Ukrainian businesses have got an opportunity to find reliable partners and customers in Canada. The Ukrainian League of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (ULIE), being a major business association of Ukrainian industrialists and entrepreneurs, will sign a cooperation agreement with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, which will feature an agreement to boost bilateral economic contacts. This was discussed at a meeting between ULIE President Anatoliy Kinakh and President, CEO and Chair of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business Dan Kelly at the European Business Summit in Brussels.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business is a big association that brings together dozens of that country’s influential business structures, 109,000 small- and medium-sized businesses. This type of business is the backbone of the economy of Canada and should become the same in Ukraine, the two officials said. In particular, the partners propose focusing most of attention on the development of entrepreneurship and are ready to share experience for well-considered and effective investment in the most promising sectors of the economy.
Signing an agreement on cooperation will become proof of intent to develop cooperation. As early as this summer, talks between the organizations will take place in Canada, and they will draft a joint plan of action with detailed tasks, deadlines, and commitments.
ULIE President Kinakh says these efforts will allow Ukrainian businesses to increase and diversify their exports, without limiting themselves to the European destination in order to find compensation of the loss of the eastern markets and attract foreign investors to develop production, launch new projects.
In this context, the parties spoke for the need to sign an already initialed agreement on the free trade area between Ukraine and Canada, as it will significantly improve the efficiency of economic partnership between the two countries, will become am incentive to boosting exports and imports, and investment.
It must be noted that the said agreement provides for a gradual (over a decade) mutual reduction in import duties on most of the product groups, as in the end it should lead to the cancellation of 98% of them.
Ukrainian shipments to Canada in January-February 2016 grew by 73.3% year-over-year, to $19.4 million, while imports from that country rose by 29.3%, to $47.9 million.
