The Investment Image program approved in August 2002 is aimed at increasing the country's investment rating and image

Foreign direct investment was very insignificant prior to 1994 at $100 million - $150 million a year. This then began to improve considerably and FDI in 1996 - 1998 was about $500 million - $700 million a year and continued growing. Average annual foreign investment in the past three years was eight to ten times lower than in Kazakhstan, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Poland. Ukraine is close to last in Central and Eastern Europe in terms of per capita FDI, which is currently $111, nearly 10 times less than in Czech Republic, Poland, and the Baltic countries. The FDI index calculated by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) each year places Ukraine 95th of 140 UN members (the index is a ratio of the share each country has in global FDI and its share in global GDP). This means that administrative bodies must pay closer attention to the country's investment appeal. The country set up 11 special economic zones and nine priority development territories in the past three years that provide favorable conditions for foreign investors. The introduction of special conditions investment in special economic zones and development territories reached nearly 7% of total foreign investment in Ukraine. The Ukrainian president initiated efforts that dramatically improved the conditions for investing in the real sector. This included the introduction in the mid-1990s of perks for foreign companies and agriculture. Ukraine also launched economic experiments in mining and metallurgy, shipbuilding, aircraft building, the cement industry, housing construction, the light and woodworking industries. The investment appeal of industries began to improve after production stabilized and the economy began to grow. Almost all economic and social indicators have improved in Ukraine in the past three to four years: GDP, industrial output, agricultural production, production of consumer goods, and retail sales are increasing. This has helped create a favorable investment climate. The Ukrainian president in early 2001 signed a decree on measures to attract investment to Ukraine that made this a priority. Another decree was signed that summer on measures to improve the investment climate that outlined tasks to simplify procedures and eliminate bureaucratic red tape in the registration of foreign investment. The government in December 2001 confirmed a program to develop investment in 2002 - 2010 and later confirmed measures to achieve this.