Ukraine and France on Monday agreed here to further deepen their economic and trade relations to tap cooperation potential between the two countries, according to Xinhua.
The agreement was reached during a meeting between Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and a delegation of French parliamentarians, members of the France-Ukraine friendship group led by Herve Maurey, a member of the Senate of France.
During the meeting, Azarov said that there is potential to be tapped in trade between his country and France.
"Bilateral trade value between our countries amounted to 2.5 billion U.S. dollars last year. This falls far short of the potential. We have every opportunity to increase our trade volume, " Azarov said.
He expressed the hope that the seventh session of Ukraine- France Intergovernmental Commission, which will be held in December, will give an impetus to lift economic cooperation between the two countries to a new level.
For his part, Maurey emphasized that French senators attach great importance to mutually beneficial cooperation with Ukraine.
"Trade and economic relations between our countries are very important to us and we do our best to develop them," Maurey said, who added French lawmakers support Ukraine's European integration aspirations and Kiev's efforts to sign the political agreement and free trade zone pact with the European Union during the Eastern Partnership summit to be held in Vilnius, Lituania, in November.
