Omsk entrepreneurs discussed export issues with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region

The Conference "Foreign Economic Activity of small and medium-sized businesses" was held today in the regional Congress Hall, where entrepreneurs of the region, together with leading Russian and foreign experts, representatives of government agencies and business support infrastructures, discuss topical export issues in the field of foreign economic transactions.

The Conference was organized by the Omsk Region Export Support Center, operating on the basis of the Regional Agency for Development and Investment, together with the regional Ministry of Economy.

It should be noted that many thematic round tables were held within the framework of the conference "Foreign Economic activity of small and medium-sized businesses". Omsk Region exporters discussed with leading Russian and foreign experts, representatives of government agencies and supervisory authorities the issues of export activities, as well as cooperation with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region.

 "Much attention was paid at the Conference to cooperation with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region. This is not accidental, because Asian countries are of significant interest to our region. In general, the share of the countries of the Asia-Pacific region in the Omsk region is more than 15% of the total trade turnover. In 2017, inter-trade turnover increased by 21%, and in the first eight months of this year, turnover increased by an additional 10%. Today's Conference will become the next stage in building communication between exporters and institutions supporting foreign economic activity, and will help raise awareness of participants about opportunities to enter foreign markets," Konstantin Chulovsky, Deputy Minister of Economy of the Omsk Region, addressed the Conference participants.

During the plenary session, Anna Zhaborovskaya, Chief State Customs Inspector of the Omsk Customs Legal Department, told Omsk entrepreneurs about changes in customs legislation. "An innovation of the law on customs regulation is the possibility for declarants to receive preliminary decisions on the application of methods for determining the customs value of imported goods – the customs authority makes such a decision within thirty calendar days. A large number of changes also affected customs payments and the procedure for their collection. In particular, customs duties for customs operations during the customs declaration of exported goods that are not subject to export customs duties have been abolished," explained Anna Zhaborovskaya.

It should be recalled that at the official opening of the Conference, a solemn awarding ceremony was held for the laureates and winners of the regional competition "The Best Exporter of the Omsk Region in 2017". The Export Support Center is holding the regional competition "The Best Exporter of the Omsk Region" among small and medium-sized enterprises of the region for the seventh time in order to stimulate and encourage the export activities of small and medium-sized enterprises of the Omsk region.

"The Export Support Center, operating on the basis of the regional Agency for Development and Investment, provides information and advisory services to entrepreneurs, which include the development and examination of export contracts, the preparation of analytical materials, the development of websites in a foreign language, which facilitates access to foreign markets, certification and marketing research. Any interested exporter can take part in international exhibitions and business missions. Therefore, we invite the Omsk business community to participate in the formation of the action plan of the Omsk Region Export Support Center for 2019. Requests with suggestions and suggestions must be sent by the end of November this year," Evgeny Kovtun, General Director of the Omsk Region Development and Investment Agency, shared with the Conference participants.

It should be noted that in just nine months of this year, with the assistance of the Export Support Center, 39 export contracts were signed, the total value of which amounted to 800 million rubles. In addition, the Center provided about 516 consultations, 260 companies benefited from non-financial support. The participants of the Conference were those enterprises that are actively working in foreign markets, as well as novice exporters. It is also worth noting that the volume of state support for the activities of the Omsk Region Export Support Center will increase several times in 2019.

 In addition to discussing topical issues within the Conference venues, each participant was able to receive individual consultations on financial and non-financial export support measures.