Today, November 8, the Second Annual International Forum "Creative Ukraine", organized by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, began its work in Kyiv.

The opening ceremony of the landmark event in the sphere of cultural and creative industries of Ukraine was attended by Vice Prime Minister/ Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine Hennadii Zubko, Minister of Culture of Ukraine Yevhen Nyshchuk, Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary EU in Ukraine Hugues Mingarelli, representatives of the European ministries of culture, embassies of the EU and the Eastern Partnership initiative.

Volodymyr Groysman, Prime Minister of Ukraine, congratulated the participants of the Forum in a video address.

"Today's event is a logical extention of the previous forum, which, according to experts, has entered the TOP-3 of European events in the field of creative industries. We have focused on the essential objective which involves combining the efforts of businesses, the Government and the community in shaping the state policy in the sector of creative industries. I believe all that in turn will lead to the creation of the necessary conditions for the development of creative industries and creative entrepreneurship in Ukraine", Yevgen Nyshchuk, the Minister of Culture of Ukraine, said in his statement. "One of the most effective components of the cultural policy is creativity. And, indeed, it is the creativity that is the engine of the key reforms of the Government. These are an opportunity for self-realization, unleashing of creative potential and eventually transforming it into concrete economic achievements and benefits. It is a tool for finding innovative solutions, creating a shared future, and efficiently utilizing the full range of achievements and resources of a nation. It is the formation of the ecosystem for the creative self-realization of our citizens that appears the basis for the country's competitiveness, improving its performance in global rankings, obtaining a specific economic effect. Generate ideas, propositions, and advice - and we’ll heed them and try to acheve in synergy that our citizens feel comfortably to create and realize their dreams in Ukraine."

The EU Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Ukraine Hugues Mingarelli emphasized that, the European Union considers creative industries are a powerful engine for economic development.

"Ukraine possesses huge potential for the development of creative industries, you have a lot of educated and very capable young people, ready to engage into this activity, as well as unique cultural heritage. The European Union will contribute in every way to the development of creative industries in Ukraine, and for this purpose the Culture Bridges program has recently been launched. We intend to continue to actively cooperate within this program and make every effort to maximize the benefits for Ukraine’s participation in this program. This sector should be among the priorities of our cooperation over the next years", said Hugues Mingarelli.