The International trade missions in Ukraine during the last year showed the growing interest of international investors in Ukraine. The mission provided foreign companies and investment funds the chance to explore investment opportunities in the real estate sector. The message was clear: now is the time to invest in Ukraine.
Today Ukraine is a ground floor investment opportunity located in Europe, offering a highly skilled and productive workforce, low-cost manufacturing platforms and attractive entry valuation. When combined with a cost-efficiency, strategic geographic location and rapidly-improving business climate, Ukraine has much to offer. International investors are no longer asking about the reasons to invest in Ukraine. A number of new international companies have started operating on the Ukrainian market and many existing businesses have expanded their investments significantly. Greater numbers of investors are starting to understand the power of the reasons behind the statement Why Ukraine.
1. Country Transformation.
Ukraine, located at the European Union’s frontier, has a proWestern, the pro-business government focused on implementing reforms and strengthening the national economy and institutions. It is on its way to becoming an economic turnaround success story.
In particular, Ukraine his climbed 5 more spots in the Doing Business Ranking (currently occupies 71st position) this year and has risen by 41 positions since 2014. Furthermore, we have moved from the 89th to 83rd position in WEF Global Competitiveness Index 4.0 and in the Investor Relations and Data Transparency Rankings from the Institute of International Finance. Ukraine has shown the greatest progress among the developing
countries increasing the overall score from 16 to 36.5 out of a maximum of 42.
2. Highly Skilled Human Capital – Worlds Digital Workshop.
According to the World Bank, Ukraine ranks 50th among 157 countries in the new Human Capital Index. If one takes into consideration the size of our country, which is the largest in Europe with population of 43 million, its strong economic and scientific potential as well as the highly educated professional population, one will inevitably conclude that investing and doing business in Ukraine has limitless opportunities and great prospects. Ukraine is 38th in the 2019 ranking of National Higher Education Systems by Universities 21, a global association of research universities. With the educational system’s strong focus on technical disciplines, Ukraine is home to the largest IT engineering force in CEE. International companies operating and expanding in Ukraine demand highly skilled workers and set high standards for the entire labor market. Over the last 10 years, the use of the English language has become more widespread, becoming an integral part of the education system and a key focus for the Ukrainian government.
3. Efficient production platform in Europe.
Cost of Living – one of the Attractive Opportunities in Ukraine. The cost of living in Kyiv - the capital of Ukraine, ranks 358 th out of 454 cities in the world (information from numbeo). According to the “fDi European Cities and Regions of the Future 2018/19 Rankings” report, Kyiv took 3rd place in the Cost-Effectiveness category.
3. Logistics and infrastructure opportunities.
Ukraine’s geographic location makes it an important transit corridor for trade and travel between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. When combined with its other comparative advantages Ukraine has the potential to become an exclusive and potent Eurasian Hub. Ukraine has a robust infrastructure for sustaining an export-oriented economy – close to 170,000 km of roadways, some 22,000 km of railways, 13 seaports along mainland Ukraine and over 20 passenger airports.
5. Improved Business Climate
The Government has emphasized the critical role that foreign investment plays in Ukraine’s economy and has made great strides to improve the business climate in Ukraine. In fact, more reforms have been enacted in the past 4 years than in all the previous years since independence. The Government has approved its Strategic Action Plan 2020, which provides for on-going deregulation, improving corporate governance of state agencies and privatization, supporting innovation and improving the Ease of Doing Business.
In accordance with Doing Business-2019 by World Bank, Ukraine was ranked 71st among 190 economies on its ease of doing business, having moved up from the 76th position in 2018 and has improved in minority investors protection, contract
enforcement, international trade, and construction permits procurement.
All these opportunities contribute to the image of Ukraine as an attractive investment destination.