regional economic growth second quarterly progress …

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REGIONAL ECONOMIC GROWTH

Second Quarterly Progress Report April-June 2017

July 2017

This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by SEGURA Consulting LLC under the Contract Number AID-OAA-C-13-00139, Regional Economic Growth. DISCLAIMER The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS NOTE ABOUT REG FUNDING: ...................................................................................................... 3

COMPONENT 1: INCREASED PRIVATE SECTOR COMPETITIVENESS AND ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT -

BALKANS .................................................................................................................................... 3

Task 1: Strengthening of Regional Value Chains .................................................................... 3

IT ........................................................................................................................................................... 3

TOURISM ................................................................................................................................................. 6

AGRIBUSINESS / FOOD PROCESSING ........................................................................................................ 8

ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING AND SUPPORT SERVICES ..........................................................14

COMPONENT 2: INCREASED FINANCIAL SECTOR STABILITY, GROWTH & INCLUSION – BALKANS ....15

Task 1: Access to Finance ....................................................................................................15

COMPONENT 1: INCREASED PRIVATE SECTOR COMPETITIVENESS AND ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT –

EURASIA ....................................................................................................................................15

Task 1: Trade Facilitation and Improving the Business Environment .....................................15

Improving Regional Trade: ................................................................................................................. 15

Task 2: Strengthening Regional Value Chains .......................................................................19

COMPONENT 2: INCREASED FINANCIAL SECTOR STABILITY, GROWTH, AND INCLUSION - UKRAINE .19

Task 1: International Standards on Financial Sector Stability ................................................19

International Partnership for Financial Sector Stability Activity ........................................................... 19

Objective 1: Strategic communication to rebuild trust in financial system .......................................... 20

REPORTING AND COMMUNICATION ..............................................................................................20

REG INDICATORS .......................................................................................................................22

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Note About REG Funding:

In addition to the REG Core funding, which is allocated by USAID/Washington, REG also receives funding through buy-ins. Currently, REG is carrying out both bilateral buy-ins (directly with a single mission) as well as multilateral ones. REG Core resources are used to carry out regional activities for all 12 countries of the E&E region. The Balkans Regional Economic Development Initiative or B-REDI buy-in covers activities in Albania, Macedonia and Serbia. There were two bilateral buy-ins during Q2: AzREG, which focuses on Agriculture and Trade Facilitation in Azerbaijan and the Ukraine buy-in (IP-FSS or International Partnership for Financial Sector Sustainability). The activities funded from the different sources are not substantially different, but where there is additional money from a buy-in, the services will be more intensive for buy-in beneficiaries. Throughout this report, specific reference is made to show when an activity was funded solely or primarily via buy-in, but there are instances in which REG activities are financed via a blend of Core money, Buy-In money, and funding from bilateral USAID projects.

COMPONENT 1: INCREASED PRIVATE SECTOR COMPETITIVENESS AND ENTERPRISE

DEVELOPMENT - BALKANS

Task 1: Strengthening of Regional Value Chains

IT

Activity Progress this Quarter Expected Next Quarter

1. Quality Standards and Certifications

In April-June 2017, the ICT Cluster of Central Serbia completed the PHP Beginners Level course started in 2017 Q1. 9 trainees completed the course, and 8 of them passed the final exam and achieved certificates.

Furthermore, the Cluster organized another intensive two-month programming course in JavaScript Advanced Level Course for Web Development (Group 5), with 9 participants, 8 of them completed the course, and 4 passed the final exam and achieved certificates; as well as (2) another HTML5 / CSS3 beginners course for

The activities planned for Q3 remain the same: we will follow the certifications of all the companies and individuals that have started them, and we will coordinate the reimbursement process after trainings and certifications are finished.

Planning visits to Montenegro, Ukraine (Kyiv, Chernivtsi and Odessa) and Moldova.

Strategic Objectives:

Increase awareness and build capacity of service providers to support the sector in attaining international standards and certifications for quality products and services.

Increase linkages (B2B) of firms in the region with potential customers in the EU, Middle East, Turkey, and other key markets, while also building capacity of IT service providers to support companies in the sector to export and build partnerships in the global market.

Increase awareness and build capacity of IT service providers to participate in EU funded programs (including identification of activities and partners, development of bid, capacity building of local organizations/personnel)

Increase awareness and build capacity of firms in other targeted sectors on the potential benefits of IT tools and services that will enhance the competitiveness.

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programming (Group 11), with 9 participants enrolled, 7 completed the course and 5 passed the final exam and achieved certificates.

6 companies successfully passed company certification, 3 of them reported the service in the second quarter of 2017, and the other 3 are yet to report. In addition, 1 of these 6 companies successfully completed and reported certification of 2 experts in Q2.

In Moldova, discussing:

a) Proxor SDE Java Certification piloting and Proxor certification center

b) Co-funding trainings and certifications with USAID MCO Moldova

2. Export Promotion, B2Bs, Market Linkages and Trade Missions to Selected Markets

The 3 BREDI activities have started in Albania and Macedonia.

More precisely there are 2 separate activities managed by AITA in Albania, the first is “Export Marketing” program helping companies to do export activities in EU and the other one is “Requalification of workforce”.

