Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman held a meeting with Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassadors of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday. The parties discussed directions of bilateral cooperation of Ukraine with the countries of Central Asia, particularly in trade and economic sphere.

The Prime Minister noted the strategic importance of enhance collaboration between the States. "For us, a strategic line remains European integration, however, I emphasize that the countries of Central Asia are very important partners for Ukraine", he said.

Among the issues on the bilateral agenda to be addressed, according to him, are the improvement of cooperation in the framework of intergovernmental commissions for trade and economic cooperation, joint projects in trade, economic and infrastructure sectors, removing logistical difficulties that were artificially created.

Separately, the Prime Minister stressed the need to increase trade turnover between the countries.

"We should seek for the solutions enabling us to regain the traditions of progress in our trade relations, develop the interaction between our businesses and those of your countries", said Volodymyr Groysman.

The parties also considered the state of cooperation in the framework of the intergovernmental Commissions on trade-economic cooperation, as well as potential areas for improvement of collaboration between the countries.