“Strategies. Cooperation. Investments”
The 12th International Economic Forum was held in Lviv
Discussion of the modern economic policy and prospects of trans-border cooperation in Eastern Europe, analysis of modern challenges and presentation of the decisions that allow being effective and competitive on global markets were among the main tasks of the forum called this year “Strategies. Cooperation. Investments.”
The event was attended by nearly 400 participants from Austria, Belarus, Canada, Latvia, Germany, Poland, and the US who also discussed the issues of investments in efficient use of energy and resources, new strategies and programs in interregional and trans-border cooperation, increasing competitiveness and diversification of regional economies and main tendencies of the global food market. Problems and prospects of the Ukrainian agrarian business were touched upon as well.
Before the forum its organizers declared that it would be visited by the Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Social Policy Serhii Tihipko, Minister of Economic Development and Trade Petro Poroshenko, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Prysiazhniuk and Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Infrastructure Borys Kolesnikov. However, none of them turned up. Instead, the state authorities were represented by the head of the State Agency for Investment and Management of National Projects of Ukraine Vladyslav Kaskiv.
Obviously, one of the main initiatives of the Forum was voiced during the session of the section called “Trans-border cooperation. New approaches and strategies in cooperation with Poland and EU members.” Head of the Lviv State Oblast Administration Mykhailo Kostiuk, who was the expert of this section, emphasized the necessity to structure border crossings by creating “green corridors.” “Our recent and, doubtlessly, successful common project Euro-2012 became the symbol of synergy, professionalism and will of two great European nations. This complicated and ambitious event gave a significant spur to the development of the Lviv region. In particular, border crossing was simplified, but, unfortunately, only during the championship. That is why today we should get involved into border crossings structuring for business and tourist trips through separate ‘green corridors.’ That will create favorable conditions for businesspeople and tourists,” he said.
However, Kostiuk paid more attention to the problems of the agrarian sector of Lviv region, in particular, deficient technologies, lack of qualified personnel and negative social tendencies. According to Kostiuk, it is essential for the Lviv region not only to involve foreign investments in agriculture, but also develop non-agricultural production in the country.
It is interesting that, following the results of the forum, in the near future there might appear a successful branch of modern Ukrainian-German machine building in Lviv region. German Economy in Ukraine delegate Alexander Markus informed the participants that in the near future Ukraine and Germany will sign a contract about the creation of the Ukrainian-German export chamber. “We are interested in cooperation and investments,” he noted. “And we are speaking not only about the abovementioned directions, rather about machine building like the company LEONI.”
During the 12th Lviv International Economic Forum, just like during the previous ones, a number of memorandums were signed. In particular, the agreement to realize the projects “Olympic Hope-2022,” “Lviv Industrial Park Riasne 2” and “Regional Perinatal Center in Lviv.”
It should be noted that Lviv oblast allocated 300,000 hryvnias for the organization of the 12th International Economic Forum “Strategies. Cooperation. Investments,” which was held at the Arena-Lviv Stadium, built for Euro-2012, not in Truskavets, as usually. According to Kostiuk, this sum makes “less than a half of the total budget of the forum.” He emphasized that such events should be financed from the regional budget as it is the question of “the region’s promotion.” Kostiuk added that “businesses should have financed this forum more; however, political battles have discouraged them.”
