Ukraine and Guatemala agreed to continue work on the conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement

Ukraine and Guatemala have discussed deepening bilateral economic cooperation, in particular, further work on the conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement. This was the topic of a meeting in the Dominican Republic between President of Guatemala Bernardo Arévalo and First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko.

‘Since the election of the President of Guatemala last year in July, we have been actively working to continue the systematic improvement of trade between our countries. Last year, the total volume of foreign trade with Guatemala amounted to almost USD 45 billion. We have the potential to increase it, and the Free Trade Agreement will certainly contribute to this. During the meeting, we agreed to continue working on its development,’ said Yuliia Svyrydenko.

Moreover, the First Deputy Prime Minister thanked Guatemala for its systematic support of Ukraine.

‘Guatemala has been the most active among all Latin American countries in supporting Ukraine since the full-scale war. Guatemala joined the International Crimean Platform and the Core Group for the establishment of the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression. Guatemala co-authored many of the resolutions on the ‘Ukrainian dossier’ adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2022-2023 and voted positively for all of them. The country took part in the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland and joined the joint communiqué on its results,’ Yuliia Svyrydenko added.

According to her, Guatemala is actively involved in various coalitions in support of Ukraine, including the First Ladies Summit. The country has confirmed its participation in the Summit.

Ukraine also invited Guatemala to join the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children.

As a reminder, following a working visit of the Ukrainian delegation to Latin America in May, Argentina became a member of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children. As stated in the First Deputy Prime Minister's of Ukraine column for Interfax, relations between Ukraine and Latin America and the Caribbean are systematically improving. Active work is underway to organise a Ukraine-Latin America Summit.