Berlin (dpa) – Small business loans, more city partnerships, training initiative – according to Germany’s Development Minister Svenja Schulze, over 100 agreements have been signed at the Ukraine Recovery Conference. These include declarations of intent between businesses and government and agreements on alliances and initiatives.
Schulze described how four “Berlin dimensions” of recovery had been defined: social, human, local and EU. According to Schulze, over 3,000 delegates from politics, business and international organisations attended the two-day conference. She stressed the aim of the conference was not to raise funds but to promote networking.
In collaboration with 12 other countries and 17 development organisations, Germany and Ukraine have initiated an alliance to boost small and medium-sized enterprises, which are considered the backbone of the Ukrainian economy. According to the German government, these businesses contribute two-thirds of Ukrainian value creation and provide over 80% of jobs in the country. The new alliance includes cheap loans for businesses of this kind.
It is also working to expand city partnerships. “Let’s work together so every Ukrainian community has at least one international partner,” said Schulze. Germany and over 50 international organisations, states and businesses have set up an initiative to train 180,000 skilled workers to help with reconstruction in the country.
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