The “Export Marketing” program will be divided in 3 different events: 2 trainings that will take place in Tirana, Albania, with both domestic and international trainer(s). Main objective of the training will be the companies to be able to produce their own Export Marketing plan and to start executing it on their own. The third activity as part of this program will be a trade mission, most probably in the Netherlands, where companies that went through the training will have chance to participate in the B2B event with Dutch companies. So far, the first training “Building awareness about the market opportunities in the EU” was held on 27-28 June 2017. All 3 activities under this program will be utilized by the 12 Albanian companies that should be constant throughout the whole program.

The requalification program in Albania has started on 12

th of June with main purpose for the

non-IT candidates to be able to acquire IT knowledge and become junior programmers. The two streams that AITA picked to have in their program are JAVA and .NET. JAVA stream has 13 participants and .NET has 16 participants. The trainings are ongoing and domestic trainers are teaching to the students.

BREDI is supporting a Requalification program in Macedonia as well that is coordinated by MASIT. After a short survey with its members MASIT decided to introduce 2 streams as part of the program: .NET and frontend. For the trainings MASIT has partnered with well-established training provider – Seavus Educational and Development Center (SEDC) which is also

Next training in Albania will take place on 17-18 July 2017 and the topic of this one will be “Building go-to-market plan”. Lastly, in Autumn 2017, the trade mission to the Netherlands is planned.

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offering the premises and experienced trainers. Both streams have 20 participants each, and once the trainings are finished, candidates are going to take an exam and certificate if the exam is passed. Several MASIT members companies have signed Letter of interest to take the candidates for internship / employment after the program is finished. On 17

th of May the .NET

course started and on 19th of May the frontend

course started. Before the two groups of participants were formed, there was a recruitment process that lasted about a month during which more than 130 CVs were collected. A rigorous process of testing and selection took place and 40 candidates were chosen. Almost all candidates are with non-IT background.

There is an ongoing planning for the trade mission to Dublin, Ireland, scheduled for 17

th of

October 2017. 32 companies from the Balkan region have expressed interest to join the delegation. There is an opportunity for another event to be organized in Belfast, the previous or the next day, but it will depend on the interest of the candidates and on the visa issues.

The program is expected to last until Autumn 2017, when AITA members will have the chance to interview the candidates and offer them internship / employment.

During the summer, the two courses will have a short break after which the trainings will continue during September and October. They will be followed by testing and internship activities to be offered by the companies.

We are still considering support for the B2B event in Gothenburg, Sweden that will take place traditionally in October in Gothenburg, but we would like to see bigger initiative on behalf of the local partner, as well as inclusion of other local BSOs.

Discussions for supporting a couple of intra-regional events are still ongoing. Moldova and Ukraine will be the destinations for the events that might take place in Q3 or Q4.

3. Support to IT Stakeholders to Apply for/Implement EU Projects

In the past 3 months with the help of Anna Naydenova and Ivaylo Georgiev 2 project proposals have been submitted. One project was GIVE, related to implementation of IT in vertical industries and another one is startup DigiTour.

The first was submitted under COSME program, and the second one is submitted under Black Sea Territorial Cooperation project. Results will be available in 6-9 months.

One of the Serbian clusters has taken over the initiative of consulting all clusters in the network about the next priorities and future activities, as well as the legal status of the Balkan and Black sea cluster network. REG’s offer to support the network by hiring a consultant who will work a Sustainability strategy, which will also include lobbying activities and knowhow, as well as PR activities so that the network becomes more visible and attractive, is still open.

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In Q3 or Q4 there might be a meeting of the network where all these issues will be discussed.

TOURISM


1. Multi-Country Product Development, Improvement, and Promotion

Following the contacts with Slovene biking operators established and confirmed at ITB, the Via Dinarica Alliance (VDA) launched development of the Trans Dinarica – the mountain biking (MTB) option along the Via Dinarica corridor. The VDA took part in the trail mapping conducted in Slovenia and Croatia, as a knowledge transfer exercise. This has prepared them to conduct the trail mapping activities further down the Trans Dinarica trail into Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania and beyond. REG provided technical support in developing and delivery of this join action.

Balkan Vibe, the regional tourism platform participated as one of the exhibitors at the REG supported joint stand at ITB 2017. Following the joint participation at the event partnerships have been in development between the BalkanVibe platform and the two regional initiatives Via Dinarica Alliance (VDA) and Western Balkans Geotourism Network (WBGN). The partnerships concern product promotion for members (WBGN) and webinar series (VDA).

REG maintained consultations with several locations in the region, primarily Montenegro (NP Durmitor), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Trebinje) and Serbia (NP Tara) on their interest to replicate (MNE and SER) and further develop (BiH) their products in wildlife conservation and gastronomy based travel programs. REG is encouraging and supporting interested destination to identify and seek needed

There are no special promotional events scheduled for the upcoming period.

REG will continue to provide support to the efforts on developing the Trans Dinarica trail as this directly responds to the interest identified in the markets during the previous trade event season (late 2016/early 2017). It is expected that the work on mapping the trail in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be launched in this coming quarter.

