Facilitating Migrant and Diaspora Investment in Ukraine

In 2014-2015, Ukrainian migrant workers were the biggest external contributors to the Ukrainian economy, having transferred approximately USD 2.8 billion through remittances. It is noteworthy that 22% of migrant workers stated interest in investing these funds in businesses and development projects in Ukraine. Considering present economic and financial challenges, these resources could become an alternative source of financing for Ukrainian entrepreneurs and state institutions with development needs. However, migrant and diaspora investment is currently conditioned by the availability of targeted incentives and mechanisms in the context of the labour migration policy, such as tax exemption, preferential loans and transnational bank accounts.

The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the Government of Ukraine’s efforts to boost economic development through attracting and facilitating investments by Ukrainian migrant workers and diaspora into local businesses. In pursuit of this objective, IOM will implement the proposed action which consists of the following two components.

The first component foresees conducting a targeted assessment of the current legal and regulatory framework in Ukraine from the perspective of facilitating migrant and diaspora investment in local businesses. This feasibility study will result in (i) concrete practical recommendations and plan of action for enabling migrant investments and (ii) identification of the most suitable migrant and diaspora investment scheme/mechanism for the Ukrainian context, followed by targeted training sessions for government and other stakeholders on the implementation of the investment scheme identified by the study.

The second component aims to improve Ukrainian government stakeholders’ knowledge and ability to manage labour migration through providing training sessions in (i) labour migration management and fostering development, as well as in (ii) mainstreaming migration into local development planning.