The Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, together with representatives from international partner organizations, development institutions, and financial institutions worldwide, held the second meeting of the SME Resilience Alliance. The primary topic of the meeting was the involvement of Alliance members in implementing the Strategy for Recovery, Sustainable Development, and Digital Transformation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) until 2027. The Strategy was approved by the government on 30 August 2024. 

“We are grateful to our international partners for their substantial support of Ukrainian business, especially as we approach a challenging winter and look toward economic recovery and growth. We are pleased to see the SME Resilience Alliance expanding, with more organizations joining. The Ministry of Economy is focused not only on mobilizing resources to support the private sector but also on coordinating partner actions to ensure maximum synergy. We also aim to use this platform to achieve concrete outcomes for the upcoming Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC2025),” stated First Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Oleksii Sobolev. 

The SME Resilience Alliance currently includes over 30 organizations and partners, with more than 80 representatives participating in the second meeting. The discussions centered on specific steps for coordinating efforts and mobilizing new resources.

The Alliance Secretariat is currently gathering data from partners to identify potential gaps in business needs and the implementation of the SME Strategy’s Operational Plan. This approach helps avoid duplication of efforts, which is essential to cover all those in need of support. 

The final version of this comprehensive analysis will be presented at a public event as part of the third Alliance meeting scheduled for late November. Alliance members will share their insights with Ukrainian business associations, think tanks, and civil society.

Background: 

Ukraine, along with 12 other countries, 17 development institutions, and international financial organizations, established the SME Resilience Alliance during the International Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin (URC2024). The Alliance Secretariat is co-chaired by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany (BMZ). 

The SME Resilience Alliance functions as a thematic subgroup within the Sectoral Working Group on “Economic Recovery, Industry, and SMEs” as part of a three-tier coordination framework between the Government of Ukraine and development partners to support the implementation of the Government Action Plan (GAP) and the economic direction of the state policy.

Together with Alliance members, the Ministry of Economy addresses tasks such as coordinating joint activities under ongoing and future international technical assistance (ITA) projects aimed at supporting businesses; reviewing progress in implementing the SME Strategy; and integrating cross-cutting issues (such as green transition, inclusion, support for veteran and women-owned businesses, and entrepreneurs among internally displaced persons) into initiatives to strengthen the resilience and growth of small and medium-sized enterprises.