The Business Forum was held on 23-25th May

Briefly:

Venue: Al-Kuwait City, the State of Kuwait

Participants: More than 50 representatives from more than 30 companies of Ukraine and Kuwait, representatives of the parliament, ministries and trade missions, diplomats.

Result: there were represented the projects worth over 270 million dollars.

The Ukrainian-Kuwaiti Business Forum "Ukraine 2009 - high time for investments" was held on 23-25th May in the framework of the visit of the Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Bogdan Danilyshyn, in the State of Kuwait.

Opening ceremony of the business forum was held on May 24th , 2009 in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Kuwait. In the opening speech on behalf of the Ukrainian delegation, Minister of Economy of Ukraine Bogdan Danilyshyn said: «Today's meeting of leading businessmen from both countries we consider as an important stage in the development of relationships with the business community of Kuwait, which organically integrates into the overall context of the development of bilateral relations between our two countries». In return, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Kuwait, Ali Al-Ghanim said: «We intend to develop and strengthen our cooperation. Many Kuwaiti businessmen are interested in cooperation with Ukraine. We look forward to work with the Ukrainian businessmen, provide them with support, and distribute information about Ukraine ».

Ukrainian business was represented by the following powerful Ukrainian companies and enterprises: UDC Holding, Sinkom Capital, Kherson Trade Sea Port, UkrTransBud, Agrarian Holding "Avangard", HydroTechEngineering, Salkom.

Introducing the participants, Mr. Leonid Bogdanov, CEO of the UDC Holding, emphasized the scope and diversity of the Ukrainian project, presented at the forum, among them are construction of ring road around Kiev, creation of the Etap hotels chain in all the regions of Ukraine, construction of the Euro Railway "Poland - Ukraine" with length 86 km to Euro-2012, reconstruction of the Boryspil airport, projects for the design and development of gas and oil fields, construction of a new passenger terminal in the Lviv airport, commercial and entertainment centers «Marmalade» and «Children's world», etc.

The official part was culminated by the lunch on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Kuwait, during which representatives of the business elite of Ukraine and Kuwait could communicate on an informal basis and schedule personal meetings.

In the evening of 24th May, all forum participants were invited to a reception on behalf of the Ukrainian delegation, which was held in a ball room of the best hotel in Kuwait Courtyard by Marriott Kuwait City. The UDC Holding became a sponsor of the gala dinner.

On 25th May, 2009, one-to-one meeting were held between businessmen of Ukraine and Kuwait. The Kuwait Investment Company, Al Ahli Bank and Global Management Ltd were honored participants from the Kuwait.

During the Business Forum the official delegation of Ukraine has carried out a number of meetings. The delegation included: Minister of Economy Bohdan Danylyshyn, Deputy Minister of Industrial Policy Sergei Grishchenko, Members of Parliament of Ukraine Konstantin Bondarev and Yuriy Karakay, Head of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Yuriy Savchenko, Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy Valentina Zavalevskaya, Adviser of Ministry of Economy Yuri Pivovarov, Lviv City Mayor Andriy Sadovoy, Deputy Head of Kyiv Regional State Administration Yuriy Kovbasyuk, head of the Ministry of Transport and Communications Jaroslav Dubovich.

Brief summary of the meetings:

- meeting with Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, who said that "Kuwait is ready to cooperate with Ukraine, and I will in my turn facilitate this cooperation."

- meeting with the Minister of Oil of Kuwait, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah, who expressed hope that the active participation of business circles of Ukraine and Kuwait in the Business Forum «Ukraine 2009 - high time for investment», and also visit of the Ukrainian delegation will lay the foundation for further development of bilateral cooperation at a high level: «We welcome any cooperation in energy and oil, as in Ukraine, so and in Kuwait and are ready for constructive work», - emphasized Ahmad Al Abdullah Al Sabah.

- meeting with Minister of Trade and Industry of Kuwait, Mr. Ahmad Al-Abdullah. He emphasizes that the business forum «Ukraine 2009 - high time for investment» is a good opportunity to meet representatives of the Ukrainian and Kuwaiti businesses and the further preparation and implementation of the promising projects. Also, Ahmad Al-Abdullah has expressed interest in cooperation in the spheres of agriculture, energy and communications, as well as in active development of tourism: «I hope that if we joint efforts of both countries we will achieve parity in trade relations by expanding import of the high quality food products from Ukraine ».

- meeting with Deputy Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, Mr. Hesham Ibragim Fares Al-Vakayan, who congratulated Ukraine with joining the WTO and expressed the hope that representatives of business circles of Kuwait would participate in the investment projects presented by Ukraine.

- meeting with the Executive Director of the Kuwait Investment Authority, Mr. Farouk Bastaki, who stressed the interest on investments in Ukrainian projects: «The Kuwaiti Investment Authority is ready for further cooperate with Ukraine».

- meeting with General Director of the State Administration for Agriculture and Fisheries of Kuwait Mr. Djasim Al-Bader: "We are happy to develop bilateral relations, especially in agriculture. And your visit will lay the foundation for fruitful work in this direction and will contribute to the dynamic development of relations between Countries." "I am very pleased that Ukraine pays a lot of attention to agriculture. And I believe that we have many opportunities for effective and mutually beneficial Ukrainian-Kuwaiti cooperation in this field."

In summary, Mr. Leonid Bogdanov, CEO of the UDC Holding, invited all participants of the business forum, as well as companies that were not able to become participants in this event, on the international investment conference to be held in autumn 2009 in Kyiv.