Optimising the Eastern Partnership Trade Helpdesk

In 2022, the International Trade Centre (ITC) launched the Eastern Partnership Trade Helpdesk, an online single-entry point for information on market access, trade procedures and contacts of potential partners in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) region, as well as the EU.

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine form the EaP region together and the Trade Helpdesk can contribute to an increase in trade between these countries and with the EU. The platform helps identify the most promising markets and products to trade and provides an overview of market access conditions and connects them with relevant partners in their country or the destination market.

The ITC commissioned Globally Cool to help business support organizations in each EaP region in developing a training kit. Its objective is to raise awareness among businessmen in these markets about the benefits and opportuniites of the single entry point. So, with the ITC team we co-created training materials for both live as well as virtual settings. We focussed on honey, apparel, processed or preserved food products, beverages and nuts.

Activities

• We conducted a needs assessment among EaP national program managers to define and validate the product scope.
• We co-created a training package containing topics such as:
  • Information on trade statistics
  • Export potential analysis
  • Regulatory requirements
  • Private standards
  • Tariffs and rules of origin
  • Internal taxes
  • The EaP portal
  • Accessing the help centre and national recourses
  • Selecting a target market and evaluating market attractiveness
  • Steps for finding additional qualitative information
• We also developed other training materials, such as an agenda for a four-day training, practical exercises, and product/market factsheet templates to be used as an assignment during the training.

Results

• The Eastern Partnership Trade Helpdesk was presented during a launch event.
• Training materials on the single entry point were completed and handed over.
• A week of extensive training for stakeholders and business support organisations was conducted virtually, enabling them to deliver the training themselves to (potential) exporters in their regions.