On July 17, Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute was visited by a delegation of the Japan External Trade Organization JETRO headed by its leaders - Executive Vice President of JETRO Kazuya Nakajo and Director of JETRO Ukraine Tetsuo Shibata.
Sergiy Sydorenko, Head of the All-Ukrainian Innovation Ecosystem “Sikorsky Challenge Ukraine” Inna Maliukova, Director of the Ukrainian-Japanese Center of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute Kateryna Lugovska, Deputy Director of the Innovation Holding “Sikorsky Challenge” Sergiy Sergienko met with the guests.
JETRO representatives were shown presentations from Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute “Japan is getting closer”, as well as the All-Ukrainian Innovation Ecosystem “Sikorsky Challenge Ukraine” and a number of startup projects.
The visit was initiated by JETRO. Sergiy Sydorenko told the KP correspondent about its purpose and details: “First of all, the guests wanted to hear from KPI about the startups born at the university and how KPI provides assistance to them. Based on what we said, the guests expressed their intention to present Ukrainian startups in Japan, which are not yet very well known in their country and in the world. They also expressed a desire to promote business and economic cooperation with Ukraine through support, including financial and systemic consultations, and representation of Ukrainian startups in Japan, the United States, and other countries. Representatives of JETRO actively discussed the possibilities of further cooperation with KPI, bearing in mind that it will be facilitated by the opening of the JETRO office in Kyiv in the near future. The delegation received comprehensive answers to all the questions raised by the guests. I would like to note that the guests were quite impressed by the Sikorsky Challenge Ukraine Innovation System, which was founded by Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and is now developing as an international system. The Japanese guests were also impressed by the specific examples of our startups that won the competitions of innovative projects at the Sikorsky Challenge 2023 festival.
Finally, the participants of the meeting agreed to identify areas of common interest and prepare a memorandum of cooperation.
For reference: JETRO is a powerful organization created to promote the development of trade and economic cooperation between Japan and other countries. It has 48 regional offices in Japan and 76 offices in 55 countries.