Serhii Bashlai

This paper explores some Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs – 2 and 12) in agriculture for the Czech Republic and Ukraine. The idea is to find out best practices in implementing SDGs 2 and 12 within the responsible investment framework. For these purposes, benchmarking (comparative analysis) is used. Using data over the period of 2017–2020, a general comparative review of global and national targets of SDGs 2 and 12 in Ukraine and the Czech Republic is provided. The results justify the merely incorporation and compliance of these targets at the national and global levels. The identified problems in achieving SDG 2 and SDG 12 are common for Ukraine and the Czech Republic and relate to unequal access to investment and financial resources. Recommendations and solutions to the most important problems based on the responsible investment instruments are proposed in this paper. The research findings can be useful for regulators (both in agriculture and in the financial market), companies and a wide group of other stakeholders in promoting responsible investment to make more comprehensive progress towards SDG 2 and 12 in Czech Republic and Ukraine by 2030.

Acknowledgment
Authors are grateful to the Czech government for the support provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, which allowed this scientific cooperation to start within the project “AgriSciences Platform for Scientific Enhancement of HEIs in Ukraine”.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
This study addresses the critical need to understand how emerging economic drivers can facilitate common prosperity by empirically examining the mechanisms by which new quality productivity and international trade facilitate common prosperity. The aim is to identify and compare the respective roles of these two forces in promoting common prosperity. Using panel data from 11 prefecture-level cities in Zhejiang Province, China, covering the period 2014–2023, the study finds that new quality productivity exerts a significant positive influence on common prosperity in Zhejiang Province (the coefficient of new quality productivity to common prosperity is 0.79), serving as the primary driving force behind this endeavor. International trade also exerts a significant positive impact on common prosperity (the coefficient of international trade to common prosperity is 0.19). Both forces jointly propel common prosperity in Zhejiang Province, with new quality productivity serving as the core engine and international trade providing crucial support. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the effect is stronger in the coastal areas of eastern Zhejiang (regression coefficient is 0.629) than in the inland regions of western Zhejiang (regression coefficient is 0.438). This study provides theoretical foundations and policy references for Zhejiang Province to advance common prosperity by synergistically developing new quality productivity forces and international trade.