Dnipropetrovsk. 27 April. In May 2011 Dnipropetrovsk oblast will get down to implementing the Strategy for competitiveness increase of the region’s economy. The Strategy underlying principle is the development of construction and agriculture clusters. Natalia Izosimova, Managing Director, Foundation for Effective Governance, made it known during the Strategy presentation in Dnipropetrovsk.

“The work over creating the Dnipropetrovsk region development strategy has been done. Today it is safe to say that the region has got a very specific and effective document that presents an in-depth analysis of agriculture and construction clusters, elaborates key recommendations for boosting regional economic competitiveness as well as stipulates mechanisms for the strategy implementation. In addition, a platform for holding a dialogue and finding a synergy between the business and government has been created, which is crucial for the project”, told the Foundation Managing Director.
According to Natalia Izosimova, a special structure including the Council on Competitiveness and working groups responsible for implementing initiatives within construction and agriculture clusters as well as Regional Agency on investment generation was established during the project. The structure is going to coordinate the strategy implementation.

Oleksandr Vilkul, Head of Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration, accentuated during the Strategy presentation that unlike various “desk strategies” “that are easy to work out yet virtually impossible to implement” Dnipropetrovsk region chose the way of elaborating a highly coherent regional development business strategy of step-by-step planning. “Such an approach enables setting the clearly measurable short-term, mid-term and long-term goals. We’re implementing a principle for result-oriented project management”, said Oleksandr Vilkul.

The Governor stressed that a Complex Regional Development Strategy presupposes support of primary industries, high-technology engineering and space industry. However, the region should also make an efficient use of its additional potential which an in-depth analysis revealed in the fields of construction and agriculture.

“To provide the region’s economy diversification we’ll stimulate the development of selected clusters while simultaneously developing primary industries”, stated Oleksandr Vilkul. The Strategy for competitiveness increase elaborated by the regional government in partnership with the Foundation for Effective Governance and international consultancy Monitor Group presupposes exactly the development of the so-called “locomotive growth points”, i.e. agriculture and construction clusters.

The Strategy implies that by 2020 the region must become one of leading construction centers of Ukraine capable of serving domestic as well as international market owing to growing capacities of the cluster’s companies and attracting investments into modern construction materials production in the region with the use of its rich mineral resources base. This will also be reflected in quantitative indices. In particular, by the end of 2020 the strategy implementation will have raised the value added per worker in the cluster by almost 2.5 times as compared to 2009, which will add up to 20 thousand dollars, the cluster’s input into the region’s economy will have been more than 3.3% (1.8% in 2009), the construction materials production volume will have been at least doubled exceeding 750 million dollars a year.

“To achieve this goal housing construction should be promoted in the region already in 2011 by means of stimulating the uncovered segment of available housing, the system monitoring the would-be orders and spreading this data among the cluster’s companies should be created, the training programs within the cluster’s companies should be elaborated”, stated Andrew Swart, Partner, Monitor Group. It is also advisable to raise the construction cluster transparency as well as elaborate the mechanism for the Law “On town-planning activities” enforcement with the purpose of its quickest implementation in Dnipropetrovsk region and lowering administrative barriers for the cluster’s companies.

Besides, the year 2011 will bring the elaboration of the cluster’s investment passport and determination of the areas appropriate for creating industrial zones; the preparation of the documents of interest for investors will start.

Dnipropetrovsk region also stands to turn into a leading agricultural center of Ukraine. The strategy stipulates the cereals as well as horticultural and vegetable crops productivity increase, creation of vertically-integrated livestock breeding complexes, business environment improvement that are expected to foster the investment flows as well as reveal highly skilled human resources on the base of Dnipropetrovsk State Agricultural University and other educational establishments.

“We are expecting that thanks to the strategy implementation the end of 2020 will see an average plant and livestock breeding productivity level rise in the region by approximately 1.5 times enabling an increase of general agricultural production volume up to 115% from the level of 1990 (in 2009 this index amounted just to 83% from the level of 1990)”, told Andrew Swart.