Havana hosted the third meeting of the Joint Commission for Cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union and Cuba. It was chaired by Ricardo Cabrisas, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment of Cuba, and Sergey Glazyev, Minister of Integration and Macroeconomics of the Eurasian Economic Commission.

Among the milestones marking the progress of relations, Cabrisas mentioned the participation of EAEU representatives in the Havana International Fair. He also praised the working missions of Cuban organisations and institutions in Russia and the Republic of Belarus.

“We have a common task to expand relations between our countries in line with development plans and strategic guidelines,” he said.

In this regard, Cabrisas reiterated the intention to “participate more actively and effectively in the activities of the Eurasian Economic Union.”

He said that the new supranational mechanism of financial assistance for industrial co-operation within the Union represents a “great opportunity” for observer states.

He admitted that it “will promote joint projects having an impact on economic and industrial transformation”.

In general, the proposal is to concentrate efforts on those enterprises of mutual interest that have real prospects for growth, profitability and sustainability, promote exports and technological innovation.

In particular, Cabrisas asked to evaluate the project for the production of medicines and the development of biotechnology in the Eurasian region, as well as initiatives related to the sugar agro-industry and the transformation of the meat and dairy sector.

The possibility of concluding agreements on the supply of medicines, as well as the creation of joint ventures in industrial parks for their development, are of particular interest for Cuba, the country’s authorities confirmed. This is reported by
Prensa Latina, a partner of TV BRICS.

Glazyev noted that the meeting between representatives of the EEC and the Cuban government launches a new stage in the implementation of the co-operation plan, which was agreed by the parties at the end of 2021.

“The plan is being implemented almost in full on time. The peculiarity of the previous stage of our cooperation was the exchange of information. The Cuban side was granted observer status. It takes an active part in all our activities. A representative of the Cuban embassy participates in the board meetings as an observer. The exchange of information that has taken place between our departments and the relevant ministries of Cuba during these years has created a good basis for the next phase, which we are starting after today’s meeting,” the Minister added.

The plan, initiated in December 2021, envisages more than thirty activities in areas such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, tourism, agro-food, energy, business relations and interbank relations.

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