On March 9-10, Vinnytsia hosted IV All-Ukrainian City Development Institutions Forum “Role and Place of Development Institutions and LED Experts in Fostering Communities’ Economic Development”. The event was organized by PLEDDG Project in partnership with Vinnytsia City Сouncil.
The objective of the Forum was to improve cooperation, exchange experience and build constructive dialogue between Ukrainian and foreign local development institutions. The event welcomed around 80 representatives of Ukrainian local development institutions and international technical assistance projects and became a platform for active dialogue between participants.
The Forum began with a welcoming speech from Vinnytsia Mayor Serhiy Morhunov, Head of Vinnytsia Regional Administration Valeriy Koroviy and PLEDDG Director Oleksandr Kucherenko. Dmytro Romanuik, Regional Coordinator of Ukrainelnvest, Ukraine Investment Promotion Office, spoke about preconditions for investment attraction in regions. Oleh Levchenko, Executive Director of Podillia Regional Development Agency, presented Vinnytsia Municipal Center of Innovations. Oleksandr Kobzarev, Director of City Institute (Lviv), talked about associations of professional experts that deal with economic development in communities.
Kent McMullin (Edmonton, Alberta) and Wendy Dupley (Abbotsford, British Columbia) shared Canadian best practices of establishing local development institutions. Kent McMullin, Senior Business Strategist of Investment and Business Development Department of Edmonton City Council, stressed the importance of support to small and medium business as a basis for national and local economic development. Wendy Dupley, Executive Director for the CAED (City of Abbotsford Economic Development) team, spoke about Canadian professional association of economic development experts.
Participants had a chance to discuss many interesting topics during the sessions. The first session was dedicated to successful planning of territorial economic development. The second session dealt with small and medium business development, while the third session tackled investment attraction.
On the second day, participants had an opportunity to learn from the city of Vinnytsia and Vinnytsia region’s experience in implementing development projects and programs. Volodymyr Merezhko, Director of the Department of International Cooperation and Regional Development of Vinnytsia Regional Administration, and Vitaliy Pogosyan, Director of the Department of Economics and Investments of Vinnytsia City Council, spoke about the investment potential of Vinnytsia region by emphasizing that Vinnytsia was open for investment. According to them, Vinnytsia was a region with a great potential for business development, with well-established partner relationships between the authorities, the public and business sector, all of which providing for a positive investment environment. Mr. Merezhko mentioned successful cooperation between the regional administration and a number of foundations, namely Vinnytsia Regional Development Agency and Regional Environmental Fund.
The forum ended with a tour to “Vinnytsia transport company” and Vinnytsia NGO for disabled people “Harmony”.
PowerPoint Presentations