Somalia and Russia have signed a health cooperation agreement, aimed at strengthening medical ties, officials announced Monday.

Somalia’s Minister of Health and Human Services, Ali Haji Adam Abubakar, and Russia’s State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Health, Oleg Salagay, signed the agreement following a bilateral meeting at Russia’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations Office in Geneva.

According to statements from the two sides, the agreement seeks to expand cooperation in healthcare system development, regulation and circulation of medicines, training and professional development of Somali medical personnel, vaccinations, and collaboration between research institutions.