On December 8, Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Republic of Tunisia held political consultations at the level of heads of departments.

The parties discussed practical steps to intensify the development of Ukrainian-Tunisian political, trade, economic, investment and educational cooperation.

The Ukrainian delegation expressed hope that Tunisia would support Ukrainian initiatives at the UN. A separate topic of the consultations was obtaining by Ukraine an observer status in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

The Tunisian side reaffirmed its readiness to develop bilateral cooperation with Ukraine further and noted the existence of significant potential for this. The Tunisian side, in particular, is interested in long-term cooperation with our country in the field of food security. In the first nine months of 2020, Tunisia became Ukraine's third largest trading partner in Africa after Egypt and Morocco.

The parties paid special attention to the development of the legal framework of bilateral relations, intensification of inter-parliamentary and interregional cooperation. In this context, the Tunisian side confirmed its interest in signing a preferential trade agreement between Ukraine and Tunisia in the near future, the draft of which is currently being worked out at the expert level.

The delegations discussed preparations for the Fourth Meeting of the Ukrainian-Tunisian Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation. They agreed to hold consultations through videoconference in the first quarter of 2021 at the level of Secretariats of the national parts of the said Commission.

Ukraine has invited Tunisia to participate in the founding Summit of the Crimean Platform.

The most recent round of political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Republic of Tunisia took place in October, 2018 in Tunis.

Total volume of trade in goods and services between Ukraine and Tunisia in January-September 2020 amounted to USD 307.6 million. Ukrainian exports amounted to USD 298.4 million and imports from Tunisia – USD 9.2 million.