurs. “Ukraine was created to be a transport hub, but it desperately needs infrastructure investments”, she told the audience. 

Ukraine should be a natural partner for the Netherlands in agriculture, where it’s at the top of the world’s rankings in the production and export of sunflower oil (1st place), grain and nuts export (2nd place), and barley and rapeseed export (3rd place). “We could boost production if we would implement Dutch technology and efficiency!”

Other promising sectors for cooperation are the Ukrainian IT industry (Number 1 in Europe), energy, industry (notably textiles and furniture), and the art market.

Digital marketing expert Olena Zhytnyk of Digitum company explained how best to reach Ukrainian consumers. Since the large majority of them are well-educated, IT-skilled, and online, digital advertising campaigns can work well. To help target audiences, Zhytnyk identified five lifestyle segments of customers in Ukraine: Successful (30%), Qualified (9%), Upbeat (19%), Passive housekeepers (10%), and Unsatisfied (30%).

Representatives of the Lviv regional council had come to the Hoge Veluwe to present the opportunities that their region offers for business investments and eco-tourism. In the ensuing debate, questions and remarks were raised about a.o. the exchange of foreign currency in Ukraine, the sale of agricultural land (which the new government in Kyiv wants to push through), the reform of the judicial system, and the sometimes lengthy custom controls at the border with Ukraine.

Read ODU’s article on the Humanitarian Table debate during the Oekraïne Dagen

 

here. 

Watch video

 

Visit Lviv Region (Ukraïner)

For an impression of the Oekraïne Dagen, watch here.

Update: 1 November 2019
 
(by Diederik Kramers)

Photo: Delegates of the Lviv Regional Council during the Business Café.

See also: 

Zelensky’s to-do list sets stringent agenda for reform legislation
(ODU-Economy, September 6, 2019)

Ukraine’s parliament paves the way for privatisation of state companies
(ODU-Economy, October 3, 2019)