29 June 2011 Employers Movement

Foreign Ministry Of Ukraine To Cooperate With National Employers Towards Strengthening Ukrainian Exports On The Global Markets

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Ukrainian employers have agreed to cooperate towards strengthening Ukrainian exports positions on the global markets, according to the General Agreement on Cooperation signed on Wednesday in Kiev by Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, and Dmitry Firtash, Head of the Joint Employers’ Movement of Ukraine.

According to the agreement, consolidating the efforts of both public and private sectors to deal with global challenges and financial and economic crises will enable Ukraine’s economy to grow. In particular, establishing public-private partnerships in the sphere of foreign trade will strengthen positions of Ukrainian products on the global markets, encourage investing in Ukraine, which will ultimately help promote Ukraine’s image in the world.

Diplomats and employers will work together to support Ukrainian enterprises in their relations with foreign partners. Ukrainian employers will inform the Ministry of whatever barriers and obstacles hampering the increase of Ukraine’s economic presence abroad, and will offer possible solutions. In addition, the parties agreed to develop joint recommendations for coordinated actions of Ukraine’s executive bodies to achieve such an increase.
 
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs on its part agreed to provide national producers – members of the Joint Employers Movement of Ukraine with organizational and information support to assist them in developing foreign projects and in entering new markets.

Following the meeting, Mr. Kostyatyn Gryshchenko, Minister for Foreign Affairs, underlined that the Ministry’s consistent policy aims to create favorable conditions for domestic producers on international markets and to provide the necessary support. “The President of Ukraine has set a clear task for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to develop Ukrainian foreign policy along the interests of the national economy. In March, the Ministry established the Council of Exporters which included leading Ukrainian machine-building companies. Today we signed a partnership agreement with the organization that unites businesses employing about 8 million people. Thus, we have increased the pool of those who are interested in entering new markets and who need our qualified support,” concluded Kostyatyn Gryshchenko.

During the signing ceremony, Dmitry Firtash emphasized that Ukrainian employers and diplomats should work together and take active steps towards promoting Ukraine’s economic presence on global markets. “Both the government and the private sector should consolidate their efforts to ensure sustainable economic growth in Ukraine. Only by combining our efforts and receiving support from the government will the domestic economy be able to successfully operate on international markets,” said the Head of the Joint Employers’ Movement.
 
According to Dmitry Firtash, Germany and the Netherlands are good examples of effective cooperation between the state and business in the development of foreign economic activity. In these countries, economic growth is predominantly driven by increasing exports. German export amounts to 46 percent of the national GDP, while the share of Dutch export in the GDP is up to 67 percent.

Dmitry Firtash pointed out that international activity is one of the main priorities of the Joint Employers’ Movement of Ukraine. “At this time, we are developing active cooperation with partner organizations from China, India, Russia, and EU countries. Looking ahead, we plan to provide an ongoing support to Ukrainian businesses, and in this we do count on Ukrainian diplomats’ professionalism,” concluded Dmitry Firtash.

NOTE:

Over the past two years, V. Yanukovich, the President of Ukraine, significantly expanded the authority of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in the foreign economic domain. Trade and economic missions previously reporting to the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine have been transformed into economic departments of foreign diplomatic missions and is now accountable to the Ministry for the Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. According to new regulations, the mandate of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs includes, among other things, assistance to Ukrainian companies in promoting domestic products on foreign markets, search for potential partners and organization of presentations abroad aimed at promoting Ukraine’s investment image.