PM calls on investors and business leaders to join fight for Ukraine

By Nicky Godding

20 June 2023

Share

The Business Magazine article image for: PM calls on investors and business leaders to join fight for Ukraine

Before the Russian attacks

Ukraine’s recovery must be accelerated through rapid investment and innovation, the Prime Minister will tell a major global summit this week, as he calls on investors and businesses to back the country for the long term.

The Prime Minister will tell the conference that the financial fight to ensure Ukraine is able to rebuild and recover is its own form of counteroffensive against Russia.

His call comes as the UK prepares to launch a number of rapidly deployable digital tools as part of the Ukraine Recovery Conference this week to help the country quickly harness overseas investment.

More than 1000 foreign dignitaries from 61 states, NGO representatives and hundreds of business leaders and entrepreneurs are expected to travel to London for the event, with the Prime Minister opening the conference alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who will attend virtually.

Both European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken are also expected to speak in the opening session of the conference on Wednesday.

The two-day summit will be the largest international conference the UK hosts this year.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to say: "The illegal invasion of Ukraine has devastated businesses and livelihoods throughout the country, but it has not destroyed the ingenuity or determination of the Ukrainian people.

"A financially stronger, technologically advanced Ukraine will bolster its ability to drive Russia back behind its borders and build a brighter future for a sovereign and modern Ukraine of the future."

Innovation will be a key them at this week’s conference, with Ukraine becoming a major player in the global IT industry prior to the invasion. The rapidly expanding sector also supported more than 300,000 jobs across the country.

Some of the innovative tools expected to be announced at the summit will include a digital platform that will connect Ukrainian businesses with global companies, enabling virtual networking and driving collaboration on everything from supply chain issues to business expansion.

The matchmaking platform will support reconstruction and recovery through the creation sustainable and long-lasting commercial relationships, all at the touch of a button.

Concurrently, a new UK-Ukraine TechBridge will be launched by Business and Trade Minister Nusrat Ghani in partnership with the Government of Ukraine.

The initiative was first proposed ahead of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine but has gained momentum in recent months as it became clear it could provide vital opportunities to businesses trying to rebuild and grow in Ukraine.

The TechBridge will be established as a physical space to bring together the UK and Ukrainian innovators, entrepreneurs and the technology and financing industries to foster greater collaboration to drive forward recovery and reconstruction. The centre will also offer training, upskilling and business support across the tech sector.

As part of the push on innovation, the UK will also launch a £10 million InnovateUkraine Green Energy Challenge Fund at the summit.

The fund will spark and accelerate the development of low-carbon, affordable energy projects for Ukraine, with researchers, businesses and NGOs able to apply for financial backing to make their green energy ideas a reality, with the hope of being able to roll out some of the projects to communities in Ukraine routinely facing blackouts and energy shortages.

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.