President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposes to envisage in the Ukrainian Doctrine the main directions of transformation that our country should undergo in ten years. He said this when presenting the guidelines of the future document at the plenary session of the Verkhovna Rada on the occasion of the Constitution Day of Ukraine.
“In this time, we have to overcome a path that other nations have been overcoming for decades, and this is true. The victorious Ukraine will get special attention and trust from the world, and every manifestation of such attention and trust should be directed to the development of Ukraine and all aspects of life in our country,” the President emphasized.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the first concrete goal for Ukraine is to reach a GDP level of a trillion dollars, and our country's potential is capable of ensuring this.
The second point is to reject the idea that the cheapness of Ukrainian labor is a competitive advantage.
“Our goal is to reach a level of wages that could be determined by the formula "neighbors in the European Union plus 30%". This is a goal, a fair goal, for this war. The victorious Ukraine will rely primarily on skilled labor. And therefore, on education,” the Head of State said.
The President also emphasized the need to spread the English language, as in the modern world it is the language of global cooperation, business, science and global communication.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy defined the third most important task as the return home of as many of our citizens who have left the country as possible. To do this, it is necessary to create as many jobs as possible.
“The transformation of every sector of the economy, every social practice, and all spheres of public administration must answer the question of how many new jobs a particular solution or initiative will create in Ukraine,” he said.
The President also called for the formation of a new policy of supporting parenthood and childhood. According to the Head of State, the second and third child in a family should be happiness, not a limitation of opportunities.
A special Mriia app will be created to help families, it will support everything related to parents and children: services that parents and children need, development and education, security and contact with the state. Ukraine's digital transformation team will present this Mriia in the autumn, as stated by Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Head of State also emphasized the importance of protecting business, as economic leadership provides security.
“Everyone who creates new jobs in Ukraine creates the basis for Ukraine's economic leadership. The victorious Ukraine will protect the right of every person to work as long and as hard as he or she wishes. We need to modernize labor legislation,” he stressed.
According to the President, the seventh point of the transformation of the state should be a new rational tax agreement between the state and society and real legalization of property.
“I am a supporter of tax cuts. But now, in this time of war and Ukraine's obvious dependence on cooperation with financial donors, we cannot afford to cut taxes. But when the victorious Ukraine becomes a donor to the world itself, our level of opportunities will be higher. Reduced taxes should mean increased tax compliance,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
He noted that digitalization offers tremendous opportunities to simplify relations in the field of taxes, customs and other areas where there is a meeting or any contact between a citizen and an official, a businessman and an official. Therefore, we should strive to introduce automatic digital procedures in these areas.
As part of the transformation, Ukraine will be rebuilt, so after the victory, our country will become the largest construction site in Europe.
“We need to rebuild hundreds of towns and villages, thousands of infrastructure facilities, hundreds of thousands of houses. This will give a boost to the economy. We have to forget about our past as a raw material exporter. The victorious Ukraine is a country of high value added goods. It is a country where regulations allow the development of any business that is an innovator in its field and where intellectual property is protected. The victorious Ukraine is a country that exports security, services, experience, culture, and, in general, the results of intellectual activity, technological products more than any raw materials,” the President noted.
Our state will also develop cooperation and economic relations with all global players, including India, Africa, Latin America, the Arab world, and China, and Ukraine's energy potential allows us to be one of the guarantors of energy security in Europe, particularly through the development of nuclear and "green" energy, the Head of State is convinced.
In addition, the victorious Ukraine must become a country that has implemented pension reform so that everyone who works today has decent support in the future. In this context, Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on MPs to take steps to ensure this reform.
The President is also convinced that the victorious Ukraine should be a country where culture is an export industry.
“Currently, the cultural sector needs at least one percent of GDP per year as a basic level for survival. But it is clear that the industry should and must be more ambitious. Ukrainian courage has indeed awakened a tremendous interest of people from different countries in us, in Ukrainians, in our cities and villages of Ukraine. Every such interest is an opportunity,” he said.
According to the Head of State, Ukrainian society also needs a new policy of protecting public space in cities and communities, a new museum and memorial policy, a new policy of books and book publishing, writing and reading, translations of foreign books for Ukraine and the spread of the Ukrainian language and Ukrainian books in the world, support for bookstores, audiobooks and digital subscription services, rethinking our libraries, etc.
In addition, Ukraine needs a new cinematography policy and support for filmmaking, and the world should make movies about Ukraine and in Ukraine.
The Head of State also drew attention to the need for a new territorial policy for each region liberated from Russian occupation. This should be a very detailed and at the same time holistic, visionary transformation policy.
The President emphasized the issue of internal security.
“Russian aggression has shown us what security standards are needed for life. Accessibility of shelters - maximum. Schools - with a shelter. Hospitals - with a shelter. Houses - with a shelter. Ukrainians will trust specific things that provide specific security,” he stressed.
In this context, there is a need to resolve the issue of weapons that people have and will have, to address the issue of demining and meet the needs for its implementation, the issue of everyday security of people, etc.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the neighborhood policy the final guideline.
“A strong neighborhood is always the result of very different, very profound things. In fact, a successful neighborhood can summarize any of our other successes in our country, in our region, and in global relations. Economy and culture. Defense and security. Transport and communication. Education and attitude to history. Interaction between states and interaction between us, between people... All this determines the quality of neighborhood. It determines whether there is understanding between neighbors,” the Head of State summarized.
