Ukraine plans to hold joint meetings of intergovernmental commissions with some Arab states

Director of the Department for International Cooperation and European Integration of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Oleksiy Rozhkov said this at a press conference dedicated to the first issue of the magazine "Ukraine in Arabic – The Economic Newsletter" in Arabic for the readers of the Arab world, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

"We are preparing to hold joint intergovernmental commissions with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Egypt before the end of this year. We have recently held a joint intergovernmental commission with the United Arab Emirates. We are constantly looking for new ways to deepen cooperation," Rozhkov said.

According to him, the Arab states are very important trade and economic partners of Ukraine, but so far the trade with them is only 6.5% of the total trade of our country. "This is not enough, but there are positive trends. For seven months of this year, the trade increased by 12% compared to the same period in 2017. It amounted about USD 3.5 billion," the representative of the Economic Development Ministry noted.

According to the official, the situation can be changed for the better thanks to the active work of the intergovernmental commissions, which Ukraine has established with many countries of the world and which have already proved their effectiveness.

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