In early December MIM-Kyiv together with Handicraft Chamber of Ukraine, International Taxpayers Committee and "Business Gathering" conducted EU4Business Week within the framework of the EU funded East Invest 2 project. The event was designed to support and develop SME and business support organizations.

The event consisted of 3 parts: Project Development, Implementation and Fundraising Forum, Positioning Paper Seminars and Workshops and Coalition and Consortia Building Session. During the first day the FORBIZ, COSME, GIZ, USAID (LEV), EBRD, Horizon 2020, and CIPE representatives spoke to the participants and presented the opportunities for SME sector development in Ukraine.

Mr. Eric Savoye (Austria), Ms. Silva Mesropyan (Armennia), and Mr. Liubomyr Chornii (Ukraine) taught members of Business Associations on how to position themselves and write professional Position papers. The seminar helped the participants to learn how to present their cases in the constructive and “user-friendly” manner thus increasing their chances to be heard, engage the necessary parties in the negotiations and solve the problems.

During the Coalition and Consortia Building Session the participants discussed how to better involve the business associations and entrepreneurship supporting organizations in the development and implementation of public policy; presented the Declaration and Recommendation from Private Sector Organizations for Policy Makers and possibility to join this initiative of Eastern Partnership countries and developed the draft action plan. “No European country should be poor. Ukraine is potentially a very rich country,” said Mr. Gunther Fehlinger, Chairman of the Europeans for Tax Reform. “If your government is not ready for the dialogue, let’s start our projects on our own with our assistance.”