Cyprus and Ukraine signed Thursday a Protocol on the occasion of their first joint session of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic, Scientific, Technical and Industrial cooperation held in Nicosia.
The Protocol was signed by Cypriot Minister of Finance Harris Georgiades and his Ukrainian counterpart Yuriy Kolobov.
The Protocol aims at further strengthening the ties between the two countries and further strengthening cooperation in fields such as the economy, trade, tourism, energy, transport healthcare and education.
Furthermore, the two parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the area of Digital Cartography and Geographical Information Systems (GIS), which establishes a framework of cooperation and encourage a programme of joint activities between the two parties. The MOU was signed by the Department of Lands and Surveys of the Ministry of Interior of Cyprus and the State Agency of Land Resources of Ukraine.
Speaking after the signing ceremony, Georgiades said "the Protocol signed today reflects the potential for cooperation between the two countries in the traditional sectors of trade, tourism and transport, while, at the same time, it identifies prospects for cooperation in emerging sectors such as the sectors of energy, health services and a host of other possibilities."
"The strategic bilateral and regional economic partnerships are a necessity in the contemporary economic scene, especially at times of economic crises like the one that all of us are witnessing these days," he pointed out, adding that "intergovernmental cooperation, concerted and coordinated action and solidarity among nations are the means to react more effectively to such global challenges."
Georgiades said the requisite legal framework within which Cypriot and Ukrainian economic relations have been proliferating is being built in a systematic way by the two Governments and it is ever-expanding. It comprises of Agreements fostering and regulating bilateral cooperation in a host of sectors including cooperation in Agriculture, Public Health, Air Services, Maritime Merchant Shipping, etc.
"I firmly believe that the current political and economic conditions in the two countries are creating the most favourable climate for the development of new fora for cooperation and diversification of traditional relations," he concluded.
