LATUA 2

Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry together with the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry will help Ukrainian SMEs, NGOs, public sector to integrate into the European Union through knowledge provision and networking support over 18 months.

The feasibility study has identified challenges for businesses, NGOs, and public authorities – lack of knowledge on the EU Green Deal, integration of SMEs into the EU Single Market (exports, standards, digital tools) and several challenges in the democratic and legal environment such as cyber security, and anti-corruption. In addition, there are challenges such as the shortage of male labour, which could be addressed by supporting women to take on more leadership roles. The Ukrainian economy is also actively seeking new cooperation markets for both imports and exports, as the aggressor in Ukraine makes it challenging to use existing logistics networks and continue to cooperate with some of its previous foreign partners.

Based on the survey, organisations from the food, furniture, textiles and waste management sectors were the most interested in working with Latvia as a gateway to Europe. The stakeholders here are SMEs, business support organisations (BAOs or chambers, industry associations, enterprise clubs, etc.), and public authorities related to the sector concerned.

In order to provide support for problem-solving, the project will organise:

• 2 study visits to Latvia,
• 7 webinars and recordings will be available after the end of the project.
• 2 guidelines in English and Ukrainian have been developed for SMEs, NGOs and public authorities. Topics will range from supporting women in business, to designing and managing EU fund projects, digital export marketing, and EU product standards.

In total, the project plans to involve at least 120 representatives from SMEs and 90 representatives from NGOs and public authorities. As a result of successful activities, the project team expects to have at least 2 cooperation agreements between Latvian and Ukrainian companies and 1 Memorandum of Cooperation at the end of the project.