Competitiveness of Ukrainian export-oriented fields

Abstract

The article presents the results of the study of the current state of competitiveness of the export-oriented industries of the Ukrainian economy. It shows that the level of engagement in international trade determines the international competitiveness of the national economy, its readiness and the ability to create developed competitive advantages. It is proved that in Ukraine today just a small number of branches of the economy are competitive in foreign markets as they offer raw materials or products with a low level of positive value to the countries abroad. Taking it into account, this research goal is to determine, which export-oriented industries deserve state support and which tools and methods should be used for this purpose. The methodological basis of the research was the general scientific methods of dialectics, observation, measurement and formalization; methods of the system, statistical and graphical analysis. In particular, to identify the export-oriented industries of the domestic economy, the methodology for calculating the index of identified competitive advantages was used. It is determined that the export-oriented branches of the domestic economy include: extractive industry, metallurgy, agriculture, food industry, and chemical industry. The calculations showed that among the 223 items, which were under the analysis, only for 47 of them these figures are greater than 1. This high indicator is mainly featured for commodity products. It is concluded that without reforming the structure of the domestic economy, there will be no significant changes in the national economy since the main items of export will continue to remain the raw materials and semi-finished products in terms of the unchanging nature of the specialization of the domestic business. It is substantiated that one of the directions of increasing the competitiveness of the domestic business is increasing both the production of the added value of high-tech industries (such as the chemical industry) and the export of intermediate and end products, in which it is embodied. It has been determined that changes in the sectoral structure are needed to increase non-raw added value created in the areas of the added value. Further research will be aimed at improving the mechanism of state support for export-oriented industries of Ukraine.