Switzerland becomes the first country to host a two-day conference for the recovery of Ukraine. The conference was held with the vision of establishing the principles and structure for the future reconstruction of the war-affected country.
On Monday, During the opening sermon of Ignazio Cassis, President of the Swiss Confederation and Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, said the participants in the conference are expected to define the norms for assisting Ukraine and distribution of the roles among the several partners.
According to the Xinhua news agency, Ignazio Cassis instructed the senior officials of 40 countries and representatives of 18 international organizations present at the conference to adopt the “Lugano principles” which are beneficial for the sustainable recovery of the Country.
He further added that the viable restructuring of the economy should be guided by the principle of building back better and providing the best conditions for prosperity and complete livelihood.
Denys Shmyhal, Prime Minister of Ukraine, attended the conference in person and presented a three-stage reconstruction plan for which his country needs $750 billion.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine attended the meeting through a video call from Kiev and said that the reconstruction plan also covers the institutional development of Ukraine.
He discussed the key principles and goals of the plan. Zelenskyy emphasized the security followed by technological development, keeping with environmental principles, translucency, and the rooting of the reconstruction project in the real economic life of Ukraine.
President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen in the Monday opening session, informed that her institution has proposed the government of Ukraine help in the creation of the reconstruction platform to map the investment needs, plan action, gather resources, and support progressive reform agenda.
Originally, the event was the 5th annual Ukraine Reform Conference which is co-hosted by Switzerland and Ukraine. But earlier this year it was renamed to consider the new focus of gathering.
The Swiss Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the procedure to rebuild Ukraine is through a wide-ranging political and diplomatic process and Switzerland and Ukraine want to start this process in Lugano.
Liz Truss, British Foreign Secretary announced that the UK will host the next Ukraine Recovery Conference in the upcoming year.
