The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will support small and medium-sized businesses, expand grant programmes for entrepreneurs, including those in the de-occupied territories and continue export promotion programmes. The agency may also help Ukraine attract major U.S. banks for investment projects. This was discussed during a meeting between Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, and Isobel Coleman, Deputy Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
“We are very grateful to USAID for its continued support and partnership in many areas. The Agency is already actively implementing a number of programmes to support Ukrainian small and medium-sized businesses, assist in the development of the agricultural sector, and help strengthen Ukraine’s export capabilities. We hope that USAID will further strengthen its programmes for processing enterprises and support the Made in Ukraine initiative, which should increase domestic production and promote Ukrainian goods on global markets,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.
In general, during the meeting the Ukrainian side stressed the importance of attracting investment in reconstruction and building a new architecture for the involvement of international financial institutions in post-war recovery. The parties discussed support for the processing industry, programmes to support small and medium-sized businesses, and strengthening export capacity, in particular by building the capacity of the ECA.
Yuliia Svyrydenko also noted the importance to Ukraine of USAID’s assistance in monitoring the effectiveness of sanctions against russia.
The parties also discussed the possibility of USAID engaging experts from major U.S. banks to implement investment projects in Ukraine.
“We have agreed with USAID to expand our cooperation and coordinate efforts on a strategy to support the development of the Ukrainian economy. It is important that we and our partners have a good understanding of the needs, opportunities and promising areas for further cooperation, so that our interaction will be even more effective and productive,” concluded Yuliia Svyrydenko. (Government portal/Business World Magazine)