On 28-29 June 2022, an online conference, "Modeling effective investment activities in communities during the war and in the postwar period", was held. The IBI-Rating Agency organised the event with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) within the United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme with the financial support of the European Union.

The online conference was the final event of the project "Development of investment profiles of communities and regulations on attracting investment at the local level", which was implemented under the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme. However, due to the war, other needs came to the fore - assessing the investment environment during the war, improving internal processes of attracting investment, and presenting investment potential.

The conference became a platform for summarising the project and discussing current issues and challenges of communities with representatives of central executive bodies and experts, training local government specialists, information exchange and discussions.

During the event opening, Olena Ruditch, Coordinator of the Local Governance and Decentralisation Reform component of the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme, noted that the conference focused on practical aspects - to demonstrate successful cases and scale the practical experience of the project, as well as to discuss the current situation, business climate and the expertise of local governments in supporting the business during the war.

"Ensuring a business-friendly environment is a difficult task, especially in wartime and post-war times. By creating a platform to discuss new challenges, we strive to provide knowledge and tools to economic development professionals so that they can adapt programmes and initiatives aimed at attracting foreign investors to the dangerous living circumstances of communities," Ruditch added.

The head of the project "Development of investment profiles of communities and regulations on attracting investment at the local level," Victor Shulyk, said that the foundation for attracting investment in the community - is the ability of local governments to assess the business climate, their capabilities and priorities.

"I am convinced that the presented developments of the project, as well as the experience of partners from Ukraine and Georgia, will help to avoid mistakes and build effective systematic work to attract investment in target communities," Shulyk added.

The conference agenda included four discussion panels with representatives of UNDP and local governments. Communities learned about the experience of attracting investment in the postwar period in the example of Georgia, how local governments helped move businesses within Ukraine, received analytical information about the current business climate, and learned to model investment policies in the community and develop investment profiles.  

The event was attended by nearly a hundred representatives of local governments of Chernihiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.

The project "Development of investment profiles of communities and regulations on attracting investment at the local level" was implemented within the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme with the financial support of the European Union. The project aimed to systematise the work with investors in the pilot communities of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

The project conducted focus group research, interviews and surveys of interested stakeholders (involved entrepreneurs, representatives of structural units of councils, enterprises, the public, affiliated communities and relevant NGOs), analysed the business climate, formed key investment niches, developed regulations on attracting investments at the local level and investment passports.

Background

The United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme (UN RPP) is being implemented by four United Nations agencies: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

Twelve international partners support the Programme: The European Union (EU), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, and the governments of Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland.

Media enquiries

Yulia Samus, UNDP Ukraine Communications Lead; e-mail: yuliia.samus@undp.org