REG team will continue development and delivery of webinars on monthly basis. A survey will be finalized and conducted during the upcoming quarter to ensure that the webinars respond to the needs and interests of the regional audience.

REG will continue with discussions and efforts to identify and secure co-funding for the destinations that are interested in replicating existing or pursuing new product options applying the Learning by Doing method.


Improve service delivery in the tourism sector.

Create diverse regional products that can be marketed on a regional platform and generate increased international awareness and demand.

Move into higher value added tourism segments, such as sustainable tourism - specialized eco, adventure, food/wine, cultural, historical, etc.

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funding.

REG, together with regional partners, launched the Western Balkans Adventure Travel Webinar Series in April. The webinar series has been developed with aim to establish a cost-effective model that can both provide and facilitate knowledge share across the region. The webinars are being delivered on monthly basis, so following the first one in April, two more were delivered in May and June, discussing Partnerships Between Local and International Operators and Travel Product Development Secrets respectively.

2. Support to Tourism Stakeholders to Access EU funding

REG continues the cooperation with RCC to facilitate development of linkages between the private and public sectors in and across the region. RCC expect the launch of the tourism support project at the start of 2018. The project will focus on improving regional cooperation in tourism, especially in the areas of skills development and mobility of work force, product development in the form of cultural and adventure corridors encompassing all or several countries at the time. REG continues to provide support to RCC team in fine-tuning the project framework. REG continues to develop the concept of the virtual regional cooperation platform. Several consultative meetings were held with Balkan Vibe who came forward with interest to support the platform development with technical expertise. Current efforts are focused on platform structure and development model that would allow and support involvement and service to different of industry segments as early as possible.

REG will continue to develop the concept for the regional tourism communication and cooperation platform together with the RCC. During the upcoming quarter, the platform structure will be finalized and the technical specifications finalized. REG participated in the regional Via Dinarica meeting. The meeting was hosted by the Via Dinarica Croatia and it brought together Via Dinarica champions from Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, while Montenegro, Albania, Serbia and Macedonia were involved through electronic communication. The meeting focused on establishing the structure for stronger regional cooperation aimed at joint application for EU funding, and launch of lobbying to establishment of EU Via Dinarica Program.

3. Regional Joint Events

The current quarter has not had major regional events.

As the season is at its peak no industry events are scheduled during the upcoming quarter. REG team will continue to discuss the opportunity for a regional industry event with its regional partners in order to assess readiness and interest to jointly launch such an event.

4. Promotion and Sales

REG continues with the support for the Western Balkans region in areas of PR and communications. Over the past quarter a cooperation with Wizz Air was launched

There are no major industry events planned for the next quarter as the season already starts in the next

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resulting in a series of 6 articles on Western Balkans published in the Wizz Air onboard magazine. This is the first time the region as a travel destination has been featured in an airline magazine. In addition to several articles published a cooperation with Lonely Planet has been in making. As part of this effort the Western Balkans Adventure Travel Webinar Series is also being featured at Lonely Planet online platform.

trimester.

REG will continue with efforts for promotion of the Western Balkans region, its product base and destinations through articles in international media, online platforms and social media networks and platforms.

REG will continue to work with Wizz Air towards additional articles to be placed in the inflight magazine, as well as work to open similar operation with other airlines that have flights to regional hubs.

AGRIBUSINESS / FOOD PROCESSING

Progress this Quarter Expected Next Quarter

1. B-REDI Competitiveness Agricultural Acceleration (Buy-In)

Under the Competitiveness Agricultural Acceleration Buy-In, REG developed the presentations under the Module 1. Training sessions with the first groups of 10 selected companies were held on 11

th April in Macedonia

and 28th April in Albania. They were equipped

with tools for developing structured Marketing planning, how to select markets, analyze potential, establish export objectives and define key competitive advantage for the target markets. The Competitiveness Acceleration Program will assist companies to develop Strategic Export Marketing Plan, improve their internal capacity for analyzing and approaching markets and increase linkages with regional and international buyers.

Module 2 training session for Albania is scheduled for 19 July whereas in Macedonia will be held week after August 12

th.

In parallel both CBS (AL) and MCG (MK) will work on company level mentorship and provide direct assistance in finalizing the Company Strategic Export Marketing Plans and presentations.

2. Improved education /knowledge-sharing on agricultural production and market

Under the AzREG Buy-in, as a follow up to the requirements of Greenyard Foods, at Fruit Logistica on including certification in social compliance SA 8000 (Social Accountability), ASAP and its beneficiaries decided to prioritize certification of this standard that will ease access to European markets. AzREG engaged InCERT from Turkey to conduct SA8000 training course

The SA8000 international standard enables businesses to demonstrate their dedication to developing, maintaining, and applying socially acceptable practices in the workplace and its adoption is increasingly required from international


Increase capacity of AG service providers to understand market requirements and create new market linkages particularly with EU customers, such as supermarket chains moving into the region.

Improve competitiveness of regional AG value chains and capacity to export to key markets.

Increase capacity of AG service providers to meet international food safety/product handling and other key standards.

