Kharkivites study U.S. grain industry (08/19/01)

Kharkivites study U.S. grain industry

CINCINNATI - Midwestern grain businesses in five states hosted 16 Kharkiv grain producers studying how the U.S. grain industry works. With this information, they can help their businesses back home operate and compete in a market economy.

On a study tour lasting from June 11 through July 1, the group visited grain operations, research centers and educational institutions in Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa and Missouri.

The tour was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and organized by the non-profit Center for Economic Initiatives in Cincinnati.

The Center for Economic Initiatives (CEI) has been using the study tour method to give businesspeople from the former Soviet Union a first-hand look at modern technologies, management and productivity methods and free-market competition. U.S. businesses volunteer to show their sites and explain their operations.

This study tour was the CEI's eighth, and USAID has funded another five. These will bring three groups from Kharkiv to study animal husbandry, machine building and construction, as well as two from Slavutych to study information technology and construction.

"We feel it is essential for both Ukraine and the U.S. that managers in the former Soviet Union learn how to operate in a free market economy," said Dr. Belal Siddique, who has organized the program for the Ukrainian grain producers. "This type of study tour presents the perfect opportunity for the group to learn how to apply modern technology and management techniques in their businesses, which will improve their cost effectiveness. This has a direct effect on improving the standard of living for their population," he explained.

The study tours are already making a significant impact on business. A report from the Kharkiv government says that 60 percent of Kharkiv firms participating in the study tours have doubled their efficiency. This is vital in an economy that is struggling to prosper under its new economic structure.

The Center for Economic Initiatives models its study tours after those conducted for Western European businesses after World War II under the Marshall Plan. In fact, the man who proposed and implemented this technical assistance component of the Marshall Plan in 1948, Jim Silberman is an active consultant for the Center for Economic Initiatives.

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