Switzerland
Ukraine has become the 12th country to join the SIPPO programme
Ukraine has become the 12th country to join the SIPPO programme. We talk to Marco Kräuchi, SIPPO Programme Manager at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and Manager of the Ukraine Desk at SECO, about the reasons for Ukraine's inclusion in the programme, the impact SIPPO can have on Ukraine and the next steps to achieve a fast impact.
Marco Kräuchi – why was Ukraine accepted as the 12th country into the SIPPO programme?
Switzerland has been Ukraine's cooperation partner for many years. With the start of full-scale Russian military aggression in 2022, Switzerland has further substantially increased its support. One of the objectives of the current Swiss cooperation programme with Ukraine is to promote competitive and inclusive growth. To this end, SECO's trade promotion continues to support market access and integration into global value chains, with a focus on SMEs in the agricultural sector, with the expectation that the private sector, including SMEs, will benefit. SIPPO's engagement is based on the same principles.
SECO also supports Ukraine in meeting and adapting to international standards in the context of the EU accession process. The SIPPO project is designed to help export-ready Ukrainian products open up new markets.
In view of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, will the SIPPO programme in Ukraine be structured differently from that in the 11 existing partner countries?
The current Russian military aggression against Ukraine will certainly have an impact on SIPPO's work in the country and the service offerings may have to be adapted slightly to address the country’s particular circumstances. The programme’s objectives however remain the same as for the 11 other countries. SIPPO will focus on capacity development for Business Support Organisations (BSOs) in the selected sectors, which are Natural Ingredients, Processed Food and Technical Wood. The programme is implemented by a dedicated team of local export promotion experts, all based in Ukraine. They will work with five identified BSOs, under the guidance of the local SECO Office and in close coordination with other Swiss Cooperation Programmes.
What positive effects do you see for Ukraine as a result of SIPPO's support?
SIPPO focuses on supporting the "last mile" of the value chain, where exporters and importers meet. SIPPO's support to the BSOs will help export-ready Ukrainian companies to bridge this "last mile" and facilitate market access and exports to Switzerland, the EU and potentially other regional markets.
We expect SIPPO's work to improve the performance of the selected BSOs in three areas. Firstly, by developing the capacity of the BSOs to provide trade promotion services such as market intelligence, market orientation missions, participation in trade fairs and trade missions; secondly, by supporting the BSOs in their organisational development, strategic planning and positioning, project cycle management, knowledge sharing and continuous learning; and thirdly, by facilitating networking and cooperation among the BSOs.
All this is done with a focus on better integration of Ukrainian SMEs into world trade.
What steps are now needed to ensure that SIPPO's support can be fully effective?
SIPPO Ukraine has recently completed its official registration with the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and can now take up its full range of activities.
SIPPO is now in the process of onboarding the selected partner BSOs. The needs of the BSOs have been assessed and individual work plans will be presented at the programme's first Country Coordination Committee in November 2024. At the same time, SIPPO is already coordinating and supporting other activities with Swiss cooperation projects in Ukraine.
In view of SIPPO's positive development in Ukraine in recent months, I am confident that SIPPO can very quickly become an important factor in strengthening the Ukrainian BSO and its export promotion services.
