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

160 that could have provided advice on establishing the association.
With the expansion of the PSP approach in 2000 to include
organizational development for establishing business
development services, the project supported the formation
of a work group, from which the Macedonian Association
of Processors (MAP) then developed in 2002. Already as a
working group members organized joint procurement of
packaging materials and were able to negotiate substantially
more favorable delivery terms. As representative of
the private sector, the working group contributed to the
sector development strategy.
The PSP project subsequently channeled all industry-related
development measures through MAP. Thus strengthened,
financially capable structures arose that ensure the
association’s long-term existence. The association was supported
in the following areas:
• Association development (development of an association
strategy, from financing and service plans, drawing
up of measures for acquiring members and lobbying
etc.)
• Export promotion (consulting on export marketing,
organization and financial support of participation
in trade fairs in South-Eastern Europe and Germany
etc.)
• Corporate consulting emphasizing quality management/food
safety as a fundamental requirement for
further developing exports, above all in the European
Union
The Macedonian companies dependent on the export of
their goods soon recognized that realizing the market opportunities
in the global market and in regional trade required
cooperation with companies from the South-Eastern
European region and the development of common
strategies. MAP thus requested support from the PSP
project in establishing a cross-border cooperation. In a
first step, since 2002 MAP members had a joint exhibition
at South-Eastern Europe’s leading agricultural/foodstuffs
trade fair in Novi Sad in Serbia.
In 2003, in cooperation with the Macedonian technology
transfer project and partner projects in South-Eastern
Europe, the PSP project promoted the organization of the
first supraregional conference for South-Eastern European
industry associations, working groups, and companies.
The event met with great interest and 120 participants
from 14 countries – primarily private sector representatives
– came to the conference in Ohrid in southern Macedonia.
The mixture of expert presentations and the intensive
roundtable discussions after each presentation (the seating
arrangement was consciously transnational) promoted
communication among the participants. Conducting the
annual conference in different host countries should be-
come a fixed feature: In 2004 it took place in Serbia in
2005 in Albania, in 2006 it is hosted by Bosnia and Herzegovina.
At the express wish of the associations, the marked
interactive style was retained, which smoothed the way to
specific partnering agreements.
The association presidents and company representatives
also rated the joint visit to ANUGA FoodTec and the subsequent
plant tour at one of the leading German processing
companies in spring 2004 as particularly positive. In
addition to more technical questions – new technologies
and examples of good hygiene practices (GHP) in German
plants – the particular interest in building trust and
the exchange of experience between company and association
partners stood as a basis for future cross-border
cooperation.
Impact
The first South-Eastern European regional conference organized
by the Macedonian association in December 2003
was an inducement for thinking about a transnational cooperation
of the national industry associations. This suggestion
came from the Greek association. This initiative
was supported from the beginning by the German Association
of the Fruit, Vegetable, and Potato Processing Industry
(BOGK) and the European umbrella organization
(Organization of European Industries Transforming Fruit
and Vegetables – OEITFL). MAP has been an OEITFL
member since 2004 and was thus the first member association
that is not from an EU (accession) country.
During the course of the year between the 2003 and 2004
regional conferences, MAP and the Greek association approached
colleagues in the neighboring countries with the
concept of a “virtual administrative office” for the South-
Eastern European fruit and vegetable processing industry.
At the second conference in Serbia, the association
presidents from Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the representative
of the Albanian delegation (the Albanian association was
founded only later) signed an appropriate letter of understanding
containing the following goals:
• Strengthening of the common interests and the image
of the fruit and vegetable processing industry in
the region
• Representation of the members interests at national,
European, and international institutions
• Harmonization of the national product-related regulations
(possibly development of common standards)
• Promotion of fair trade practices and fair competition
• Promotion of collaboration and solidarity among the
member firms
• Improvement of business contacts and trading possibilities
•
Exchange of information regarding production, import-export,
and legal directives