Silk Road Cities Alliance visits five Ukrainian cities

On November 19th, 2018 the representatives of the Silk Road Cities Alliance returned from their lasting trip to Ukraine. The delegation consisted of the Secretary-General of SRCA Mrs. Wu Bixiu and our partners from the China Health International Travel Service, Hunan Jiuchen Yiwu and Hunan Xiangzhe Yiwu International Trading City Development Corporations. The trip had two main goals: (1) conducting research on the opportunities of health tourism, (2) conducting research on the opportunities of trade and logistics in Ukraine. Overall, the team visited five Ukrainian cities and achieved excellent results.

The trip started from the city of Odesa, the biggest port city in Ukraine, where they held meetings with the Chinese Consulate-General, Tourism/Culture and Health Departments of the Odesa City Council. During the meetings, the sides reached several essential agreements.

Famous for its trade capabilities, Khmelnytskyi was the next city on the list. Khmelnytskyi City Council has formally received the delegation. Considering limited amount of time the commission managed to hold several meetings with the officials, local trade and logistics companies, visit the perinatal center and take an excursion in the regional National Park. Additionally, SRCA has signed the Memorandum of Understanding with the Khmelnytskyi City Council. One of the main topics that have been discussed at the meetings were the project of an Industrial Park in the area, the needs of the Perinatal Center and possible donations from the Chinese side.

After Khmelnytskyi, the team arrived in Truskavets, health tourism heart of Ukraine. The City Council led by the city mayor Mr. Andriy Kulchynskyi has warmly received the delegation and assisted the team within the next two days. The commission assessed several resorts, five-star hotels, the level of the service etc. It is believed that Truskavets would become one of the main destinations in the Ukraine related health tourism projects.

International Civil Organization “Cultural-Research Center “Lanhua”, a long-lasting partner of the Alliance, led by its chairman – Mr. Yuriy Kotyk, has received the delegation in Lviv in the evening of November 13th. Together, Chinese delegates and “Lanhua” Organization held meetings with the Head of the Lviv Regional Administration Mr. Oleg Syniutka and Secretary of the City Council Mr. Anatoliy Zabarylo, and had a pleasant excursion around the city. The sides agreed to keep a close connection to share the results of the research and create joint projects.

On November 15, the delegation has arrived in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, to take part in the III Ukrainian Silk Road Forum, organized by the Ukrainian association of Silk Road “Silk Link”. Second time in a row Mrs. Wu was invited to be an honourable speaker at the Forum. After her performance and panel session, the organizers held an MOU singing ceremonies between SRCA and the city of Melitopol and the Bogdan Khmelnytskyi Melitopol State Pedagogical University.  In the framework of the Forum, the delegation also held meetings with the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine Mr. Roman Illyk and Deputy Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine to discuss the opportunities of cooperation. Besides, Mrs. Wu has observed the exhibition of the Ukrainian export products from different industry sectors, including aviation.

At the end of the trip through Ukraine, the team of the Silk Road Cities Alliance was amazed by the beauty of this country as well as its potential in the sectors of investments, tourism and health. The research information has been gathered, and for now, the team should process it and come up with the practical proposals to the Ukrainian partners.