INTERNATIONAL UKRAINIAN ECONOMIC FORUM
Building Ukraine's Economic and Financial Future

Thursday, October 15, 2009, Wash, D.C., Save The Date!

U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), Wash, D.C., Mon, Sept 21, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A major International Ukrainian Economic Forum will be held in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, October 15, 2009. The International Ukrainian Economic Forum will be held in conjunction with the second bilateral trade and investment relations meeting between the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and the Office of the U.S. Special Trade Representative (USTR) being held in Washington on Wednesday, October 14, 2009. 

The government to government bilateral meetings were established by the U.S.-Ukraine Trade & Investment Cooperation Agreement (TICA), on April 1, 2008.  The first bilateral TICA meeting was held in Kyiv, Ukraine in the fall of 2008.  The Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Bohdan Danylyshyn, will lead  the delegation from Ukraine for the October 14th meeting which will include senior representatives of several Ukrainian ministries.  This will be Minister Danylyshyn's first trip to the U.S, since becoming Minister of Economy in January of 2008.  

INTERNATIONAL UKRAINIAN ECONOMIC FORUM: OCTOBER 15
The all-day International Ukrainian Economic Forum on Thursday, October 15, 2009 in Washington, D.C., will be sponsored by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, the Embassy of Ukraine to the United States, the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC), and the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council Foundation (USUBCF), with major support from leading United States and Ukrainian businesses and economic/business foundations active in the Ukrainian market.

"BUILDING UKRAINE'S ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL FUTURE:
Moving Ukraine Forward to Economic Recovery and Growth"
"Building Ukraine's Economic and Financial Future: Moving Ukraine Forward to Economic Recovery and Growth," will be the theme of the all-day International Ukrainian Economic Forum on Thursday, October 15th in Washington.  Major speakers are expected from the U.S. government, the U.S. Congress, government sponsored international financial institutions (IMF, World Bank, EBRD, IFC, USEXIM, OPIC), the European Union, major think-tanks, and top executives from private business. There will also be a series of special panels held that will discuss several of the major economic, financial and business issues of the day. 

SAVE THE DATE, OCTOBER 15th
Please mark Thursday, October 15th, 2009, on your calendar! Save the date! More information about the International Ukrainian Economic Forum will be forthcoming very soon. This will be an important Forum you will not want to miss.  The most critical economic and financial issues of the day top the agenda. 

TRADE AND INVESTMENT ISSUES FOR TICA MEETING
Some of the issues expected to be discussed at the bilateral TICA meeting on Wednesday, October 14th are:

• Intellectual property rights: Legislation, Unlicensed use of business software, agricultural seed and crop protection supplies,
• Customs issues: Customs valuation, Potential use of recycling stamps, Ukrainian plans to require Shipper’s Export Declaration for imports, E-customs, Express delivery facilitation
• Agriculture and veterinary (SPS) issues: Veterinary inspection system for imports of meat from the U.S.; Biotech labeling regime; Ukrainian restrictions on government procurement of agricultural machinery, Legislative amendments required by WTO membership
• Taxation Issues
• U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) being closed for Ukraine
• Investment cooperation, Ukrainian interest in U.S. investors for certain products
• Civil Aviation: Cat II restrictions, Airport safety, Cape Town treaty ratification
• VAT tax payments to US companies
• Trade and Investment financing in current economic crisis especially for agricultural technology and machines

TRADE AND INVESTMENT COOPERATION AGREEMENT (TICA)
Ukraine is currently the United States' 65th largest trading partner. Ukraine became the 152nd member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on May 16, 2008, marking the end of 15 years of negotiations that will promote profound liberalization of Ukraine's trade regime.

In line with these efforts, the United States and Ukraine signed a new Trade and Investment Cooperation Agreement (TICA) on April 1, 2008, establishing a forum for discussion of bilateral trade and investment relations.

• Trade Balance: The U.S. goods trade balance with Ukraine went from a trade surplus of $122 million in 2007 to a deficit of $472 million in 2008.
• Exports: U.S. goods exports in 2008 were $ 1.9 billion, up 39.2 percent from the previous year. Ukraine is currently the 65th largest export market for U.S. goods.
• Imports: U.S. imports from Ukraine were $2.3 billion, up 91.8 percent from the previous year.
• Investment: The stock of U.S. foreign direct investment (FDI) in Ukraine was $1.3 billion in 2007 (latest data available), up from $549 million in 2006.