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options cont. (Buy-In)

for AZ companies. On May 3rd

, AzREG initiated a two-day social accountability training in Baku where participants including company representatives as well as other stakeholders, who wish to conduct social compliance audits, advance labor rights, or apply a management system approach in their supply chain were trained to become SA8000 Team Auditors. Representatives from ten Azerbaijani fruit and vegetable growers and processors attended the sessions.

buyers. Following the training completion, AzREG will continue working with these and other Azerbaijani agribusinesses to adopt social accountability requirements and, where appropriate, achieve formal certification in social accountability.

3. Trade mission and facilitation of prearranged B2B meetings with some key importers on targeted markets (Core)

After the B2B meetings with Greenyard Foods in January 2017 and serious interest for supplying frozen fruits and vegetables from Serbia, several companies registered into Greenyard’s system so they can be considered as suppliers. Although Greenyard managers were not available for a trade visits before the season, they’ve continued close contact with potential suppliers from Serbia, REG is coordinating on their needs for frozen fruits so the companies can plan purchasing fresh fruits for freezing during the forthcoming season.

REG will continue intensive communication with Greenyard Foods and based on their requirements and product specification, will assist companies to present product offers and ultimately achieve export sales. Greenyard insists its suppliers to confirm adoption of BSCI as compliance with social requirements.

4. Trade mission and facilitation of prearranged B2B meetings with some key importers on targeted markets Cont. (Core)

After the in-bound visit in Macedonia from 15 -18 March, REG continued to coordinate with Delhaize Senior Category Managers for Fruit & Vegetables. During the quarter Delhaize signed several pre-contracts with several companies (Vittoria Fruits, Permindex) to register to their system for potential suppliers. REG also provided reccomended list of table grapes exporters that can fulfill required standards and have the desired product profile.

REG will continue close cooperation with Delhaize and work on assisting companies in developing possible supplier relationship with the Supermarket chain. REG also remained its readiness to coordinate Delhaize trade mission to leading F&V producers and exporters.


In order to secure that companies are ready to supply products to Greenyard Foods in the forthcoming season, REG coordinated inbound visits to Albania and Macedonia for purchasing managers from Greenyard centers from the Netherlands and Austria. From 7-10 May 2017, they visited selected (4 in AL and 4 in MK) producers of spring cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, apricots, peaches and nectarines, table grapes, watermelons and provided full product specification, confirmed varieties, packaging and agreed expected shipping dynamics. While in Albania, USAID B-REDI Team from DC had an opportunity to discuss with GREENYARD representatives and understand better current challenges for companies to serve larger F&V trading networks and supermarket chains.

REG continues to work with selected suppliers and assist them in adoption of BSCI/SMETA standard before the season. This will enable the companies to fulfill the requirements, at the moment mandatory for exporting to Greenyard in the Netherlands and Czech Republic and increase their capacity to become sustainable suppliers to one of the biggest trading networks for fresh fruits and vegetables.

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In continuation REG worked with their representative for SEE and facilitated selected companies in developing full charter of products with preliminary estimations on the seasonality and available quantities. Although the expected yield for plums and sour cherries are substantially reduced as a result of the frost during blossoming period, significant quantities of other crops like tomatoes, cucumbers, peaches and nectarines, table grapes, watermelons etc. were offered per week to be supplied from AL and MK.

Having the requirement for Social compliance under Countries’ Risk Classification, REG engaged T-CERT (TUV Nord office) to provide assistance to 4 companies in MK and 1 in AL selected by Greenyard in adopting and certification of BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative) or SMETA as equivalent standard eligible for Albania.


This quarter REG had several coordination meetings with representatives of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Macedonia and Serbia and presented its program objectives, previous activities and plans. Since recently EBRD and USAID have signed cooperation agreement which enable us to even more closely cooperate in the future and combine the available recourses to achieve greater impact, EBRD expressed interest for collaboration on coordinating joint InBound Trade Mission for potential buyers (Supermarket chains, importers and distributors) to the Balkan countries – in the fall. REG submitted summary reports from previous similar activities and

Presented its capacity to work with companies from EU interested in closely observing Balkans as area for sourcing products (primarily fresh, frozen, processed fruits and vegetables but also other food/confectionary products).

Another possible cooperation discussed is for REG and EBRD to assist LIDL as one of the world’s largest retailers currently expanding in Serbia. The idea is for REG and EBRD to understand their specific needs and develop a program to identify matching fresh, frozen and processed F&V companies and help them to adjust products, fulfill safety, quality and marketing standards to become possible suppliers to LIDL.

REG will continue close communication with EBRD and provide all necessary information so the

EBRD office in Skopje can present the concept activities to HQ in London - Agribusiness team. Also REG and EBRD agreed to schedule a meeting with LIDL Serbia in order to discuss details and work on specific needs/criteria for supplying LIDL.

