Today, on September 22nd, the second day of the Regional Economic Forum featured discussions on various critical topics, including the Government's economic strategy, the law "On the State Budget 2024", Ukraine Facility, demographic challenges in Ukraine, the significance of human capital, grant and loan programs aimed at supporting small and medium-sized businesses, as well as public procurement. The forum was attended by Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy. The event commenced with the opening remarks by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

"Ukraine, unfortunately, has always been underinvested, and this is the state we came to at the beginning of the war. The key task of the Government is to create a competitive economy and ensure the inflow of direct investment by fostering business activity. The focus is now on supporting small and medium-sized businesses through deregulation, state support, and harmonisation of legislation with the EU. Thus, in 2023, the situation with foreign direct investment improved significantly, with a net inflow of $2.2 billion in January-July," Yuliia Svyrydenko said during the discussion panel.

In particular, the draft budget for 2024 provides incentives for economic recovery: almost UAH 30 billion for programmes to support Ukrainian business.

According to the First Deputy Prime Minister, it is important to strengthen risk mitigation mechanisms to attract investment to Ukraine. The Ministry of Economy continues to build a system for Ukrainian and international investors to access insurance against various types of military risks when doing business in Ukraine. Donors include the G7, G19 governments and the European Commission, as well as the Trust Funds of international financial organisations, IFI/DFI Trust Funds and expert credit agencies.

Yuliia Svyrydenko also stressed that for sustainable economic growth, Ukraine needs to turn from a country that exports raw materials into an exporter of finished products.

"We need to prioritize the development of the processing industry as Ukraine's new economic philosophy because it generates a high percentage of added value. Currently, the manufacturing industry contributes 10.3% to Ukraine's GDP, while our neighboring countries have significantly higher figures: Poland - 17.3%, Turkey - 22%, Slovakia - 19.1%. The OECD benchmark for Ukraine is 20-25%. To achieve this, an estimated $90 billion in investments will be required between 2023 and 2032," emphasized Yuliia Svyrydenko.

"In addition to supporting entrepreneurship in the domestic market, the Government is also committed to boosting exports by strengthening the Ukrainian Export Credit Agency's capacity. With additional funding, the agency aims to support $2 billion worth of exports over the next 1-3 years. Furthermore, the Government is actively developing a reinsurance mechanism for the guarantees provided by the ECA, which opens up new opportunities for insuring new clients.