#DFNC1 cooperation in defense industry: During their visits to Washington this week, Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk, Head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak, Defense minister Rustem Umerov and Minister for Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin participated in the USA - Ukraine Defense Industrial Base Conference on 5-6th December. The conference was hosted by the U.S. Department of Commerce and resulted in signing a Memorandum on Co-Production and Technical Data Exchange.

As Defense Minister Umerov pointed out, it was "an open and honest dialogue between  and  governments and companies about the localization of production in Ukraine, the current needs and capabilities of our countries, opportunities for fostering cooperation, investments, and developing joint ventures."

According to Minister Kamyshin, important achievement is forming the interagency team, consisting of representatives from U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), and Department of Commerce, that will support US industry, Ukrainian, and other partners who seek guidance on potential deals, and export requirements for Ukraine’s defense industry.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited in his video speech US defense industry to cooperate with Ukraine. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Special Representative for Ukraine's Economic Recovery Penny Pritzker gave speeches at the conference and underlined the importance of  business cooperation in defense industry for protecting democracy and economic growth.

 See video of the speaker series during the event http://surl.li/obphg