Nusrat Ghani, MP for Wealden and Minister of State at the Department for Business and Trade and the Cabinet Office, delivered a speech at the Road to Ukraine Recovery Conference event hosted by the Department for Business and Trade, where the UK-Ukraine Digital Trade Agreement was signed.
Minister Ghani's speech:
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On behalf of His Majesty’s Government, I would like to welcome [you and] First Vice Prime Minister Svyrydenko, Deputy Minister, Gryban, Deputy Minister Azarkhina, His Excellency Vadym Prystaiko and Trade Representative, Taras Kachka, to this conference.
Whether you are joining us in London or online, we are truly honoured you could participate at such a time of national struggle.
Over the past year Ukrainians have bravely faced incalculable evil.
But as President Zelenskyy recently told our Parliament: ‘It is in our power to guarantee with words and deeds that the right side of human nature will prevail.’
That is why the UK has stood alongside Ukraine from the war’s start, supplying military aid, levying financial sanctions on Russia, more punishing than any we’ve previously placed on a major country and cutting tariffs on Ukrainian goods and services to zero.
It is why our support will not waver until Ukraine prevails.
And it is why today we are united in our joint mission to rebuild Ukraine.
Those words ‘Rebuild Ukraine’ are so simple. Yet they conjure in our minds a complex web of images and emotions:
The playgrounds that resounded with children’s voices, lying empty amid bomb-damaged apartment blocks.
The roads, once full of commuters, turned to mud and littered with burnt out cars and tanks.
The shops and municipal buildings full of bustle and life, transformed into broken shells.
But while the war has not ended, the work of rebuilding has already begun.
Yet, no one here today could be under any allusion about the sheer scale of the task before us.
We can only accomplish this, the biggest reconstruction effort since World War 2 – as Deputy Prime Minister Svyrydenko has previously described it – through international partnership.
The UK is responding to that call in a range of ways:
As a major donor to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund, we are helping to return heat and power to homes and hospitals and keep critical national infrastructure running.
We’ve also provided a financial guarantee to Ukraine’s public energy provider, funded crucial safety and security equipment to keep Ukraine’s nuclear energy sector going. And we’re supporting Ukrainian railways with a £10 million package.
But the truth is that a challenge of this magnitude means there is a gap between what governments can provide, and what Ukraine requires.
Private sector ingenuity is essential to restoring Ukraine’s key services and moving the country into prosperity. And British businesses’ expertise and experience, along with their employees’ world-class skills, can help Ukraine rebuild communities and lives.
Today, we’re bringing together over 100 companies, covering critical areas such as infrastructure, finance, energy, housing and healthcare.
Together, we will discuss how we lay the foundations of a greatly enhanced UK-Ukraine trade and investment relationship.
A relationship geared towards supporting Ukraine’s National Recovery Plan and mobilising UK businesses to contribute to reconstruction projects.
Our conference today will focus on three key strands of this relationship: resilience, recovery and modernisation. I’ll touch on each in turn.
First, resilience – this is the question of how we can best respond to Ukraine’s invitation to support its immediate needs. Today, you’ll hear from the Ukraine Government, businesses and experts about their work of a similar nature, which should help to guide our conversations.
Next, recovery – or the practical steps businesses can take to get involved in these reconstruction efforts. As you’ve just heard, we’ve launched our Guide to Doing Business with Ukraine. Make sure you get your digital copy!
And this afternoon, the UK-Ukraine Trade Committee will discuss some of the work that’s taking place to get goods and services flowing more smoothly between our countries.
That includes extending tariff liberalisation on Ukrainian goods and services until next March and removing market access barriers, so our companies can support Ukraine in key areas like healthcare.
The third area we’ll be talking about today, is modernisation. In other words, how we develop a clear, cohesive plan to ensure Ukraine’s long-term economic growth and its people’s well-being is delivered.
We’re going to be taking a major step on that journey later today, when we sign Ukraine’s first ever Digital Trade Agreement.
A deal which will enable the UK, as a global leader in this field, to support Ukraine’s transformation into a digital economy and which begins a bold, new era of trade between our nations.
We’ll also talk about other aspects of the modernisation process – including how we develop new buildings sustainably and harness modern methods of construction. I’m sure you’ll find the two sessions run by Atkins and the Connected Places Catapult, incredibly valuable for shedding light on some of these crucial areas.
There’s going to be plenty of food for thought for us all. I’m sure our discussions here in Mansion House and online will make the Ukraine Recovery Conference in June even more productive.
I’d like to end by saying a few words in tribute to the Ukrainian people.
The men and women fighting on the frontline.
The children and elderly people separated from their friends and communities.
The doctors, nurses, teachers and public sector employees working in the most challenging of circumstances.
These are the people for whom we are rebuilding.
The people, who will – I sincerely hope – one day live in peace and security and without threat to their freedom.
And that day will surely come.
A heartfelt thank you to the Ukrainian Delegation, our speakers and, of course, to all of you.
