Iryna Nykorak, Founder & Chairman, the Board of Directors Ukrainian Silk Road Association "Silk Link",

Speech at Belt and Road Forum (BRF) in Beijing on April 25, 2019

The People's Republic of China is one of the key players on the world market. Today, China is the largest donor and recipient of investment, a quarter of world trade is accounted for by Chinese exporters.

Last year, China marked the 40th anniversary of "reform and openness" policy which turned China into a leader of world trade and production.

Over these 40 years, GDP in China has grown by almost 24 times and is $ 8,000 per capita.

Within the framework of the "One Belt, One Road", 75 foreign trade and economic cooperation zones have already been established, the total trade between the countries "One Belt, One Road" reached $ 3.3 trillion. China's investments in the countries along the Silk Road have already exceeded $ 50 billion.

Today, China is leading the world to the future.

This country has just become the world leader in solar energy.

"One Belt, One Road" is larger than Marshall's post-war plan for Europe. During the industrial revolution, the United Kingdom took 150 years to double the productivity of labor, China did it for 12 years, India 16 years. 

We are your friends warmly welcome your success 

Today, international investors are watching closely the business climate in our country, and Ukraine and China already have experience of successful joint projects. Since the beginning of 2017, more than 15 Chinese companies have won the tender on infrastructure and energy development of Ukraine. At the same time, financing of part of infrastructure projects takes place at the expense of European banks' lending, which creates conditions for multilateral cooperation between Ukraine, the EU and China.

Already today, we are starting to open up new opportunities for investment, including through the adoption of new legislation on privatization and concessions. We continue to pursue the course of internal reforms aimed, inter alia, at attracting Chinese investment in the agricultural sector, industry, banking, and the joint implementation of large-scale projects of a continental level - within the framework of "One Belt, One Road."

We also have significant human potential and technological development opportunities, creating joint industrial parks. Therefore, we can talk about combining efforts to strengthen common positions in the global market.

Ukraine can be a reliable partner for cross-border projects.

Ukraine has signed free trade zone agreements with the EU, Canada, Switzerland, Norway, Macedonia, Georgia, Israel and started consultations on free trade zone with China. Due to this, it is possible to create joint ventures in Ukraine which, using new technologies, will produce high-quality products for export to the indicated countries.

Implementation of infrastructure projects should immediately be linked to other major projects that will increase the level of communication in trade, investment cooperation, technical and economic cooperation, education and culture. It is this strategic vision that will ensure that the Chinese companies will act not only as general contractors but also by investors.

Ukraine has all the opportunities to become one of the logistics and industrial centers on the way from China to Europe.

We live in a time when we need to join forces, connect the infrastructure network and find mutually beneficial points of contact.

DISCLAIMER 

The views expressed in this article are entirely those of the author(s) own, and not those of the Belt and Road Studies Network (BRSN).