Remarks by Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Marisa Lago Partnerships for Reconstruction: Road to Rome, Ukraine Reconstruction Conference 2025

Washington, DC

October 22, 2024

As Prepared for Delivery

Good evening, everyone. I am so pleased to be here to underscore the United States' unwavering support for Ukraine.

Thank you, Ambassador Zappia and your team at the Italian Embassy, for hosting this event, and - even more so - for Italy's enduring leadership in support of Ukraine.

Ambassador Markarova: I always learn from, and am moved by, your heartfelt remarks. My team and I at the U.S. Department of Commerce especially appreciated your participation at a virtual conference that we hosted this morning - the first of six - which focused on supporting Ukrainian businesswomen.

It is a special honor to be part of a program that includes Penny Pritzker. From her time as Secretary of Commerce during the Obama-Biden Administration to her recent public service as the Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery, Penny has been expert, tireless and effective in her advocacy for Ukraine's sovereignty, economy and people.

Turning to the focus of this evening, the United States is fully committed to Ukraine's victory - in both the war and the peace. As President Biden reinforced last Friday in Berlin, the international community must continue supporting Ukraine until the country wins a just and durable peace - until human dignity prevails. In concrete numbers, the United States has provided over $100 billion in military, economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since Russia launched its ruthless, unjustified invasion.

And, through last month's joint declaration with more than 30 countries and the EU, we reaffirmed our commitment to help Ukraine meet urgent, short-term finance needs and to assist with long-term recovery and reconstruction.

In particular, we committed to using economic assistance to ensure that Ukraine maintains macroeconomic stability, to repair critical energy infrastructure, to improve the business climate, and to boost economic growth.

We also made clear that Russia's sovereign assets in our jurisdictions will remain immobilized until Russia ends its aggression and pays for the wide-scale damage that it has caused.

In the coming months, Ukraine's energy needs are front and center among our priorities. Across the U.S. government, we are working with international partners to provide vitally needed resources for Ukraine's energy sector - in preparation for this coming winter.

At the U.S. Department of Commerce specifically, given our deep relationships with the U.S. private sector and our expertise in international trade and investment, we're laser-focused on connecting U.S. companies to pressing needs.

For example, last month, the U.S. Commerce Department partnered with the U.S. State Department on two conferences - one in Kyiv and another in Bucharest - to directly engage U.S. companies in preparations for postwar reconstruction. We convened business representatives and senior officials from around the region to identify additional ways to address Ukraine's near- and long-term needs in sectors that spanned from infrastructure, to energy, to safety and security, to information and communications technologies.

This past July, I traveled to Kyiv, where I met with a group of about 200 business and government representatives from the United States, Ukraine and countries across the region. Our conversations made clear that the U.S. private sector remains eager to support Ukraine. It is especially notable that, more than two years into the war, over 80 percent of AmCham Ukraine's members are still fully operational - even in light of challenges related to infrastructure, utilities or transportation due to the war.

Going back to last December, the U.S. Commerce Department convened more than 300 U.S. and Ukrainian business and government representatives in D.C. to pursue opportunities to cooperate and strengthen Ukraine's defense industrial base.

Beyond these examples, much more is on the agenda - both at the U.S. Department of Commerce and across the U.S. government - to advance Ukraine's reconstruction and economic resilience in the near, medium and long terms.

Some of our efforts focus on enhancing Ukraine's business environment to attract private sector investment, including by broadening capital markets, accelerating anti-corruption reforms, and supporting the economic reintegration and inclusion of Ukrainian refugees, internally displaced communities, veterans and women.

A relentless focus on strengthening Ukraine's business environment will help ensure that reconstruction efforts succeed. And doing so will drive the country's economic recovery and growth far into the future - including in priority sectors such as agribusiness, manufacturing, information and communications technologies, and energy.

As we look ahead to the next Ukraine Reconstruction Conference in Rome next July, I will close today by recognizing the unshakable, deeply inspiring spirit of so many Ukrainians who I have met - in Kyiv, in Poland, in Romania, in Türkiye, in Kazakhstan - and here in the United States. From intrepid women entrepreneurs to senior government officials, these Ukrainians - including many who are here today - remind us of the magnitude of what is at stake.

In the name of transatlantic security and the democratic values that we all hold dearly, the international community - all of us - must sustain our unwavering resolve and support to assure that Ukraine both wins the war, and then wins the peace.

Thank you. Slava Ukraini.

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