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Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs
News blog28 March 2023Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs

EEPA 2022 Testimonial – Supporting the Internationalisation of Business

We’re happy to present the European Enterprise Promotion Awards (EEPA) 2022 winner,Diia. Business by the Entrepreneurship and Export Promotion Office, project that took the award for the category: Supporting the Internationalisation of Business.

cat-4-winner-EEPA-SME-Assembly-2022 diia Business Ukraine

This category recognises policies and initiatives at national, regional or local level that encourage enterprises, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, to benefit more from the opportunities offered by markets both inside and outside the European Union.

The Ukrainian project Diia. Business is a large-scale project for the development of entrepreneurship and exports. The project’s main objectives are to increase the level of entrepreneurial skills in conducting business both in Ukraine and in foreign markets through educational programmes and webinars. Another aspect is the innovative “hotline” to help Ukrainian forced migrants in neighbouring EU countries find a job, open a business, or temporarily move their business. Andrii Remizov the director of Diia. Business answers a few questions.

How did you first hear about the national competition and why did you decide to enter?

The State Institution "Entrepreneurship and Export Promotion Office" (EEPO) learned about this opportunity from the EU Delegation in Ukraine. Until now, the EEPO submitted applications for various projects, but was not nominated as a winner. 

Ukraine has made active progress in supporting entrepreneurs and in 2020 a national project for the development of entrepreneurship and exports Diia.Business was created. EEPO team together with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine decided to apply this large-scale project for the EEPA.

How did you prepare your application?

We have gathered all the necessary information about the national project Diia.Business and innovative services that were developed for entrepreneurs. It took about 1 week and we successfully filled out the application form.

What do you think made your application standout?

A comprehensive approach to supporting entrepreneurs starting from the idea and ending with entering international markets. As part of the national project Diia.Business, we create various digital services and offline opportunities for entrepreneurs to satisfy most of their needs and requests.

What was it like to win the award?

It was unexpected but very significant for representatives from Ukraine. In the conditions of a full-scale war in Ukraine, it was very important to get support and recognition from international partners. With our project, we showed the international community that the Government of Ukraine pays great attention to developing small and medium-sized enterprises and promoting export.

How has winning the award impacted your work so far?

We started thinking about creating new digital services and opportunities based on the experience we gained during participation in the award. We saw how countries approach the development of entrepreneurship and realized that we need to do even more large-scale and systemic projects in Ukraine.

What are your plans for the future?

We will continue to develop the national project Diia.Business for Ukrainian entrepreneurs and will share our experiences with international partners. We already have several ideas for creating innovative digital tools that are not yet available in the world.

Why should others enter EEPA 2023? What advice would you give them?

We advise doing this in order to first test the project or a specific service for viability and recognition by the international community. Participation in EEPA provides an opportunity to learn how other countries and organizations approach supporting small and medium-sized enterprises.

This provides new knowledge and approaches in creating specific support programs and services for businesses, taking into account the best international practices. We recommend in any case participating in this event regularly and generating new products to support entrepreneurs.

Keep coming back to Promoting Enterprise for more EEPA 2022 winner testimonials and don’t forget to watch their winning moments on our Promoting Enterprise YouTube channel.

You can also have a complete view of the EEPA 2022 winners.

 

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