Havana: Cuba hopes to expand trade relations with China during its participation in the fourth China International Import Expo (CIIE), which will open tomorrow in Shanghai, diplomatic sources said today.
According to Radio Habana Cuba, the island’s consul in that municipality, Néstor Torres, told the Global Times newspaper that his country will be present with a virtual pavilion and will promote advances in biotechnology, cultural goods and services, tourism, health and agriculture aside from its iconic tobacco, coffee and rum brands.
According to him, the CIIE is a very important space to visualize Cuban exports and an essential aspect will be the display of progress in health matters.
Torres referred, in particular, to the development of vaccines against Covid-19 thanks to the high level of scientific-technological innovation, the development of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology of the Antillean nation.
He considered the Chinese fair as an excellent opportunity to promote foreign investment in Cuba, after citing that the Island offers advantages to qualified personnel, social security and a transparent legal framework.
The Caribbean state has attended the CIIE since its inauguration in 2018 and even on that occasion, President Miguel Díaz-Canel toured the exhibition site.
During the meeting, Cuba will officially launch its own space within the electronic commerce platform JD.com, consolidated as one of the most important in China, to offer its catalog of exportable goods and services.
The CIIE will meet between tomorrow and next Wednesday with the participation of thousands of national and foreign companies.
China intends with this event to raise its level of openness, promote economic globalization and the Belt and Road project.
That is why, since the end of 2017, it gradually reduced taxes on thousands of imported goods and made customs mechanisms more flexible to facilitate the entry of goods, especially those of high quality, innovative and friendly to the environment.
Everything is in tune with the government plan to promote a development model where consumption plays a key role, since in recent years it was a determining factor in the expansion of the Gross Domestic Product and evidenced the enormous potential that imports have here.
According to estimates, the country is expected to purchase products and services worth at least $ 30 trillion in the next 15 years.