Stepan Kubiv: Trade turnover between Ukraine and Japan soared by some 40%

The development of further cooperation between Japan and Ukraine was the focus during a meeting of First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine/Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Stepan Kubiv with the Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan Taido Tanose, on July 26, 2017.

Stepan Kubiv noted the positive dynamics of mutual trade between Ukraine and Japan. He noted that trade turnover between the two states had significantly boosted since the beginning of the year and soared by some 40% over 4 months of 2017 compared to the same period of 2016.

The First Vice Prime Minister stressed that the Year of Japan in Ukraine is marked by many other rewarding Ukrainian-Japanese projects.

He also noted that already in August the negotiations with the JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) on opening a representative office in Ukraine would commence.

"This, beyond any doubt, is the sign of unalloyed success of Ukraine and the positive outcomes of the reforms being carried out", stressed Stepan Kubiv.

Moreover, he accentuated that an important vector of Ukraine-Japan cooperation is the work of the Joint Cooperation Committee on Emergency Response Improvement at NPPs.

"By joining efforts of the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Education and the State Agency [for the management of the exclusion zone], and our colleagues from Japan a unique study on the territory of the Chornobyl Zone being one-of-a-kind environmental laboratory will be conducted", explained Stepan Kubiv.

He added that the work of Ukrainian and Japanese experts would enable us to prevent future nuclear disasters, to reduce harmful impact on the environment and living organisms in areas that have been exposed to radioactive contamination, would help to overcome the negative effects of such pollution. It will also allow the use of the results of joint research to transform the contaminated areas into secure ones.

Background

The main objectives of the project "Improvement of radiological monitoring and development of legislative framework in Ukraine aimed to ensure environmental rehabilitation of areas of radioactive contamination" are to strengthen the technical level of radiation control and enhance the legislative background in Ukraine to provide assistance in ecological restoration of zones affected by radioactive contamination, monitoring and simulation evaluation aimed to implement new zoning of the zone of alienation. The project is funded and managed by two government departments in Japan: Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and Japan International Agency for International Cooperation (JICA).