7. Trade mission and

Following the InBound mission in November last year and B2B meetings at Fruit Logistica Trade

REG will continue to closely follow interest from potential

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facilitation of prearranged B2B meetings with some key importers on targeted markets Cont. (Core)

fair in Berlin, Germany in February REG continued communication with several leading buyers including EDEKA, OGA/OGV Nordbaden EG, AB Fruithandel, Global Fruit Holland etc… Selected matching companies presented their product availability and expected yield and were acquainted with the products specifications and packaging for the season. Under the circumstances where production of plums in Poland and Hungary but also various regions in Serbia and Macedonia was considerably damaged by frost, the demand for plums increased and even leading international retailers agreed to soften their rigidness in terms of asking for GRASP or BSCI standards as mandatory. So Maocanka, Late, Agrofruit and Agromujcinovic from BiH and Extra Fungi from Macedonia started exporting Global GAP certified plums to EDEKA, OGA/OGV Nordbaden EG, and AB Fruithandel. Maocanka managed to deliver plums to EDEKA in retail packaging of four 2 kg branded carton box with handle packed in 40x60cm outside box that was discussed and agreed during the Inbound mission in November 2016. It is expected these companies to export significant quantities by September.

buyers, and facilitate participating companies to fulfill the requirements of key importers from Germany or other markets and help if/when necessary companies to optimize opportunities for new export deals.


Following the market leads established during trade mission and visit to GulFood Trade Fair from 26

th Feb to 2

nd March 2017 REG further

facilitated several companies in follow up communication, sending samples from wider range of products, analyzing the competition, understanding the trends and potential market entry. ITN company from Serbia, producer and exporter of frozen fruit and vegetables continued negotiation with two leading retailers in the UAE as well as Al Islami trading company. They’ve sent some trial products and retail packaging for frozen barriers, fruit mixes and are expecting to close export deals soon. Al Islami also followed up with poultry producers from BiH, trying to estimate most competitive confectionary product to be tested on the market in Dubai. Bonum continued negotiation with Euro Balkan General Trading on most appropriate packaging (evaluating most adequate shape of the jars) for a set of processed products (champignon mushrooms, baby carrots, sweet corn etc). Additionally, participating companies are communicating with a number of matching importing and trading companies in UAE.

In the following months, REG will coordinate with companies interested in expanding to ME, relevant regional stakeholders, USAID Projects, Chambers of Commerce, and assess best approach to further develop its assistance for expanding export sales in UAE markets. Encouraged by REG activity and initial successes, Serbia Chamber of Commerce, Bosnia Chamber of Commerce in coordination with USAID FARMA Project and USAID HVAA Project in Moldova are interested to support leading food companies in respective countries to exhibit at national pavilions. Some are in the process of negotiating for stand space at GulFood Dubai for 2018.

9. Trade mission and

After few months of preparations and work with the West Sweden Chamber of Commerce and coordination with Supermarket chains and other

REG will continue to work with AG companies and West Sweden Chamber of

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facilitation of prearranged B2B meetings with some key importers on targeted markets Cont. (Core)

potential market leads, from 23-26th April REG

coordinated a trade mission and B2Bs in Sweden. The program included B2B visit to ICA (www.icagruppen.se) Stockholm headquarters (representatives for World Food and for fresh fruits and vegetables) and AxFood (www.axfood.se) as no 1 and 2 leading supermarket chains in Sweden, Bon Cena importer focus on import from Balkans www.boncena.se and Bergendahls (www.bergendahls.se) no. 6 retailer in Hässleholm. A group of 15 participants from 11 Balkan companies (2 from MK, 5 from SRB, 2 from BiH, and 2 from Al) producers and exporters of fresh and processed/frozen fruit and vegetables, confectionary healthy food products participated in Scandinavia market Trade Mission. Additionally, Serbia Chamber of Commerce funded participation of their senior advisor to also take part in the mission. All participating companies had a chance to present their company and products profile, meet with purchasing managers from leading retailers and importers. They got detailed instruction on all the steps and requirements in the purchasing process as well as registration process/ criteria for new suppliers. After return, REG and West Sweden Chamber of Commerce followed up with all contacts established, forwarder required additional information, shared ICA’s presentation with all participants and encouraged them to continue direct communication with most prospect leads. Consequently, few processing/freezing F&V companies were accepted to participate in the following tenders for supplying their products. (BosnaPlod for juices, LARS for jars with Ajvar and mix vegetables, ITN for frozen fruits etc.)

Commerce and consider follow up activities to further support export sales to Swedish market.

10. IT in Agribusiness (Core)

After the exciting AgTech Pitching event organized in Sarajevo in close collaboration with USAID FARMA II Project as a host and ICT Vojvodina Cluster as partner in KATANA Accelerator Project where video pitches for creative use of ICT in Agribusiness uploaded their ideas on YouTube. KATANA project continued evaluating and selecting 100 best ideas/applications as winning applicants based on innovation, capacity and potential to be commercialized on the market. Nine ICT projects-solutions from Bosnia and Herzegovina were selected and additional twenty-five proposals were submitted. This activity assisted agribusinesses and IT developers from BiH to understand, develop and apply for funding for developing innovative ICT solutions to

Selected companies will be sponsored through KATANA to participate at the Booth camp event on 7-9 July 2017 in Stuttgart, Germany. At the event, they will participate at several advanced trainings and matchmaking as well as investor forum.

This activity will seriously encourage ICT and AG companies to create consortia and work on developing ICT solutions to be more productive and profitable and enable development of IT

http://www.boncena.se/

http://www.bergendahls.se/

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agribusiness. solutions that can improve competitiveness of AG firms.

