Trade between Ukraine and India in 2017 grew by 18.8%, reaching $2.8 billion, Indian Ambassador to Ukraine Mr. Manoj Kumar Bharti said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday. “Here two important moments should be pointed out. India became the fifth country in the volume of the export from Ukraine abroad. In addition, India is the second country with which Ukraine has the surplus in trade. Only Ukraine and Egypt have bigger surplus in trade – $1.75 billion, while between Ukraine and India it is $1.65 billion,” he said.
The ambassador said that these indicators fuel confidence that the growth of trade turnover in 2018-2019 could be 20% and 25%, respectively.
Commenting on trade relations between the countries, he said that India was the first country in terms of export of Ukrainian sunflower oil. Last year India exported $2 billion worth of oil. In addition, in 2017, for the first time, a lot of beans were exported from Ukraine to India.
“Another very important factor is that the largest share of the total number of foreign students in Ukraine last year was made up of Indian students, a figure we reached for the first time in 15 years,” the Indian diplomat said.
So, according to him, today more than 10,800 Indian students are studying in Ukraine, which is 80% more than in 2015.
“I am pleased to say that in almost two years we have increased the number of Indian students from 6,000 to almost 11,000. Taking into account the fact that each Indian student spends about $5,000 a year for education, living and personal expenses, Ukraine already earns $55 million only through the provision of education to Indian students,” he said.
The ambassador said that India plans to increase the number of its citizens studying in Ukrainian universities to 40,000 in the coming years, which in turn will give Ukraine about $200 million a year.
He also said that the inclusion of India in the list of countries, which citizens receive the Ukrainian visa upon their arrival to the airport, had a positive impact on the tourist flow. The number of Indian citizens, who visited Ukraine last year, increased more than 50%, to 29,400 people.
India hopes that Ukraine will adopt Ayurveda as alternative medicine, Indian Ambassador to Ukraine Manoj Kumar Bharti has said. “This year we added one more goal in relationship between Ukraine and India – cooperation in the field of Ayurveda, in the field of Ayurvedic practices and Ayurvedic medicine,” he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.
According to him, a delegation of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will arrive in Ukraine in April to inform the government of the need to develop a policy for the adoption of Ayurveda as alternative medicine.
In addition, as part of this initiative, the ambassador noted the need to resolve the issue of importing Ayurvedic products into Ukraine as medical products, rather than biologically active additives.
There are currently 12 manufacturers of Ayurvedic products in India that meet the standards of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). According to Manoj Kumar Bharti, Ayurvedic medicine will help reduce the cost of treatment in Ukraine.
“The result of the popularization of Ayurveda in Ukraine will be saving on treatment. People will receive good Ayurvedic medical treatment for a very reasonable cost,” he said. “At the same time, the government of Ukraine, in particular, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education, should be aware of the need to teach Ayurveda in medical universities and universities of alternative medicine so that Ayurvedic practitioners are also brought up in Ukraine,” he said.
In addition, the ambassador stressed that Ayurvedic medicine is recognized by several European countries, as well as by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an alternative to traditional medicine. “Speaking about Europe, I’m not talking about the rest of the world and about Asia. Hungary, Switzerland and Germany also officially adopted Ayurveda as alternative medicine,” he said.
As reported, India intends to support the development and promotion of traditional Indian medicine around the world.
