Ukraine expects to strengthen cooperation with UAE - Ministry of Economy

Ukraine and the UAE share a mutual interest in improving the balance of bilateral trade by creating the right conditions for trade, business development and investment.

This was discussed during a meeting between the First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy Yuliia Svyrydenko and the Minister of Climate Change and Environment, Head of the Office for International Affairs under the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mariam Almheiri, the Ministry of Economy reported, according to Ukrinform.

"Ukraine undoubtedly considers the United Arab Emirates as an important economic partner in the Middle East region and shares a mutual interest in improving the balance of bilateral trade by creating appropriate conditions for trade, business development and investment. An important step in this direction is the launched negotiation process on the conclusion of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between Ukraine and the UAE," Svyrydenko said.

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She noted that the conclusion of the Agreement will make our economies complementary and looks forward to working together to promote trade, the digital economy and investment cooperation between the countries.

Svyrydenko thanked the UAE government and personally Mariam Almheiri for the humanitarian and financial support provided to Ukraine and expressed her hope for a favorable consideration of urgent humanitarian needs for civilians in the flooded area and financial assistance to overcome the humanitarian consequences of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant disaster. In addition, Ukraine needs financial support from its partners to maintain macro-financial stability in the future.

The meeting focused on the reconstruction of Ukraine, to which the Ukrainian side invited UAE funds and companies to contribute, as well as on strengthening trade cooperation between the two countries. In particular, the meeting was also attended by representatives of the UAE sovereign wealth fund, ADQ, which owns assets in such industries as rail and air transport, port logistics, full-cycle agriculture, medicine and pharmaceutical production, energy and innovative technologies. During the meeting, the strategic vision of the Ukrainian side in the transformation of our country's economy was presented, which received extremely positive feedback from the Arab partners.

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As a result, it was agreed to launch a process of analyzing investment opportunities in Ukraine, to which the UAE delegation showed great interest.

As reported, since Russia's full-scale invasion, the UAE has sent Ukraine more than 230 tons of humanitarian aid (medicines, medical equipment, food) and four ambulances. In April of this year, the Emirates transferred $4 million. The Emirates transferred USD 4 million for the construction of 10 family-type orphanages in Ukraine. To support Ukraine in overcoming the energy crisis caused by the aggressor's actions, the UAE supplied 2,500 generators to Ukraine as part of the $100 million humanitarian aid provided by the UAE leadership.