KARACHI, May 23: Ukrain-ian companies are keen to set up trading house in Pakistan which will not only serve as representative office of the Ukrainian Chamber of Com-merce and Industries (UCCI) but will also connect businessmen of both the countries for promotion of bilateral trade.

This was stated by the head of the visiting Ukraine delegation, Alexander Ivanchuk, at a meeting with leaders of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) here on Wednesday.

Both the sides also singed a Memorandum of Unde-rstanding (MoU) on establishment of Pakistan Ukraine Joint Bus-iness Council in the presence of Ukraine ambassador to Pakistan Volodymyr Lakomov and Pakistan’s ambassador to Ukraine Saleem Mela.

Alexander Ivanchuk said Ukrainian companies would prefer to set up trading house in export processing zone for promotion of bilateral trade.

Currently a strong Ukrainian delegation, consisting of members from cement, agriculture, dairy products, cryogenics technology, business consultancy, is on a visit to Pakistan. The Ukrainian delegation was welcomed by Sheikh Shakil Ahmed Dingra, the acting president of FPCCI, who expressed his pleasure at the inauguration of the Joint Business Council as a forum that would allow both countries to achieve greater ease in conducting trade.

Tariq Sayeed, former president of FPCCI, said that both Ukraine and Pakistan form a trade market of over $200 billion, but trade volume bet-ween both the countries is dismally poor at $125 and $175 million which is below 0.25pc of both the countries with the rest of the world.