President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu discussed trade and economic relations between the countries and investment potential during the negotiations in Kyiv.
“Israel remains one of Ukraine's key trading partners in the Middle East region. Our total trade turnover exceeded $ 1 billion,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after the meeting.
The President also expressed confidence that the given figure would increase significantly due to the signing of the Free Trade Agreement between Ukraine and Israel. He is also hopeful that the Israeli side would ratify the document in the near future.
"We have also agreed to immediately start working to extend the Agreement to the sphere of services," Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted.
The Head of State noted that in the next five years, Ukraine's economy would grow rapidly. That is why the country needs investment and technology. The President invited Israeli companies to Ukraine to invest in various areas - road construction and infrastructure projects, medicine and education, energy conservation and IT.
“My goal is Ukraine, which is a world-renowned brand of everything advanced and synonymous with innovation. Our country is rich in scientists and inventors. The whole world knows the capabilities of Ukrainian IT specialists. And we will involve Israel's experience in the implementation of innovations, supporting start-ups and holding scientific and research developments. I see great potential for mutually beneficial cooperation in these areas,” the President of Ukraine added.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that during the negotiations, the possibility of opening separate offices in Kyiv and Jerusalem for the development of the mentioned branches had been discussed.
According to the Prime Minister of Israel, we live in the era of positive revolutionary transformations, and the global economy is changing rapidly, creating new opportunities and challenges. “Today, the quintessence of any country’s development is innovation. And Ukraine has great talents and opportunities for that. Israeli companies work here, and we work with tens of thousands, namely about 50,000 Ukrainian computer engineers, mathematicians, scientists - those involved in the field of modern technology. We see talents and great opportunities,” Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized.
“We will share technology and involve Ukrainians in our high-tech industry as we will make joint investments in this field in Ukraine. We do not only think about it, but will also facilitate it,” the Prime Minister of Israel added.
