Vietnam and Ukraine have issued a joint communiqué at the end of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit from Oct. 4-6, expressing belief that the two countries’ comprehensive cooperation and partnership will continue to see positive developments in all aspects.

During the three-day visit, PM Dung held talks with his Ukrainian counterpart, Mykola Azarov, and met with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, Parliament Chairman Vladimir Litvin and Foreign Minister K. Grishenko.

The Vietnamese and Ukrainian government leaders witnessed the signing of the minutes of the 12 th session of the Vietnam-Ukraine Inter-governmental Committee for Economic, Trade, Scientific and Technological Cooperation, a partnership agreement between Vietnam Airlines and Ukraine ’s Aerosvit Airlines and a memorandum of understanding between the Hanoi National University and the Kiev National University .

The PMs expressed their satisfaction at positive developments in the high-level political dialogue between the two countries in recent years, affirming that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s March visit to Vietnam has created an important momentum for fostering bilateral ties in all fields.

They said that the documents signed during the Ukrainian President’s visit have opened up possibilities for bilateral cooperation and emphasised the need to increase joint efforts to implement agreements reached at the talks between the Ukrainian President and Vietnamese leaders.

PM Mykola Azarov stressed that the first Ukraine visit by a Vietnamese Government leader over the past 17 years is an important event in the history of the Ukraine-Vietnam relations. The visit affirms the two countries’ wish to continue maintaining the positive development of high-level political dialogues, he said.

The two PMs agreed to strengthen intergovernmental dialogues and expand cooperation in economics, trade, investment, security, military technique, agriculture, science and technology, education, culture, tourism and sports.

The Ukrainian PM agreed to increase scholarships for Vietnamese students to study at Ukraine ’s universities in future.

The two leaders agreed that the economic-trade relations between the two countries are yet to match their potentials and demands. Therefore, the two sides will strengthen efforts to expand cooperation between Vietnamese and Ukrainian businesses, speed up the simplification of trade procedures, encourage information exchange and seek effective cooperative forms, including the establishment of joint ventures.

The acknowledged great potential for Vietnam-Ukraine cooperation in energy, machinery manufacturing, air craft assembling, shipbuilding, agriculture, mining, oil and gas and chemicals.

The two sides agreed to accelerate the military-run telecom company Viettel’s project in Ukraine .

The Ukrainian side will create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live, work and study in Ukraine .

The leaders stressed that the two governments are ready to implement activities in celebration of the 20 th anniversary of the Vietnam-Ukraine diplomatic ties in 2012./.