British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is to call on investors and businesses at a summit in London next week to match Ukraine’s “bravery on the battlefield” with support to get the country back on its feet.
Sunak will use the International Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023 to urge the private sector to make the war-torn nation “financially stronger” and “technologically advanced”, the prime minister’s office said.
More than 1,000 foreign dignitaries from 61 states along with business chiefs and global investors will join Sunak in London on Wednesday.
The two-day summit, which is being jointly hosted by the UK and Ukraine, aims to unlock the potential of the private sector to help rebuild Ukraine.
The last annual summit of its kind was held in Lugano in Switzerland in July last year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend virtually and both European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken are also expected to speak in the opening session.
Sunak is expected to make the case for greater innovation targeted at the country, which was becoming a major player in the global IT industry prior to the Russian invasion.
“Ukraine’s bravery on the battlefield must be matched by the vision of the private sector to help the country rebuild and recover. Time and time again, Ukraine has shown its ability to rapidly harness innovation and creativity, and I know its recovery will be no different,” he is expected to say.
“The illegal invasion of Ukraine has devastated businesses and livelihoods throughout the country, but it has not destroyed the ingenuity or determination of the Ukrainian people.
“A financially stronger, technologically advanced Ukraine will bolster its ability to drive Russia back behind its borders and build a brighter future for a sovereign and modern Ukraine of the future.”