The Economic Development and Trade Ministry of Ukraine hopes that Ukraine would join the Regional Convention on pan-Euro-Mediterranean preferential rules of origin (PEM Convention) on January 1, 2018, Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Ukraine's Trade Representative Natalia Mykolska has said.

"This convention envisages diagonal cumulation, when ingredients, spare parts, raw materials made in Ukraine are used for production of goods on the territory of the European Union and supplied to the markets of third countries with a zero duty," she said at a briefing on Wednesday.

She said that joining the convention would concern engineering, food and light industries, metal sector.

"This would allow us to boost exports and Ukrainian companies to have access to the larger number of markets, cheaper raw materials. This would help to cheapen the finished products both for Ukraine and for exports," she said.

The Verkhovna Rada is to ratify the convention. Then it is to inform about it the secretariat of the convention and sign protocols with the countries with which Ukraine has the free trade agreements and sign new free trade agreements.

"Our task is to finish the negotiations on joining the convention by the end of this year to allow it to work from January 1," she said.

Mykolska said that joining the convention would also diversify exports and expand it.