Local/Regional Economic Development in South ... - Value Chains

ated in the respective national development programs for
the wine industry.
Impact
Already in 2001 it was apparent that none of the countries
had sufficient information about viticulture in the neighboring
countries. Not only had the scientific exchange of
information practically succumbed to the political and
economic upheaval fifteen years ago, but also the contact
between the responsible ministries. Even the newly
founded professional organizations barely communicated
and cooperated with one another. Awareness of the mostly
identical challenges to the wine industry continues to be
lacking, especially of the problems with long-term effects
that are of strategic importance for the development of
viticulture in South-Eastern Europe:
• The region’s future shares in the world’s viticultural
area.
• The future shares in global wine production.
• The market share of domestic wines in domestic and
international markets.
As viticulture constitutes an important economic sector
in many countries in South-Eastern Europe, long-term
national and transnational strategies for developing this
industry are gaining major significance also in connection
with local/regional economic development in the sense of
economically and socially balanced development and reducing
poverty in rural areas.
Within the context of the projects carried out in Bulgaria
and Macedonia on behalf of BMZ, GTZ has been supporting
local implementing partners since 2003 in the establishment
of the two platforms for exchanging experience
mentioned above. In this connection GTZ provides
the following services:
• Support for the exchange of experience between ministries
• Exchange of information and knowledge transfer to
ministries
• Support for governmental and private actors during
the preparation of national developmental programs
• Support for governmental and private actors during
the preparation of a regional development strategy for
South-Eastern Europe
The local implementing partners (ministries and/or their
agencies, associations and scientific institutions) use these
services in the following manner:
• Ministries improve communication with the ministries
of neighboring countries.
• Ministries improve their internal data pool and thus
enable the improvement of the developmental concepts
based on this data
• Ministries and private organizations create developmental
programs.
•
Ministries and representatives of the private sector
create a regional development strategy.
The direct benefits make clear at the same time the high
esteem in which the local partners hold the services of
German TC (BMZ/GTZ):
• Information on the wine industries in the neighboring
countries is improved.
• Developmental concepts are more realistic and more
practice-related
• Cooperation between governmental and non-governmental
organizations is strengthened
• Cooperation between the countries in the region is
intensified.
The partners also obtain an indirect benefit, which can
only partially or indirectly be considered to be a result of
the services. This indirect benefit is already subject to a
relatively high aggregation and hence is difficult to mea-
sure or classify at this level:
•
•
•
•
The representation of regional interests is improved.
Public resources are deployed efficiently.
Cooperation with the private sector is improved.
The region improves its image and increases its recognition
factor.
As a high aggregate benefit, the contribution by the governmental
programs of the countries in the region and
the region as a whole to social and economic development
increases.
Lessons learned
At the beginning, the existing level of knowledge and experience
varied greatly among the more than 100 participating
experts from six South-Eastern European countries.
Some were trained in the natural sciences and thus
lacked the theoretical background in business subjects;
some trained in business, but without international market
experience, the first order was to introduce the participants
to some critical points in global market development.
That meant in particular: viewing production from
a market and marketing perspective and hence also reevaluating
macroeconomic turning points by governmental
bodies from the market’s perspective.
Among the lessons learned were:
• The insight already existing prior to the launch of the
project among some opinion makers into the importance
of cooperation and realignment of the wine industry
provided important stimuli.
• The demarcation between the countries in the region
is less important to the cross-border exchange of experience
and cooperation than many assumed.
•
The “generation gap” among local actors and experts
with regard to motivation, willingness to cooperate,
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