This June, FDI Center was the knowledge partner for the first Future of Ukraine Summit held in Berlin on 7th and 8th of June. The conference provided a space to discuss the economic development of Ukraine in current times and united stakeholders including startups and investors from the Ukrainian investment landscape scene.  

As part of the summit, Director, Dr. Kim J. Zietlow joined the discussion on how to channel the current momentum in Ukraine into concrete investment commitments. He delivered a presentation on the corporate perspective of FDI attraction and related it to the current situation in Ukraine. Kim delved into the main factors influencing location decision-making in foreign direct investment and the investor’s mindset in regard to investing in Ukraine. He argued that Ukraine maintains investor trust, illustrated by recent project expansion announcements and current FDI data. For the road ahead, he made suggestions on where an improved investment promotion strategy might come into place. 

Later, Kim participated on a panel on how to turn the goodwill Ukraine had earned into investments. Alongside other industry experts, he discussed what Ukraine, and its investment promotion agency can do to maximize projects given the current situation. He concluded, however, that Ukraine remains an important global player to any investor, with a large inland market, skilled labor force, and good access to the EU market.