On November 7, the 10th Kyiv International Economic Forum was held in Kyiv. The main theme of the Forum was “The Power of Challenge. What will shape the future of Ukraine and the world?”.
This year’s event was attended by over 1000 guests. More than 100 speakers took part in 16 panel discussions: entrepreneurs, top managers, representatives of international organizations, analysts, and government officials. They shared their vision of Ukraine’s role in the global economy, attracting investment in the face of ongoing armed aggression, developing defense technologies, and the future of the energy system.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the Forum. In his video address, he said that business would be involved in the economic part of the internal victory plan.
“We have invited businesses to join the development of the internal plan of economic direction. First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko is leading this work. And the strategic vision of entrepreneurs will be taken into account. Just as one of our key geopolitical needs will be in Europe. This is the foundation,” the President said.
The Kyiv International Economic Forum was opened by Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal. He shared his vision of the future prospects and challenges of the present. In his speech, he spoke about the economy, financial stability, energy, logistics, booking and business support. The Prime Minister noted that the country will have the funds to finance the army and all priority budget expenditures.
“For 2025, we have an absolute understanding of how we will close the budget deficit. We are continuing the Ukraine Facility program with the International Monetary Fund and the European Union. The $50 billion (note: confiscated Russian assets) that we will receive from the G7 countries and the European Union will be our reserve, our airbag for the next year and even the years after that. This is what we agreed with the IMF and our partners. This means that we will not resort to emission financing of the budget,” the Prime Minister emphasized.
The first discussion panel “The Common Future of Ukraine and Europe” was attended by Yulia Svyrydenko, First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister for Innovation, Education, Science and Technology, Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Vyacheslavs Dombrovskis, Minister of Economy and Energy of Latvia (2014), Vyacheslavs Dombrovskis, Minister of Education and Science of Latvia (2013-2014) and John Denton, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
“Ukraine’s integration into the EU will create added value not only for Ukraine but also for Europe. We have deposits of critical materials that the EU lacks and a growing defense industry. We have the potential and ambition to replace part of the EU’s imports with goods produced in Ukraine, strengthening European strategic autonomy. To this end, we are implementing a number of policies, including the Made in Ukraine program, to stimulate production, attract investment in the real sector and strengthen non-resource exports,” said Yulia Svyrydenko.
During the discussion, Mykhailo Fedorov, Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, noted the rapid development of defense technologies.
“We are now seeing how technologies are developing during a full-scale war. Let’s take defense tech: at the beginning, we had 7 companies that created drones, and now there are 500 of them. And we see their number growing every week. But they do not appear by themselves, their appearance depends on incentives, on conditions,” said Mikhail Fedorov.
“The jubilee KIEF has demonstrated that we are able to cope with our challenge of bringing together different groups for the development of Ukraine. The KIEF is a platform that brings business, government and the civil sector together to develop ideas. This year’s discussions were heated, often emotional, but highly productive. We already have a vision of the key areas of work and approaches to them. I have a great hope that they will be implemented, and next year we will gather at the same venue and discuss the results,” said Yuriy Pyvovarov, CEO of the Kyiv International Economic Forum.
During one of the discussion panels, KIEF initiator and founder of the UFuture holding company Vasyl Khmelnytsky noted that the country’s success lies primarily in the unification of government and business.
“For us to catch up with Poland or China quickly, we need to unite business and government. I know that not everyone likes this idea, but if we need to build 10,000 factories or enterprises, it is impossible without cooperation with the government. The challenge is very big – the government and business must work as a team. We need more entrepreneurs, we need to teach entrepreneurship in schools. If we want to make an economic breakthrough, the government must develop education and create attractive conditions for business and investors,” summarized Vasyl Khmelnytsky.
Vasyl Khmelnytsky also emphasized the importance of making decisions in difficult situations: “If a business has no economy, sell it, even at a loss, and move forward. I had LvivTech.City, a very good project. But two years after the war started, I sold it at a loss, covered the loans, invested in UNIT.City, and continue to develop.”
This year, KIEF has raised UAH 1.1 million to help the Armed Forces and psychological rehabilitation of children. The funds will go to the 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade “Edelweiss”, which is fighting the aggressor in the East, and the NGO Gen.Ukrainian, which provides psychological rehabilitation for children in Gen.Camp camps.
The Kyiv International Economic Forum is one of the largest
international forums that brings together representatives of business, government and society to
to discuss key economic issues and global trends.
Recordings of the forum’s discussion panels are available on the KIEF YouTube channel.
Download photos from the event here.
Interfax-Ukraine is a long-term media partner of the Forum.
Title partners: UFuture, Mastercard, Nova Poshta, AEQUO, Germany, Naftogaz Group
Partners: Biopharma, Interpipe, FUIB, MHP, Epicenter, PrivatBank, Lamel,
Ajax Systems, Biosphere Corporation, Sense Bank, Kernel, Vodafone, OKKO, Metinvest
Program partners: ACC (American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine), Center for
Center for Social Change and Behavioral Economics, GLOBSEC
Business expert: Forbes Ukraine
Title media partners: Starlight Media, 1+1 media
Media partners: New Voice, LIGA.net, Interfax-Ukraine, TAVR Media, RBC-Ukraine, Kyiv Post, Mind.ua, Delo.ua, The Kyiv Independent, Huxley, Tvoje Misto