11. AG Regional Network of Associations of fruits and vegetables (Core)

During the quarter RCC confirmed interest to co-sponsor organizing an event for developing a regional platform of associations of fruits and vegetables processors in October-November of 2017.

In the meantime, REG proposed the concept for Sustainable Model for Regional Cluster-Network for Fruits and Vegetables to EBRD in Macedonia as well as regional office of GIZ ORF. Both organizations expressed some interest to explore possibilities to support the initiative.

REG will continue to work with regional stakeholders and other donor projects in each of the participating countries for identifying relevant partners in the region, presenting concept idea, responsibilities of members, required commitment and expected benefits from creating Regional (Balkan) network of associations of fruits and vegetables processors as a sustainable model for functional dialogue and dev. of F&V processing value chain.

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ENTREPRENEURSHIP TRAINING AND SUPPORT SERVICES


1. Start-up / Innovation Ecosystem

Planning support for startup entrepreneurship this year, REG will focus on bringing experienced executives and entrepreneurs from US and Europe for Entrepreneur-In-Residence (EIR) placements at local centers of excellence and learning centers. A particular focus of most of these centers, next to supporting existing recently-formed startups, will be to disseminate knowledge and skills among prospective entrepreneurs, including high school and university students. During the placement of our REG EIRs in the region, they will spend a part of their time meeting these prospective entrepreneurs during group and one-on-one sessions, and sharing their knowledge about the strategic and life aspects of entrepreneurship, next to more specific skills and insights for more practical use by entrepreneurs who already started their projects.

Finalizing communications with potential EIRs to participate and local centers of excellence and learning centers as partners in this activity. Continue the dialogue with current and looking for new co-funding donors.

2. Women in Business Initiative

In the reporting period, CEED has implemented the Days of Women Entrepreneurship event in Sarajevo (23rd – 25th of May) in cooperation with Association of Business Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The two-and-a-half-day event included a conference day with roundtables on different topics (A2F, local government and women entrepreneurship, education and entrepreneurship, etc.), several workshops (both creative and educative), B2B session within which business contacts among the present companies have been established, and many networking sessions. Participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and other countries as well (Turkey, France and Armenia) took part in the event, most of them women entrepreneurs, and several representatives of different women in business organizations. Total number of 23 companies took part at the B2B meetings - 2 from Turkey, 8 from Macedonia, 2 from Serbia and 11 from Bosnia and Herzegovina. In total, from the region - 59 participants took part, 39 from Bosnia and

During July 2017, CEED will work on developing concepts for future activities with REG.


Improve access to finance for entrepreneurs through non-banking sources, such as VC and Angel.

Address specific technical needs of women entrepreneurs in the region, both start-ups and managers in mature businesses.

Seek to develop capacity of service providers to support youth entrepreneurship and build linkages to international networks.

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Herzegovina, 14 from Macedonia, 2 from Montenegro and 4 from Serbia.

COMPONENT 2: INCREASED FINANCIAL SECTOR STABILITY, GROWTH & INCLUSION –

BALKANS

Task 1: Access to Finance


1. Knowledge Sharing See above – Regional Women Entrepreneurship B2B Event in Sarajevo had a knowledge sharing day on specific access to finance for women entrepreneurs.

N/A

COMPONENT 1: INCREASED PRIVATE SECTOR COMPETITIVENESS AND ENTERPRISE

DEVELOPMENT – OUTSIDE WESTERN BALKANS

This section of the Quarterly Report is dedicated to progress on activities in Eurasia over the

past quarter. The Eurasian countries have a Work Plan separate from and more limited in scope

than the Work Plan for the Balkans countries. These activities are funded through REG Core

Money.

Task 1: Trade Facilitation and Improving the Business Environment

Improving Regional Trade:


Strategic Objective:

REG will support USAID Missions in the Caucasus region and Ukraine to facilitate trade and cargo flows through the CTC, and address specific non-tariff barriers in targeted sectors, such as transport/logistics (including railways), agricultural and other sectors. The goal is to promote the cargo flows through the CTC from East to West while also facilitate intra-regional trade among the Caucasus countries and other key trading partners, such as Turkey and Ukraine.


Identify gaps and weaknesses in real estate valuation methodologies, rules, and regulations which impede access to finance. Undertake further analysis of the development challenges and potential impact of regional assistance to promote financing and financial products by NBFIs.

More realistic collateral valuations which contribute to access to finance through lower collateral margins, revival of credit growth, and faster resolution of problem loans.

More clearly identified bottlenecks to the growth and expansion of NBFIs and, if warranted, a road map for a regional initiative to address the identified development challenges.

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1. Produce a regional activity on non-tariff barriers to intra-regional trade

Regional Activities In cooperation with the World Bank Group and the CEFTA Secretariat, REG organized the regional Workshop on the Joint Action Plan on Trade Facilitation for Western Balkans. The workshop took place on April 25, 2017 in Belgrade. It was attended by 37 participants representing CEFTA Ministries of Trade / Economy and Customs Administrations and relevant donor and international organizations. During the workshop, participants accomplished the following:

Western Balkans countries updated their commitments included in the Joint Action Plan on Trade Facilitation in preparation for the EU – Western Balkans Summit scheduled to take place in July 2017 in Trieste, Italy.

