At the end of September, the Ukraine Infrastructure Reconstruction Reverse Trade Mission, organized by the U.S., took place in the United States. Trade and Development Agency, which was attended by a delegation of representatives of the Ukrainian government, business, and expert circles in the field of economic reforms and investments.
The task of the delegation was to discuss the reconstruction of Ukraine with American colleagues – government officials, politicians, investors – and jointly form a clear understanding of effective ways to support the future recovery of the economy and trade in our country.
BRDO CEO Oleksii Dorogan and BRDO Regulatory Policy Sector Head Hanna Bashniak were invited to become members of the delegation.
What is USTDA’s reverse trade mission?
USTDA (US Trade and Development Agency) helps companies create jobs in the USA by exporting US goods and services for priority infrastructure projects in developing economies. This government agency connects American business with foreign customers who need its product. Building such partnerships develops sustainable infrastructure and promotes economic growth for both parties.
Reverse trade missions are a tool that USTDA uses for this. Considering reconstruction as a large-scale investment project, this time the Americans invited Ukrainian representatives to Washington on a reverse trade mission.
Who represented Ukraine and the USA?
The Ukrainian delegation consisted of representatives of the Ministries of Energy, Economy, Social Policy, Agrarian Policy and Food, Digital Transformation, State Energy Efficiency Agency, as well as the Agency for recovery and development of Ukraine’s infrastructure. Business and expert environment were represented by BRDO, ISE Group, ISSP Ukraine, Agrosem, UkraineInvest, Ukrainian Wind Energy Association.
On the American side, employees of state institutions, analytical institutes, the Senate, consulting firms, businesses, etc. communicated with the Ukrainian delegation.
What was discussed as part of the reverse trade mission?
During several days in Washington, the key issues of Ukraine’s recovery and opportunities for American decision makers to help us in solving them were discussed. In particular, the following topics were touched upon:
- financial instruments and mechanisms available to support reconstruction projects in Ukraine, including loans, grants and concessional financing;
- criteria used to establish priorities in the selection of rehabilitation projects for investment;
- partnership with the private sector to finance reconstruction projects, stimulate economic growth, create jobs and innovate;
- integration of the principles of sustainable investment in the financing of reconstruction, coordination of financial goals with environmental and social tasks;
- the impact of joining the EU on the reconstruction of Ukraine;
- resources of the US government, which will be possible to use to support Ukraine;
- review of opportunities for the US private sector to participate in post-war reconstruction.
Separate consultations concerned the sectors of the economy and public administration in Ukraine, which, despite the war, can improve their work in partnership with American institutions: it was about digital transformation, energy, infrastructure, agriculture, etc.
Based on the results of the work of the Ukraine Infrastructure Reconstruction Reverse Trade Mission, we reached a common understanding on the priority directions of the necessary regulatory and legislative changes to create a favorable business climate, and a partnership was launched for the implementation of Ukraine reconstruction projects.