Japan "opens its arms" to support, Kiev wants to deploy the first phase, what is the focus?

On June 19, Japan agreed with Ukraine to establish a communication system to help the Eastern European country rebuild areas severely damaged by the conflict.

Tái thiết Ukraine: Nhật Bản triển khai giai đoạn đầu tiên

Japan supports Ukraine in rebuilding the country. (Source: Reuters)

At a ceremony in Tokyo, Japanese Minister of Reconstruction Hiromichi Watanabe and Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Ukraine's reconstruction Oleksandr Kubrakov signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the initiative to support Ukraine's reconstruction.

At Kiev's request, Tokyo will pass on to Ukraine advice and knowledge gained from rebuilding devastated areas based on experience gained from the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit northeastern Japan in 2011.

Japan will assist Ukraine in rebuilding houses, schools, restoring water supply, wastewater treatment and transport infrastructure destroyed during the special military operation.

* Deputy Chief of Staff of the President of Ukraine Rostyslav Shurma said that the country is mobilizing up to 40 billion USD in finance to implement the first phase in the process of economic reconstruction.

The statement came ahead of a conference of politicians and financial experts to discuss short-term funding issues and consider long-term reconstruction efforts for Ukraine on June 21-22 in London, co-chaired by Britain and Ukraine.

According to Mr. Shurma, the focus of the first stage of reconstruction will be the iron and steel industry, which contributed about 10% of Ukraine's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021, about 30% of export revenue and created jobs for about 600,000 people.

However, the industry also contributes to 15% of Ukraine's carbon emissions and he said there was now an opportunity to convert steel production to renewable energy.

“Our vision is to build a 50 million ton green steel industry in Ukraine,” he stressed.

If successful, Ukraine would become the world's cheapest supplier of green steel and a key supporter of Europe's decarbonization efforts by boosting investment in wind, solar, nuclear and hydropower.

To help raise $20-40 billion in the initial reconstruction phase, Ukraine plans to form a coalition of stakeholders from both the public and private sectors to develop the plan.

According to Mr. Shurma, the preparation work could take from one to one and a half years, although "actual construction will only begin after the conflict with Russia ends."

Source