CEFTA Secretariat presented the list of national and regional actions needed to implement the CEFTA Additional Protocol 5 on Trade Facilitation.

World Bank Group discussed their plans for a regional loan operation in trade facilitation, in particular the overall modalities and possible areas of support.

REG started to tentatively discuss with the World Bank Group ideas for another joint regional trade facilitation event that should take place in late autumn. Albania NTFC Albania held its third meeting on May 8, 2017. REG provided the assistance to the Secretariat for organization and planning of the meeting. Concurrently, REG continued to support various trade facilitation activities implemented by the NTFC and its members:

Completed the design and the content of the NTFC website and presented the website to the NTFC members. They appreciated the work done and asked for assistance in further developing the Export Help Desk segment of the website.

Worked on redesigning the Export Help Desk, as a virtual orientation window for exporters. The export help desk is organized by countries/groups of countries (EU, CEFTA, EFTA, USA, Turkey, others) and by products. Information that will be posted include trade data, legal/procedural export requirements, tariffs and other fees,

Regional Activities Continue to work on designing and organizing the regional trade facilitation event in cooperation with the World Bank Group. REG Trade Facilitation Lead will attend the Conference on Coordinated Border Management organized by the World Bank Group in September in Montenegro. Albania Continue with the institutional support to the NTFC Secretariat. Finalize the paper on SPS barriers to trade in Albania. Based on the interviews with the private sector, prepare the paper on barriers faced by companies in cross-border trade. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo Once the funds for trade facilitation assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are made available, set up the implementation structure and plan concrete activities in both countries in consultation with key stakeholders.

Macedonia Finalize the report on the Survey on Cross-Border Trade Barriers and organize the Workshop for presentation of the survey results and findings.

Finalize in consultations with the Customs Administration the Regulation on the Organization and Functioning of the Trade Facilitation Enquiry Point and the Procedures for Provision of Information.

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trade agreements, etc.

Drafted the paper on SPS Barriers to Trade for (agricultural) export oriented products and presented it at the third NTFC meeting. Submitted the draft to NTFC members for review and translated the report to English. The report will be finalized both in Albanian an English upon the submission of the comments submitted by NTFC members to the Secretariat.

Drafted the questionnaire that will be used to identify the problems faced by Albanian exporters with the objective of identifying policy measures to enhance Albanian export performance.

Provided comprehensive assistance to the NTFC Secretariat, including a creation of a database with contacts of relevant institutions, preparation of materials to be posted on the NTFC website, follow up on the approval of the minutes from the third NTFC meeting, assistance for analyzing the situation in the fishery industry with regard to the existing production capacities, levels of investments and capacity of the work force, coordinated with line ministries regarding the IFC study on the competitiveness of Albanian food and vegetables sector, and maintained regular coordination with the Directorate for Economic Cooperation at the Ministry of Economy and the Union of Albanian Producers.

Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo During the Workshop on the Western Balkans Joint Action Plan, REG Trade Facilitation Lead and USAID B-REDI Deputy Project Manager held meetings with the delegations of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo to discuss the potential upcoming USAID assistance in the area of trade facilitation.

Macedonia As the long political uncertainty was resolved with the establishment of a Government at the beginning of June, REG continued with the implementation of trade facilitation activities that started in the previous quarter:

Private Sector Survey on Cross-Border Trade Barriers in Macedonia – REG received /collected completed questionnaires from 44 import and export

Serbia Adoption of the Decision for Establishment of the NTFC in Serbia. Continue with the organization of the Trade Facilitation Conference in cooperation with the AmCham TFC.

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companies, entered the data in the database, processed it and prepared the graphics, and is currently drafting the report with results, findings and recommendations.

Due to the personal changes expected to take place with the change in government, in consultation with USAID REG decided to move the workshop for presentation of the survey results to the fall.

REG completed the drafting of the Regulation on the Organization and Functioning of the Trade Facilitation Enquiry Point and the Procedures for Provision of Information. The draft was submitted to the Macedonian Customs Administration for review and comments. Once they provide feedback, the Regulation will be finalized and submitted to the Government of Macedonia for adoption.

Serbia In the course of this quarter, REG trade facilitation implementers in Serbia carried out the following activities:

Organized a two-day workshop for reviewing Serbia’s WTO TFA Category B and C commitments on June 6 - 7th in Belgrade. The workshop was organized in cooperation with the World Bank Group, Customs Administration and the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications (MTTT) and it included participation of all key public sector institutions. The private sector representatives organized by the AmCham TFC actively contributed to the review process. In addition to the revision of the categorization of measures, the workshop provided information on the TFA ratification and notification requirements.

Following the review process, REG team compiled the revised consolidated documents on the WTO TFA Self-Assessment of Needs and Priorities for Serbia, including consolidated charts of the needs assessment and notification excel sheet with categorization of measures. The total number of articles in each category is the following: A - 24, B - 7, C - 5.

