On Monday, I attended the Road to the Ukraine Recovery Conference hosted by the Department for Business & Trade (DBT) in partnership with Wilton Park.
Andrew Mitchell, Director General Exports & Trade at DBT opened the event and detailed some of the reconstruction needs of Ukraine across the three phases of its National Recovery Plan, and the importance of the private sector in supporting the associated recovery and GDP growth. This message featured prominently throughout the day’s presentations, and we heard from Ukrainian government officials representing the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Restoration around some of the immediate and future needs. They detailed how, despite the war, Ukraine is actively working to strengthen regional security and protect the interests of the private sector.
Other topics discussed during the day were advances on insurance - both in terms of investment insurance and war risk insurance - to close the risk gap and enable international business and investment; in addition, a suite of anti-corruption measures being led by technological solutions to ensure transparency were highlighted. Technology is one of the sectors with the biggest potential in Ukraine, and the event also saw the signing of the UK-Ukraine Digital Trade Agreement - signed, aptly, via video link by The Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP, Secretary of State for Business and Trade, and First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, Minister of Economic Development & Trade for Ukraine.
The Department for Business and Trade used the platform to launch its new ‘Guide to Doing Business with Ukraine’, produced by DBT’s Industry Advisers, Mott MacDonald and Crown Agents. The Guide provides an overview of the reconstruction needs and priorities, information on funding and procurement processes, as well as detail on the Ukrainian market. If you would like to receive a digital copy, please register at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/register-your-interest-to-support-reconstruction-in-ukraine.
BEI is looking forward to hosting other activities in the run up to the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC) which will be hosted on 21-22 June 2023. This will be a high-profile international event co-hosted by the United Kingdom and Ukraine, which will be one the UK’s major diplomatic moments in 2023. Whilst the FCDO are the overall URC lead, DBT is responsible for pushing forward the private sector agenda for URC, which will have an international business focus.
Alexandra Barnes, Director of Infrastructure and Climate Resilience - ab@britishexpertise.org
