Leaders of the Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE) have taken part in an
international investment conference in Budapest, Hungary, being a meeting point for business
associations, companies from Moldova, Germany, Belarus, Turkey, Latvia, and others. It was organized
by the International Congress of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ICIE) and the National Association of
Entrepreneurs and Employers (VOSZ) of Hungary.
ULIE President Anatoliy Kinakh, who holds the post of First Vice-President at the ICIE, informed
international partners about Ukraine's experience in raising capital for the modernization of production
facilities, development of dialogue between the government, businesses and society to accelerate
economic reforms and partner investors' opportunities in the domestic market.
The participants in the event discussed the development of cooperation and foreign economic relations
in the fields of industry, agriculture, transport, service delivery, etc.
"As of today, Hungary with its $610 million in capital investment accounts for 1.4% of total foreign direct
investment in Ukraine. And this trend should be developed. What is more, the Ukrainian party
(government, businesses, NGOs) is actively working to accelerate the reforms to improve the business
climate. A new anti-corruption law has been passed recently; the situation in customs and tax
administration is getting better. Hopefully, the most pressing issues that potential investors were
concerned about will be quickly resolved, and we can talk about considerably boosting cooperation,"
Anatoliy Kinakh said.
In his view, all the states need to conduct a well-considered investment policy, especially it concerns the
former Soviet Union republics whose task is to upgrade their production facilities and stake on
innovation.
At the same time, the ULIE President encourages domestic producers to adapt their products to the
technical regulations and standards of the EU as soon as possible, urging the state and business
associations to assist in this at most. This would allow Ukrainian goods to be more competitive and
attractive not only on the European market, but also on the other markets, namely in the United States,
Canada, etc., as international standards are similar everywhere.
Also, during his visit to Budapest, Anatoliy Kinakh met with Ambassador of Ukraine to Hungary, Ms.
Lyubov Nepop. They jointly outlined the scope of the national business and investment interests in
Hungary, agreed on close cooperation in the promotion of Ukrainian producers in that country and
others.
"We've got what to work on: our exports to Hungary in monetary terms are very low – $627 million (in
the first half of 2016). At the same time, the partners have interest in Ukrainian-made products, namely
farm produce, commodities of machine-building and the light industry, etc.," the ULIE President said.
Reference information. The International Congress of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ICIE) is a union of
business associations, and inter-state non-governmental organization incorporating the largest public
business associations from 27 countries, including Poland, Hungary, China, Kazakhstan, Italy and so on.
The ICIE's task is to assist in the implementation of major international infrastructure projects in
engineering, the transport sector, economic security, including through cooperation with the EU,
international and regional organizations.
