On December 13, the Mayors’ Club team and UMEDA attended the Sixth National SME Forum “SME Development 2023: Opportunities, Resilience, and Recovery”

During the forum, many practical issues were discussed, including national initiatives for the support and development of SMEs.

Representatives from the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine spoke about current programs to support SMEs, specifically the grant program “Own Business,” which is aimed at supporting entrepreneurs and provides up to 250,000 UAH.

As part of the development of the processing industry in Ukraine (which currently makes up 8% of the economy, while in developed countries it should be 20%), there is a grant program for processing enterprises that provides up to 8 million UAH in grants.

The initiatives of the Ministry to support businesses that employ people with disabilities and the updating of the Labor Code were also highlighted.

It was also emphasized that Ukraine has great potential for export to the EU, particularly due to its geographical location, so the focus should be on increasing export volumes to support the economy. We were pleasantly surprised to hear about a survey that showed 46% of businesses surveyed are ready to compete in the European market! One of the key advantages of SMEs is their ability to focus on producing highly specialized products and goods.

The discussion also covered financial support tools for SMEs and mechanisms for attracting investments, particularly within the framework of cooperation with local and international banking institutions.

We encourage as many businesses and local government bodies as possible to participate in such events, as they provide an unmatched source of new knowledge and networking opportunities!