President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg took part in the Ukraine-Norway business forum.
The Head of State invited Norwegian investors to Ukraine and noted the potential of development and enhancement of Ukraine-Norway cooperation. According to Petro Poroshenko, Ukrainian and Norwegian economies can largely supplement and reinforce one another. “Norway is a unique model of general state welfare. The country possesses state-of-the-art technologies, particularly in the sphere of renewable energy sources. It is also an importer of agricultural products,” the President said. He added that those factors made Norway a very attractive partner for Ukraine.
“At the same time, Ukraine has a rapidly growing consumer market. We are currently in the process of complex modernization of many traditional industries of the Ukrainian economy. Our IT sphere is the fastest growing among the European states. Ukraine is well-known for its agricultural industry,” the Head of State said. He also noted that Ukrainians had a high level of education and geographic proximity and low cost of production made our country attractive for business. “All this allows Norwegian companies to consider Ukraine as a new promising opportunity,” Petro Poroshenko noted.
The President recalled the advantages of the FTA Agreement with the EU.
"And most importantly, today Ukraine and Norway have a strong political will to create conditions for further strengthening bilateral trade and investment cooperation," the President noted.
The Head of State also informed on the course of reforms in Ukraine: stabilization of macroeconomic situation, purification of the banking system, continued energy reform and deregulation.
“Although there is still much to be done, we have already achieved a lot,” the President said reminding that Ukraine had risen by 65 positions in the ease of doing business ranking of the World Bank. According to the President, an extremely important task of the Ukrainian government is to create conditions for investment security in Ukraine. In this context, the Ukrainian authorities have approved constitutional amendments on judicial reform and created a mechanism to fight against corruption. The Head of State also reminded that over the past two years, Ukraine had launched electronic system of public procurement and reformed police.
“This year we have seen how investors discover the Ukrainian market to take advantage of the existing opportunities to develop their production in our country,” the President noted. In this context, the Head of State took part in the opening of Bunge complex in Mykolaiv seaport, the launch of Fujikura Automotive in Lviv region etc.
“I hope that someday I will take part in the opening of an enterprise with Norwegian investments in Ukraine. We are open and invite you to Ukraine,” Petro Poroshenko emphasized. The Head of State also recalled the National Investment Council of Ukraine that had been launched recently.
"We have a strong political will to do our utmost to protect foreign investments in Ukraine and create necessary conditions for the improvement of business climate in the country," the President assured.
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