Conference on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Thessaloniki, Greece

On 18 November 2016 was held a “Conference for cultivation of MAP`s” organized by the project CULT and the Greek project partner “Perrotis College” from Thessaloniki, at the premises of college.
The conference was attended by representatives from the production organizations, producers, manufacturers and institutions, all participants in the chain of cultivation, processing and trade of Medical and Aromatic Plants (MAP`s) products from Greece, Macedonia and Bulgaria.

The conference was opened by the representative of KULT project with an overview of the activities undertaken in the project, the results achieved and planned activities for the next 2017.
Representatives of the project partners, “Perrotis College” Thessaloniki, “Bioselena” from Karlovo and “Macedonian Forests” from Skopje presented the current situation in the MAP`s sector in their countries as well as detailed analysis of problems and needs for improvement of the area of operations . Especially it emphasized the need for continuing education of participants in MAP`s through training, training programs and seminars, research and market approach.

The second part of the conference was dedicated to the manufacturers and their experiences in the work, problems with purchasing, marketing of products, marketing and profitability. There were presented positive examples of companies – exporters, their experience in positioning the domestic and regional markets and the problems they face every day with. It was highlighted the importance of regional promotional events organized by Local Governments (municipalities) where participants are connected with each other through joint projects to improve their sector operations

All presenters and participants stressed the need in the networking and exchange of experiences between the participants in the chain of MAP`s and its concrete proposals to the project CULT showed their willingness for future cooperation in a joint regional network. The proposal to build “Regional MAP`s Platform” using KULT project was accepted by all participants.