VII Sweden Ukraine Business Forum which took place in Kyiv on 15 June 2018 saw an agreement between the Swedish National Board of Trade and Export Promotion Office of Ukraine that would further deepen cooperation between Sweden and Ukraine on promoting Ukrainian export to Sweden and other EU countries.
”I am very happy that we have signed the commitment for collaboration between the Export Promotion Office of Ukraine (EPO) and the National Board of Trade of Sweden. It means that the Board will support EPO and Ukrainian businesses who wish to export to the Swedish or European markets. There is an untapped potential in the trade between Ukraine and Sweden and it is important that we help Ukrainian business to benefit from the rather recent free trade agreement between EU and Ukraine, the so-called DCFTA. It’s a win-win-win collaboration. We must remember that Sweden is an open, trading economy for which imports are just as important as exports. Without good input goods from other countries, Swedish businesses would not be as successful,”- said Anna Stellinger, Director of the Swedish National Board of Trade.
The forum was visited by Acting Minister of Finance of Ukraine Oksana Markarova, Deputy Minister for Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Mykhailo Tytarchuk, Deputy Minister for Economic Development and Trade – Trade Representative of Ukraine Nataliya Mykolska, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine Dmytro Shymkiv and a number of Swedish companies who together discussed opportunities and challenges, facing investors and businessmen working in Ukraine and Sweden. Among the challenges discussed were issues related to the rule of law situation, an uneven playing field in many sectors, not least of the influence of the informal economy in Ukraine.
”We have had 3 years with very positive dynamics in bilateral trade between Sweden and Ukraine. However, despite the strong trends – is still too small for countries that are so geographically close and with so good, strong and longstanding relations. We will remain very much engaged in supporting reforms and stronger bilateral relations in all fields. We look forward to welcoming much more Swedish business to Ukraine, and many more Ukrainian companies and products to the Swedish market,” – concluded the Ambassador of Sweden to Ukraine Martin Hagström.
