OREANDA-NEWS. December 03, 2010. The Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov met with the Minister of Economy of the Republic of Lebanon Mohamad Safadi.

The sides noted the great potential for bilateral trade and economic relations. "We appreciate very much the condition and prospects of relations between Ukraine and Lebanon. We would like to further intensify these relations" - Mykola Azarov said.

According to the Head of the Government, now the economy of Ukraine is actively recovering after the global financial crisis, and that is why our country is very interested in attracting investments, especially the Lebanese ones: "Ukraine needs investment, and now is the pretty good time to invest in Ukrainian economy. It is important for Ukraine to enter the pre-crisis level of development, so we attach great importance to the natural markets for our goods."

The Prime Minister of Ukraine stressed that the Ukrainian party regards the Arab countries as a very interesting and promising area for cooperation in trade and economic cooperation. According to him, promising is the cooperation in energy, transport, agro-industrial sector, etc.

In turn, the Minister of Economy of the Republic of Lebanon Mohammed Safadi underlined the high rate of development of the Lebanese economy. So, he said, that last year the growth amounted to 8%, and the current is expected at 6%.

"The Lebanese economy is the economy of service and services make 75% of the economy of Lebanon. Ukrainian economy is based on industry and agriculture. I think that in that way the Union of Ukraine and Lebanon in the investment industry will give very good results" - Muhammad Safadi said and added: "Our countries are on the way of development, but I'm sure that in future our countries will be prosperous."

Summing up the meeting, the Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said that Lebanon's economy has great investment opportunities that could be used to implement joint investment projects in some areas. According to him, it would be right to start with a pilot project, gradually expanding the experience of investment cooperation. "We will welcome the participation of Lebanese in our investment projects" - Mykola Azarov said.

The Prime Minister conveyed through Mohammed Safadi the invitation to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lebanon to visit Ukraine on an official visit at his convenience.