Developing an Identity for the Black Sea as an Economic Region Barry Kolodkin, Regional Programme Manager ICBSS 5th International Black Sea Symposium Athens, Greece 5 July

Black Sea Trade & Investment Programme Implementer: UNDP Donors: Greece & Turkey Partners/Donors: BSEC & BSEC Business Council Beneficiaries: Enterprises Government agencies Business associations Began in 2007; project office in Athens, Greece Objective : To stimulate intra- regional trade and investment among BSEC countries 2

3 Emphasize cross border economic activity Business facilitation events Training for business support organizations and investment promotion agencies Business development assistance Green business/sustainable development Regional Focus

Sectors Packaging Food products and wine Tourism Construction materials ICT Logistics Renewable energy 4

WHY? 5

REGIONAL IDENTITY = GREATER AWARENESS Better awareness should lead to more foreign trade and investment, more tourism, and better economic cooperation among BSEC countries 6

INCREASED COOPERATION = GREATER OPPORTUNITY Market Access, Lower Cost of Trade, Higher Profitability, Regional Market Development – EU, NAFTA, APEC 7

Regional Brand/Identity MIDDLE EAST = OIL PACIFIC RIM = TECHNOLOGY INDIAN SUBCONTINENT = OUTSOURCING BLACK SEA = ENERGY OR ?? 8

GDP MOLDOVA 7.0% TURKEY 6.6% GEORGIA 5.5% UKRAINE 4.7% ARMENIA 4.6% RUSSIA 4.3% BULGARIA 3.0% -- (2011) est. Global Finance = POTENTIAL 9

350 MILLION PEOPLE 4 TRILLION USD GDP > ½ TRILLION USD IMPORTS = A REAL MARKET 10

ENERGY SOURCE? GATEWAY TO MIDDLE EAST? ASIA? CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION? CORRUPTION? LOW INTENSITY CONFLICT? OLD FASHIONED? 11 …UNDEFINED

3 EU states 2 Preaccession/accession states 6 CIS states 3 CEFTA states 2 not WTO + Russian WTO ratification = Difficult economic cooperation + SOLUTION: Convergence not strict compliance to the Acquis and EU norms. Comprehensive, familiar, to all, attractive to EU nations, supports states with EU entry ambitions, standardization 12

COOPTITION is a phrase borrowed from the technology industry where competitive companies use common standards and realize that a certain amount of cooperation will benefit the market place overall. 13

Supporting A Regional Identity Better transportation links Full utilization of regional funding Regional stock exchange Green energy/economy development Expand tourism Creating a brand 14

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Brand Assets ENIRA DACIA STOLICHNAYA BIT DEFENDER LUKOIL NEMIROFF ARCELIK BEKO CAVIAR SAPERAVI DRACULA KLITSCHKO BALCHIK MAMAIA SOCHI ODESSA 16 SANTORINI BALTIKA VIOHALCO ANTALYA INTRACOM EURO CUP TURK TELECOM BEELINE

17 CREATE A VISION

A Vision for a Black Sea Identity WORLD AWARENESS OF HIGH ECONOMIC GROWTH GOOD REGIONAL ECONOMIC COOPERATION STRONG REGIONAL TOURISM COOPTITION STRONG BSEC AS A REGIONAL FORUM FOR PROJECTS AND IDEAS IMAGE AS A PLACE OF OLD AND NEW, TRADITIONAL ENERGY AND GREEN ENERGY REGIONAL BRAND PROFESSIONALLY DEVELOPED 18