Rome, 26 June 2023 - Construction and building materials for the realisation of a High-Tech Campus; logistics and integrated logistics for the Horonda Dry Port project, the corridor that will connect Ukraine to the Interporto Quadrante Europa in Verona; agro-industry, for the development of an industrial park for agro-food processing and consumer goods for the realisation of production facilities. These are the sectors and specific projects at the centre of the "Fit for Ukraine: Italy - Business Conference for investing in Ukraine"which took place today in Rome at the Confindustria headquarters. Organised in cooperation with UkraineInvest, the Ukrainian government institution in charge of investments in the country, the event was sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The seminar was attended by over 120 Italian and Ukrainian companies, trade associations and financial institutions, for a discussion on investment opportunities in the country. 

 

"The road to peace in Ukraine also passes through the resumption of economic and trade relations - said Barbara Beltrame, Confindustria Vice President for Internationalisation opening the proceedings - and today's meeting is intended as a concrete follow-up to last April's bilateral conference on the reconstruction of the country. On this occasion, we wanted to focus on some important manufacturing sectors. These are sectors in which Italian companies can play a leading role in Ukraine's recovery - explained Beltrame - thanks to the technological excellence and high value-added skills that characterise the Italian industrial system. But other sectors, such as digital, aerospace, steel, energy, and in particular renewables, are also crucial, and possible forms of cooperation may open up, which will be explored in the future. We need to encourage these synergies by looking to the future of Ukraine and its economic and industrial rebirth," added the Vice President of Confindustria, "bringing the country closer to EU standards and thus accelerating its progress towards the European path that has already begun.. Today, the Italian industrial world is once again concretely expressing its closeness to the Ukrainian people through its willingness to support the resilience and reconstruction of their country'.

 

Since the beginning of the conflict, Confindustria has shown its support to Ukraine in reconstruction, strengthening bilateral relations with Italy through visits and institutional meetings that culminated in the opening of an office in Kiev, signing a memorandum of understanding with local administrations, and creating a REBUILD UKRAINE platform through which Italian companies can express their interest in contributing to reconstruction through investments in a variety of transversal sectors.

 

Ukraine has historically been an important economic market for Italy, the third largest trading partner in Europe, with trade exceeding EUR 5 billion in 2021.