Luhansk Mayor Serhiy Kravchenko and USAID Mission Director Earl Gast are exchanging the signed Memorandum copies Serhiy Soroka, entrepreneur: “This Strategic Plan is a real know-how to Luhansk".
Luhansk - Earl Gast, USAID Mission Director, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Luhansk City Council during his visit to this city on October 12, 2006. Mayor Serhiy Kravchenko signed the Memorandum on behalf of Luhansk.
The Memorandum confirms USAID’s willingness to assist Luhansk in a wide range of development issues. Right after the ceremony, Mr. Gast took part in an enlarged meeting of the city’s Strategic Planning Committee (SPC), which has been working to develop an economic strategy for the city. This meeting was the last session of a series of meetings that have been conducted with assistance from the USAID Local Economic Development (LED) Project, and that are aimed at creating an Economic Development Strategic Plan for Luhansk. At the meeting, a draft plan was presented to SPC members and community activists in order to receive their input and approval for the Strategic Plan prior to its formal submission to the City Council. Two critical issues defined by 27 SPC members, more than half of whom are businessmen, are SME Development and creation of an Investor Friendly Climate. These critical issues were further detailed and refined, and are now constituted by working projects that, once implemented, are calculated to lead to a better economic situation in the city.
The Strategic Plan is being developed with assistance of experts from the USAID LED project. The Project’s goal is to have Ukrainian cities form public/private committees that:
- analyze their city’s strengths, weaknesses and economic assets;
- use that information to set long-term objectives for strategic development;
- create a strategic economic development plan approved by the city council; and
- support and monitor the work of the city administrative unit charged with implementing the tasks articulated in the strategic plan.
After completion of the strategic planning process, Luhansk will:
- know its competitive business assets;
- be able to develop those assets in a concerted, intelligent, continuous effort;
- be ready to offer those assets to investors, both foreign and domestic; and
- have the knowledge base to constantly add value to its business climate to ensure greater and greater economic dynamism and more jobs through ever-increasing investment.
