EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 5 May 2023 — In Havana on Thursday, Cuba and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding for the bilateral investment initiative that includes the business projects agreed to between the two countries with the aim of expanding their relations.
Cuba’s Deputy Prime Minister and Head of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Ricardo Cabrisas, signed the document together with the adviser to the Russian Presidency for economic affairs, Maxim Oreshkin, at the end of his visit to the Island at the head of a delegation of officials and businesspeople.
Cabrisas pointed out that there is the political will of both governments to “advance rapidly” in the economic-commercial sector, according to the state Cuban News Agency (ACN).
Both officials stressed the importance of the meetings that took place between managers and businessmen from the two countries.
In their discussions, they addressed the main issues to promote the participation of Russian investors in the implementation of Cuba’s Economic and Social Development Program until 2030, in sectors such as energy, tourism, food production, civil aviation infrastructure, sugar industry and mining.
The day before, Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel and the adviser to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, held a meeting in which they ratified the intention to bring bilateral economic, commercial and financial ties to the same level as political relations.
During the conversation, Oreshkin said that the main work guidelines that have been proposed for the development of economic relations between the two nations are focused on energy, the increase in tourist flow and the investments of Russian companies in Cuba.
Díaz-Canel said that the presence of the Russian delegation on the Island has “a lot of significance” and that it gives continuity to the exchanges of high-level visits held in recent months.
Last week, the chancellor of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, and the president of the Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, were in Havana, and previous visitors included the secretary of the Security Council, Nikolai Paptrushev, the president of the bilateral Business Council, Boris Titov, and the executive director of the state oil giant Rosneft, Igor Sechin.
Russia is Cuba’s second regional trading partner and Cuba’s fifth trading partner at the global level.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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