Swedish business is interested in investing in high-tech sectors of Ukraine: Yuliia Svyrydenko
29.03.2024 | 12:33 | Section for Public and Mass Media Relations
Swedish business is interested in increasing its presence in Ukraine, as well as in developing cooperation with Ukrainian companies in high-tech sectors such as energy, telecommunications and cybersecurity. This was discussed during a meeting between Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Economy of Ukraine, and Ebba Busch, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy, Business and Industry of Sweden.
The meeting was also attended by Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Rostyslav Shurma, Deputy Ministers of Economy Volodymyr Kuzyo and Oleksii Sobolev, as well as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Sweden to Ukraine Martin Åberg and State Secretary to Minister for Energy, Business and Industry of Sweden Daniel Liljeberg.
“During the meeting, we thanked the Government of Sweden for the support already provided and called on Swedish businesses to invest in the Ukrainian economy and join the implementation of projects under Ukraine’s Recovery Plan. Indeed, private sector investment is extremely important for the recovery of our country, as it has the greatest multiplier effect on the economy.
We discussed specific projects that may be interesting for Swedish companies to invest in. We heard from our colleagues that Swedish businesses already operating in Ukraine are interested in increasing their presence, and potential investors are interested in cooperation in such high-tech industries as conventional and green energy, telecommunications, and cybersecurity. It is very important for us to localise such high-tech production in Ukraine. We have excellent opportunities for cooperation that will benefit both countries,” Yuliia Svyrydenko said.
During the meeting, the parties discussed opportunities to increase support for Ukraine’s energy sector amid the latest missile attacks by the russian federation and investments in other key sectors of the economy that will be prioritised in 2024-2027 and have the greatest potential for growth. The parties also discussed the possibility of involving the Swedish export credit agency in war risk insurance for Swedish investors.
Another topic of conversation was the development of women’s entrepreneurship in Ukraine, the provision of grants to women for business development and the reduction of the gender pay gap. The Government’s priority is to reduce the gender pay gap from 18.6% to 13.6% by 2030.
First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine also emphasised that more and more Ukrainian women were willing to undergo training and retrain for male professions – working in construction, demining, processing and many other once exclusively male positions. The parties discussed the possibility of Sweden’s participation in educational programmes for women entrepreneurs so that they could return to rebuild Ukraine with new skills and knowledge.