Pak-Ukraine bilateral trade increasing in agriculture sector, says Envoy

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of Ukraine in Pakistan Volodymyr Lakomov said Tuesday that agriculture products were one of the most dynamic segments of bilateral trade between Ukraine and Pakistan.

In a statement issued here on Tuesday, the ambassador said that the agricultural trade between the two countries would further go up in coming years.

The ambassador said that Pakistani edible exports such as various types of oranges and Basmati rice were popular among Ukrainians while Pakistanis had been enjoying Ukrainian sunflower oil, nuts etc. He said that this year both countries plan holding the first session of Ukraine-Pakistan inter-governmental commission on economic and investment cooperation.

Volodymyr Lakomov informed that revenue produced from Ukraine’s farm exports in 2017 grew by 16.3% that is more than US$17.9 billion.

He said in the preceding year, the figure was $15.5 billion. Currently the share of exports in the total volume of foreign trade in farm produce and foods is 79.4%, farmers provide over 41% of Ukrainian exports.

The ambassador said that recently agriculture ministry of Ukraine has published a report and noted that the country’s foreign trade turnover of agrarian and food products stood at $22.6 billion in January-December 2017.

The top three staples of Ukrainian farm produce and food exports were grain crops (36.2%), vegetable oils (25.1%), and oil seeds (11.3%).