The creation of new markets and the technological upgrading of Ukraine’s economy, the integration of Japanese technologies into Ukrainian production, and “smart” demining were among the topics discussed during a meeting on May 20 between Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine Oleksii Sobolev and JICA Vice President Yuko Mitsui. The visit marked Yuko Mitsui’s first official trip to Ukraine.
“Japan is our strategic partner in recovery and development, and we highly value this support. The visit of JICA Vice President Yuko Mitsui to Ukraine is an important step in structuring our further cooperation. I thank the Government of Japan and JICA for their systematic cooperation and willingness to invest not only in rebuilding ‘walls’, but also in the long-term transformation of the Ukrainian economy,” Oleksii Sobolev said.
During the meeting, the parties discussed humanitarian demining. In the field of “smart” demining, work is underway based on agreements reached during the Ukraine Mine Action Conference in Tokyo last autumn. The Government’s goal is not simply to import equipment, but to integrate Japanese technologies into Ukrainian production. Initially, this concerns the demining sector, with the experience later to be scaled up to agriculture and industry.
The Government is also working on launching trilateral cooperation formats with Colombia and Syria, through which Ukraine, with Japan’s support, will share its unique experience in humanitarian demining. This will also create new markets for Ukrainian humanitarian demining operators and Ukrainian manufacturers of demining equipment.
Joint work with JICA is also focused on soil restoration, support for small-scale farmers, including women farmers, the development of clean technology solutions, and the processing of debris waste resulting from destruction.
In addition, a blended finance mechanism through the National Development Institution (NDI) is currently being developed to enable Ukrainian companies to purchase advanced Japanese equipment. Japan is also interested in establishing a venture fund to finance joint Ukrainian-Japanese enterprises.
Together with UkraineInvest, JETRO and JICA, the Government is working on launching a Ukrainian hub in Osaka to promote Ukrainian investment opportunities among Japanese businesses. In particular, this agreement was reached last year in Japan during Expo 2025.
The parties also discussed the importance of developing human capital, the labour market and employment, as well as strengthening the capacity of Ukrainian institutions, where digitalisation and technical support from partners play an important role. (Government portal)