During his working visit to Japan, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Shinichi Kitaoka.
“Cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is extremely important for our country, especially in the context of the ongoing large-scale reforms. The government recently approved an action plan for the next five years. We truly believe that this program will be implemented not in theory but in practice. This includes the development of human capital and economy, European integration and improvements in the security and well-being of Ukrainian citizens,” the President said, adding that the implementation of that plan would create one million additional jobs in the country.
The Head of State noted that the priorities of the current authorities of Ukraine were the launch of the land market, large-scale privatization, deregulation and simplification of all procedures on the transition to online services, elimination of the shadow economy and corruption schemes, solving infrastructure problems, optimization of the tax system, rapid and comprehensive introduction of European and international standards.
The President thanked the Agency for supporting Ukraine within the Official Development Assistance Program.
"We appreciate Japan's technical assistance in supporting democratic institutions, ensuring macroeconomic stability and preferential lending to important infrastructure projects in Ukraine," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The President stressed that one of the outstanding results of the joint work of Ukraine and JICA was the successful completion of the modernization of Boryspil International Airport at the expense of a concessional loan. At the same time, Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted the importance of the implementation of the second project, namely the modernization of the Bortnychi Aeration Station. This will help prevent the pollution of the environment and improve the safety of people's lives.
"I hope that a contract with a general contractor will be signed in the near future and construction will start at the beginning of next year," he said.
The President informed of Ukraine's interest in continuing fruitful cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Important promising infrastructure projects may include the construction of a bridge across the Southern Bug River in Mykolaiv aimed to improve the southern transport corridor; preparation of a project on the solid household waste treatment.
