Its goal was to present to a wide audience of micro, small, and medium enterprises the opportunity to join the expert and educational developments of the UNDP Project "Strengthening Membership Business Associations of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises in Ukraine" to enhance their competitiveness. This Project is being implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and with the support of Switzerland.

"I am especially glad to be here today, as it is not always the case that you have all three necessary components for success," addressed the audience Nicole Ruder, Head of Cooperation Programs at the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine, "namely the right idea, which in our case is the development of business associations, reliable partners, and demand for what we do. It seems to me that we have managed to combine this now."

Manal Fouani, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in Ukraine, joined in the greetings: "Supporting business associations of micro, small, and medium enterprises is not an easy process, filled with significant challenges, one of which is the fragmentation of the MSME sector. Therefore, only by uniting and speaking with one voice can MSMEs overcome all obstacles and contribute to the sustainable economic growth of Ukraine."

"The first seven business associations that studied at the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School and became part of this Project showed outstanding results," emphasized Eduard Maltsov, Deputy Dean of kmbs. "Therefore, we hope that the participants currently undergoing the program will also achieve great accomplishments."

Overall, the conference brought together nearly 200 online and offline attendees. The event took place in several stages. Initially, Kyiv-Mohyla Business School lecturer Olena Sapozhkova presented the leadership program for business association leaders with an online learning component to the participants. "This is a program about leadership," noted Olena Sapozhkova. "Because strengthening the enterprise as such is impossible without strengthening leadership in the BA, which ensures joint development."

Participants had the opportunity to join the online component of the training program directly at the event. Additionally, all interested leaders of business associations in Ukraine will be able to join the online component of the "Development of Membership Business Associations of Ukraine" program until November 13. The program will include the broadcast of five monthly one-day modules, weekly webinar consultations, and online broadcasts with leading experts.

"The phenomenon of modern leadership allows people to unite efforts under someone's management, moderation, and facilitation, but to create a vision together," explained Eduard Maltsov the role of a leader in the transformation of modern business associations. He emphasized that successful leaders create a sustainable environment, uphold gender equality, speak the language of many cultures, and are champions in the fight for the common good.

In addition, experts presented the unique developments of the Project. In particular, Iryna Fedets, a national consultant for UNDP, demonstrated the results of mapping sectoral and universal business associations in Ukraine as of 2021 (detailed report). "The idea of the Project was to analyze the current situation of the MSME sector, highlight the challenges they face, their areas of influence, and also try to estimate the number of active associations," noted Ms. Iryna. As a result, a methodology for conducting the analysis was developed, including a list of criteria, an analytical report on the current state and challenges for BAs, as well as a joint database of over 400 BAs in Ukraine.

Valeriy Pekar, a lecturer at kmbs and a national consultant for UNDP, in his speech about the results of the foresight "MSME Development Strategy" noted that the main problem of modern business is the constant change of the rules of the game. This conclusion is evident from the "map of major business problems" developed during the foresight. "The key problem for individual entrepreneurs is uncertainty about the future," addressed the audience Mr. Valeriy. "For microbusiness, it is high labor taxes and low purchasing power. For small businesses, the key issue becomes a lack of workforce. And for medium businesses, insecurity and raiding are characteristic."

Participants of the first phase of the Project, which lasted from 2015 to 2018, demonstrated successful experiences of development and transformation of BAs through their own examples. In particular, Tetiana Kravets, a member of the Audit Commission of the "Ukrainian Association of Furniture Makers," emphasized: "The year 2018 was very important for us. Because there was a global reassessment and change of values."

"We joined the first phase of the Project just when something needed to change," said Larysa Samosyonok, Director of the Project Office of the NGO "Vzaemodiya-Plus." "Therefore, what we were told became very valuable. It can be said that a certain "revolution" took place, that is, a complete revival of our business association."

"In two years of implementing the "Digital Chamber" project, we have digitized almost all the services of the chamber, which is the basis for bringing all services into the online space," shared the results of participation in the UNDP Project Natalia Zabrudska, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine.

At the end of the event, Andriy Remizov, Acting Director of the State Institution "Office for Entrepreneurship and Export Development," addressed the participants. He announced a new joint project with UNDP, which will become available on the Diya.Business portal at the end of November. "This project will help you tell about your own BAs and attract new members in a digital format," emphasized Andriy Remizov.

"We hope that this program will become not just a tool for enhancing your individual and organizational capacity, but also a tool for qualitative transformation," addressed the participants with concluding remarks Maksym Boroda, Head of the UNDP Project "Strengthening Membership Business Associations of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises in Ukraine." Mr. Maksym emphasized that the goal of the program is to develop and strengthen not only the 27 business organizations directly participating in the Project but also to strengthen the entire MSME sector.