Source: Official website of Vinnytsia City Council
On September 7, with the support of PLEDDG project Vinnytsia hosted the VI International Investment Forum “Vinnytsia Region – Business at the heart of Ukraine”. Its objective was to activate economic cooperation, present investment, economic, agro-industrial, and tourist potential of Vinnytsia region, as well as to establish new partnership contacts and build a mutually beneficial cooperation.
This time, the forum has welcomed representatives of the Government of Ukraine and foreign diplomats, investment companies, international experts, representatives of business missions from the partner regions and business communities.
Valeriy Koroviy, Head of Vinnytsia RSA, officially opened the forum with his speech about challenges and operational aims of Vinnytsia Region development. In addition, Valeriy Koroviy spoke about importance of communication “When preparing for today’s Forum, which is a long-awaited event, we have been seeking to do everything for turning it into a discussion platform. Due to this, we are going to have extremely interesting talks, especially on what refers to the current situation in terms of regional development and attraction of investments. We expect that this event will be extremely successful. In general, the Forum registered 150 representatives of foreign firms and companies. This speaks for their interest in our region and their collecting more information on investment conditions”, – Valeriy Koroviy, Head of RSA, says.
Serhiy Morhunov, Vinnytsia Mayor, told the participants about economic development of the administrative center of the region. Specifically, he noted: “We are living in a challenging competitive environment both for the region in general, – and for Vinnytsia as a city, in particular, – it is critical to build its own investment potential. From the time Vinnytsia hosted the first investment forum, we have accumulated a range of developments. For instance, today, we are opening the first stage of the plant of “UBC Group” in the territory of Vinnytsia industrial park, with this to have been a joint work of the Government of Ukraine, the regional state administration, Vinnytsia territorial community, and an investor. That is why I would like to invite the forum’s participants to share their opinions, get positive experiences, and welcome them to develop their businesses in Vinnytsia”.
In 2018, there was launched the “Vinnytsia Cluster of Refrigeration Engineering”, a unique industrial park. Currently, in its territory, “UBC Group”, an enterprise specializing in refrigerating equipment production, is about to start its operation. Besides, the Memorandum on cooperation with “HEAD SKI”, a global leader in ski-and-sports equipment manufacturing, was signed. The creation of the first Ukrainian municipal Innovation and Technology Park was initiated. Whereas, a range of projects such as a Portal for Entrepreneurs — «City 4Business, the Program for compensation of interest rate on loans for representatives of small and medium entrepreneurship, Open Regulatory Platform and a series of events were implemented as part of the “Marathon of Opportunities for Businesses” with a view to ensure development for local entrepreneurs.
The Mayor focused more on the details of Vinnytsia Marketing Strategy. “The Marketing Strategy is a vital document for the city development and an effective instrument both for shaping an attractive investment image and for attracting investments. The objective of its development and implementation is to solve the issues of the local economic development, creating a favourable climate for external investors and local businesses, activization of investment processes, implementation of innovations, enhancing competitiveness of the local enterprises, and improvement of the city residents’ life. In the process of development of the Marketing Strategy, there were identified major barriers to the city promotion and its branding, with the ways of how to overcome them”, – Serhiy Morhunov said.
Ivan Mikloš, the former Minister of Finance of Slovakia, now chairing a Group of Strategic Advisors to the Prime Minister of Ukraine, dedicated his speech to the prospects of economic growth in Ukraine. He noted that Vinnytsia Region was a welcome surprise for him. “Prior to my arrival at Vinnytsia I have heard only positive things about the city. Now, I can see that they are true. I am glad that this forum has been organized here, as I have always told that investments are the most important factor for the development of a country. Moreover, it is highly important to speak about this not only at the central level but to do something at the local one. It is for the first time for over many years when Ukrainian economy is changing for the better – towards market economy. Whereas, Ukraine as such has an enormous economic potential which is not being used at full capacity yet. Today, in terms of investments, it is crucial to have a fair and open competitiveness and credit”, – Ivan Mikloš said.
In the afternoon, as part of the investment forum, there will be panel discussions held, where the participants are going to discuss such issues as enhancement of regional competitiveness, innovations and technologies, instruments of support for Ukrainian exporters, and foreign direct investments. In addition, the participants will have talks on such topics as development of tourism and digital technologies, energy efficiency, and building energy self-sufficience.
