Five wood processing and furniture companies from Transcarpathia and Lviv oblasts participated in the six biggest trade fairs in Germany (IMM, Toys Fair) and Switzerland (Swissbau, Hausbau und Energie). The costs for company stands and other associated expenses in the country of the fair were born by SIPPO, the Swiss Import Promotion Programme (www.sippo.ch). Local support in contacting with SIPPO and production of company promotion materials was provided by FORZA, Ukraine.
 
“My company “Style of Life” has participated in the IMM Cologne in January, 2011. We produce furniture from particle board for Ukrainian market. After the fair I began considering developing new products from plywood, which I learned is very much demanded, as well as taking more advantage of the FCS certification. I received already lots of inquiries from potential customers, and I will now definitely go for exporting. This would have been hardly possible if I had not had the chance to benchmark and explore the markets at the fair. In addition, we had perfect central location at the SIPPO collective stand which definitely brought us more visitors, and perfect organizational support from SIPPO.”
Andriy Myhal, Director,“Style of Life”, Lviv
 
SIPPO  is a mandate of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, SECO, within the framework of its economic development cooperation. It is implemented by Osec, the official Swiss foreign trade promotion agency. SIPPO program helps small and medium sized companies in developing and transition countries to gain access to the Swiss and European markets by providing information, tailored advice and other matchmaking services. SIPPO also assists importers from Switzerland and the European Union in finding suitable partners and high-quality products from selected developing and transition countries.

Collaboration between SIPPO and FORZA started in 2006 and during the years developed through a range of information workshops with wood processing companies, matchmaking activities, including a CD directory containing profiles of 40 selected wood processing and furniture companies from the Carpathian region http://exdima.sippo.ch/UkraineWF/.

The year 2010 was particularly marked by several workshops and missions of Swiss experts to the Carpathian region of Ukraine. 38 wood processing and furniture companies – potential candidates for the fair trades for 2011 – 2012 were visited in Transcarpathian, Lviv and Ivan-Frankivsk oblasts. Some companies have been proposed SIPPO support for the Interzum fair in Kologne in May 2011. Another mission for assessing company needs and selecting potential candidates for the SIPPO program support is planned to Chernivtsy and Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts for June 2011.

For more information for companies on how to participate in the SIPPO program please contact Radmila Ustych radmila.ustych@forza.org.ua,  FORZA.