JICA held a 2-day online workshop to help create a Moldovan wine branding strategy towards Japanese market

On 4 and 6 April, JICA organized a two-day online workshop for those who are involved in the wine industry in Moldova, such as the representatives of the National Office of Wine and Vine, wine producers, dealers, and exporters.

The purpose of the workshop was to: 1) review a national brand strategy of the sector to promote Moldovan wines in Japan more effectively; and 2) consider the next steps for wine promotion in Japan for the future. This event was planned and implemented as one of a series of wine promotion activities in Japan.

The training session was led by two JICA experts, Mr. Daiju Takahashi, a managing director of a NGO and a marketing and branding expert and Mr. Hiroshi Sakata, an entrepreneur and an expert in business management and finance.

At the begging of the workshop, H.E. Mr. Dumitru Socolan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Moldova to Japan, greeted the participants and thanked JICA for the support in the promotion of Moldovan wines in Japan. He mentioned that in order to enter Japanese market, the most important aspect would be to settle strong partnership relationships based on trust with Japanese partners.

Also, Mr. Hideki Matsunaga, JICA Director General, Middle East and Europe Department, present at the workshop had some remarks. Inter alia, he mentioned about the big potential of Moldova, especially the agriculture and food industry, that could prosper further. In that connection, JICA would want to strengthen the partnership with Moldovan Government in promoting whose industries and for that reason organize this workshop as a very important first step.

During the first day of the training, the experts made a detailed presentation and overview of wine markets in Japan and talked about the potential of Moldovan wines to enter and win the market. At the end of the session, the participants worked on individual working sheets to re-evaluate the characteristics of Moldovan wines. On the send-day, the participants presented their evaluation results including as core values, concepts, and strengths of Moldovan wines, followed by practical discussions with the experts and Moldovan colleagues.

In the closing session, the experts emphasized the importance of increasing the name recognition of quality Moldovan wines by establishing a common branding strategy as the wine sector of Moldova, which would be necessary to compete with existing competitors in Japanese market. JICA would like to keep working and cooperating with the Moldovan wine industry to help improve the Moldovan economy.