Drafted the elaboration of the Decision for the Establishment of the NTFC. The elaboration and the draft decision were shared with the Ministry of Finance (which will most likely present the draft decision for adoption to the GoS), Customs

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Administration (future chair and secretariat for the NTFC), MTTT, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment Protection and the AmCham TFC. Decision for the NTFC establishment is currently awaiting the appointment of the new Prime Minister (as the Government is in the technical mandate at the moment).

Started to plan the Trade Facilitation Conference that will be co-organized by REG, AmCham TFC and key NTFC stakeholders upon the official establishment of the NTFC. The conference is expected to provide a forum for dialogue between public and private sector representatives on the trade facilitation issues to be addressed by the NTFC.

Task 2: Strengthening Regional Value Chains


1. Tourism N/A N/A

2. Information Technology

See above in the IT section N/A

COMPONENT 2: INCREASED FINANCIAL SECTOR STABILITY, GROWTH, AND

INCLUSION - UKRAINE

Task 1: International Standards on Financial Sector Stability

Building Capacity of Deposit Insurance Systems to Support Financial Sector Stability through Improved Conformance to International Standards

International Partnership for Financial Sector Stability Activity

In the past quarter REG continued to implement an activity from USAID Ukraine Mission called ‘International Partnerships for Financial Sector Stability’ (IP-FSS). Only component 1 – Strategic Communication – continued with limited scope of project finalization.


Strengthen deposit insurance systems, increase confidence in banks, establish conditions for reducing the public cost and economic disruption of bank failures.

Stronger legal framework and skills of officials responsible for deposit insurance and bank resolutions.


REG will provide workshops and training programs to Increase capacity of service providers in the areas of ICT, tourism and agriculture/agribusiness in order to improve competitiveness and increase the capacity of businesses operating within those value chains to adhere to international standards.

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Objective 1: Strategic communication to rebuild trust in financial system


NBU website concept and launch

During the reporting quarter, we continued working on new NBU site. Our communication expert assisted the NBU in transforming the existing texts and creating new ones based on best international practice for government and online communication. The development company ran three sprints of website code development, as planned.

We have identified several technological challenges which were not properly assessed during the SOW preparation. The most critical is API protocol for dataset visualization. The existing NBU API focuses on commercial use and is designed for financial institutions. It is not good for data visualization and NBU is not ready to change its API just for the site as it will require additional costs for banks to re-adapt their systems. We are now in the process of finding a solution for this challenge. This affects about 950 datasets NBU collects and disseminates.

Due to delays in text elaboration and challenges with data (BankID and NBU API) the activity is expected to last longer. NBU announced public launch of new site for end-September and full launch end-December.

Depending on the solution for API we might need to provide additional funding to create a connector from NBU API to NBU Web API.

Assist NBU with communication policies and strategies

IP-FSS has contracted a creative agency to work on new NBU logo. Three versions of new brand have been prepared and presented to NBU Board, and one was selected.

Launch on new NBU logo will commence together with launch of new website in end-September. NBU is now working on it brand book for its own cost.

Support Ukraine’s participation in international networks related to financial education;

IP-FSS has prepared a draft report Financial Literacy, Awareness, and Inclusion. Currently it is being translated into English and undergoing editorial reviews.

NBU has plans to launch financial inclusion campaign in four regions of Ukraine in September – November. It wants to have expert roundtables to discuss the findings of the survey.

REPORTING AND COMMUNICATION


1. Website Ongoing - Integration of online tool to present REG PMP results on REG’ website with public and private access.

Ongoing - Integration of online tool to present REG PMP results on REG’ website with public and private access.

2. Newsletter N/A N/A

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3. Infoshare The REG Infoshare on Competitiveness and Trade is sent out on a weekly/bi-weekly basis to a distribution list of over 1500 people.

Continue producing and disseminating REG InfoShare.

4. Reporting Ongoing Ongoing

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REG INDICATORS

Indicator Past Quarter This Quarter Total to Date

(Q1 – 2017) (Q2 - 2017) (2014-2017)

Intermediate Result 1: To improve regional competitiveness in the E&E region in targeted value chains

1 Number of participants in trade and investment environment trainings

223 286 6849

2 Number of firms receiving USG capacity building assistance to export

103 140 2265

3 Number of firms and individuals receiving USG assistance to obtain an internationally recognized certification

143 31 2105

4

Number of firms and individuals that receiving USG funded technical assistance that obtain an internationally recognized certification

123 23 1080

5 Increased exports and investment as a result of project interventions

$ 0.00 $ 0.00 $11,441,723.00

6

Number of days of USG supported technical assistance in trade and investment capacity provided to counterparts or stakeholders

96 135 587

7

Number of days of USG funded technical assistance in business enabling environment (including trade) provided to counterparts and stakeholders

96 135 490

8 Ratio of partner to REG matching contributions/resources

0.513:1 0.39:1 1.216:1

9 Reduction in non-tariff trade barriers to trade facilitation measures adopted due to project interventions

No data No data No data

10 Reduced time for goods to cross borders in the region as a result of project interventions


11 Number of advocacy initiative supported by the project/capacity building activities


regional economic growth second quarterly progress …

Documents