Last month the Ukrainian capital played host to a major industry conference and exhibition, Cross-border e-commerce export Ukraine 2016.
This one-day event became a meeting point for Ukrainian and foreign e-commerce businesses as well as government representatives. The market’s hottest issues were discussed, including the reform effort expected from the government and the prospects of seeing PayPal make its services fully available at last to Ukrainian users.
The event aimed to “show the opportunities of cross-border e-commerce and to point out the markets which are ready to cooperate with Ukrainian manufacturers and recommend the best online selling strategies abroad,” according to Irina Kholod, CEO at Ukrainian E-commerce Expert.
The conference was opened by Natalia Mykolskaya, Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine and Trade Representative of Ukraine. Efficient regulation, export development and IP protection are three priority directions for further government policies, according to her.
Mykolskaya invited local entrepreneurs to present their suggestions to support business development.
A panel discussion was dedicated to the role which e-commerce may play in Ukraine’s economic development of Ukraine. The panelists noted that e-commerce export is still embryonic in Ukraine, with just 33,000 outbound parcels versus more than one million inbound parcels last year.
Local and international experts presented 20 markets which they believ have a potential for Ukrainian online retailers. These included China, France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Germany, Israel, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the Baltic states, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova and other former Soviet republics.
PayPal lovers to appeal to Wall Street Journal
Another panel was about the situation with PayPal, which is still not fully available to Ukrainian users. The discussion was moderated by Ilia Kenigshtein, who has headed lobbying efforts to draw PayPal’s attention to Ukraine for almost two years.
Surprisingly, PayPal is rumored to be fully functioning in Donetsk, the capital of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR), which Ukraine still considers as being part of its territory.
Ukrainian PayPal lovers intend to appeal to the American media, including the Wall Street Journal, and US politicians.
Some 400 people attended the event, including 49 speakers.
Supported by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, the event was organized by Ukrainian E-commerce Expert in partnership with such local players as Nova poshta, Meest Group, DHL, Ukr-China Communication, Ukrposhta, ICS, Prom.ua, Allbiz, Zammler, Promodo, In Time, Promo.ua.
