Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Mar. 7 affirmed that Vietnam is willing to enhance cooperative relations with Ukraine while acting as a bridge for the country to access the ASEAN community.

He made the statement at a reception for Ukrainian Foreign Minister Konstantin Grishenko during his two-day working visit to Vietnam .

Dung praised the two countries' current cooperative agreements saying they helped deepen their traditional relations.

The PM suggested the two sides negotiate a Free Trade Agreement, creating favourable conditions for Vietnam 's seafood products to enter Ukraine 's market, increasing scholarships for Vietnamese students to study in Ukraine and supporting the Vietnamese community in Ukraine .

For his part, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister said his visit aimed to implement cooperative agreements approved during PM Dung's visit to his country last October, especially in the fields of economy, trade and investment.

Grishenko affirmed his country's effective implementation of agreements reached at the 12th session of the Intergovernmental Commission on economic, trade, science and technology cooperation between the two sides.

He said Ukraine will support Vietnam in areas of energy, machine assembling and military training.

On the same day, Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh held talks with his Ukrainian counterpart.

The two sides lauded their comprehensive partnership and cooperative relations, acknowledged in the Joint Statement issued by the two nations' leaders in March last year. The two sides agreed on measures to boost bilateral cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, investment, education and training, science and technology as well as support each other at international forums.-VNA