Roundtable to discuss Ukraine's transition to market economy (09/07/03)

Roundtable to discuss Ukraine's transition to market economy

WASHINGTON - Experts from the United States, Ukraine, Poland, Russia, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund will gather in Washington on October 7-8 to assess one of the fastest growing economies in Europe.

More than 70 representatives from government, business, think-tanks and policy advisors - including U.S. Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky, two former prime ministers of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko and Anatolii Kinakh, former Deputy Prime Minister of Poland Janusz Steinhof, National Bank of Ukraine Chairman Serhii Tyhypko, and members of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada, the Office of the U.S. Chief Trade Representative and the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine - will spend two days evaluating the Ukrainian marketplace, from both macro and micro-economic perspectives, as a competitor on the global economic arena.

"Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation Statehood - Roundtable IV: Ukraine's Transition to a Developed Market Economy" is the fourth in a series of annual conferences designed to monitor Ukraine's progress towards fuller integration into the Euro-Atlantic community and stronger bilateral relations with the United States.

This year's gathering will feature 12 panels, held during the course of four regular sessions, four focus sessions, two working lunches, two receptions and nine business-to-business networking sessions.

The roundtable will be open to the media and high-level officials and international business executives will attend. Additional information is also available at http://www.fourfreedoms.net.

Program overview

The roundtable will begin on Tuesday, October 7. Twenty-four speakers will discuss the macro-and micro-economic trends affecting the business environment in Ukraine; 12 speakers will asses the pace of macroeconomic reforms in the banking, agricultural and small- and medium-size business sectors. Topics will include currency stability, banking sector restructuring, anti-money laundering legislation, land privatization, land resource management policy, establishment of commodities futures trading and regulatory policy.

Next, 12 speakers will examine the market readiness of Ukraine's energy, industrial and hi-tech sectors. Microeconomic trends in the following areas will be discussed: coal, electricity (both nuclear and non-nuclear), oil and gas, machine-building, fast-moving consumer goods, aerospace, electronics, biotech and information technologies.

Wednesday, October 8, will begin with an examination of Ukraine in the global marketplace. Three panels will be devoted to taking measure of U.S.-Ukraine bilateral economic relations, Ukraine's regional economic ties and Ukraine's international economic priorities.

The roundtable will then challenge invited experts to speak to the correlation between market economics and Ukraine's "quest for mature nation statehood." The first panel will explore the nexus between market economic and a stable democratic polity in Ukraine, the second panel will address the interdependency of market economics and independent civil society in Ukraine; and the third panel will ask the speakers to help provide an answer to the question "To what extent can a market economy help Ukraine establish a mature national identity?"

On both days, keynote remarks by U.S. and Ukrainian officials will be delivered in four separate focus sessions. The first will ask the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers to deal with the fundamental question "Does Ukraine Have a Market Economy?" The final focus session will ask the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to address the question "Will the U.S. Support Ukraine's WTO Accession Process?"

Two additional focus sessions will evaluate the contributions of Ukraine's fiscal polices and legal infrastructure towards sustaining a developed market economy in the country.

During two working lunches, Ukrainian, American, Polish and Russian participants will endeavor to answer the questions: "Can Ukrainian-Russian Economic Ties Move Beyond a 'Metropole-Province' Relationship?" and "How Will the Schengen 'Divide' Impact on Polish-Ukrainian Economic Ties?"

In addition, nine business-to-business networking sessions will be held parallel to the regular conference proceedings on Wednesday, October 8. These one-and-a-half hour sessions will encourage frank and open discussions between U.S. and Ukrainian businesspersons and regulators with experience in the following areas: agriculture, industry, media and entertainment, energy, hi-tech, import and export, business infrastructure, defense technology and tourism.

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