Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Oct. 11 / Trend D. Azizov /
The Uzbek and Ukrainian Foreign Ministries signed an inter-ministerial cooperation programme for 2014-2015, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said today.
According to the report, the document was signed by Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister, acting chairman of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Leonid Kozhara who paid an official visit to Tashkent.
During the meeting, Uzbek and Ukrainian foreign ministers discussed important aspects of Uzbek-Ukrainian relations and examined the forms and mechanisms of regular contacts between the foreign ministries and exchanged views on regional and international issues.
According to the report, cooperation issues within OSCE have been considered separately. Ukrainian Ambassador to Uzbekistan Yuriy Savchenko attended the meeting.
Ukraine is one of Uzbekistan's most important trade partners. It ranked third in the total turnover of goods and services among the CIS countries as of 2012 and seventh among the world's partners of Uzbekistan.
Foreign trade turnover increased 5.7 times between Uzbekistan and Ukraine in 2002-2012 amounting to $582.4 million in 2012, the Ukrainian State Statistics Committee said.
Around 50 enterprises with Ukrainian capital are operating in Uzbekistan. The representative offices of 16 Ukrainian firms and companies have been accredited in the country.
It was previously reported that the programme of Leonid Kozhara's visit envisages meetings and negotiations in the Uzbek parliament and the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and Trade.
Uzbekistan and Ukraine have repeatedly confirmed their interest in developing a political dialogue especially at the highest level and intensifying economic cooperation between the two countries, as well as providing Ukrainian- Uzbek relations with perspective projects of bilateral cooperation.
At present relations between the countries are based on a solid legal base which creates favourable conditions for developing cooperation in several mutually beneficial spheres.