The Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry attaches great importance to the development of trade and economic cooperation with the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, and Cuba occupies one of the most central places in this area. This was stated on March 21 by the President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sergei Katyrin during a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba Ricardo Cabrisas.
According to the head of the Chamber, we have traditionally had close cooperation with the Cuban Chamber of Commerce for almost 20 years. “We continue intensive joint work with our colleagues,” said Mr. Katyrin, welcoming the Cuban guest.
He noted that in general, despite the relatively good dynamics of trade between our countries, there is significant potential for its development. At the same time, the issue of increasing the volume of export-import operations directly depends on solving existing logistical difficulties and issues of making payments under commercial contracts. This is largely facilitated by intergovernmental dialogue, primarily through the intergovernmental commission, the next 21st meeting of which was held in Moscow on March 15, 2024.
According to Mr.Katyrin, cooperation in the field of tourism traditionally remains close. “At the same time, we still have to work on expanding cooperation in such industries as energy, pharmaceuticals and medicine, transport, construction, as well as in the banking sector,” emphasized the head of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “We hope that a number of decisions taken by the Cuban Government to create preferential conditions for potential Russian investors will facilitate the implementation of joint industrial and investment projects,” he said.
Sergei Katyrin emphasized the importance of developing Russian-Cuban cooperation at the regional level. He recalled that a number of agreements have been concluded both by the administrations of Russian regions and individual provinces of Cuba, and between the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Such documents were signed by the Republic of Bashkortostan, Moscow, Orenburg and Yaroslavl regions, and Nizhny Novgorod.
We organize work throughout the Russian Federation, and it is possible to maintain contacts in all regions. Mr.Katyrin also said that the Chamber of Commerce and Industry has foreign representative offices in 40 countries and 76 business councils, including with Cuba.
“We are glad to see our Cuban colleagues at our exhibitions at the EXPOCENTER,” he said. “This is also an opportunity to look at what Russian manufacturers are doing,” he emphasized, noting that exhibitions at the EXPOCENTER could be a good opportunity to present the projects that Cuba will offer to Russian investors.
Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba Ricardo Cabrisas noted that the meetings held in Moscow were an opportunity to talk about the new circumstances in which Russia lives and in which Cuba lives. According to him, we should look for new approaches for entrepreneurs to find more effective ways to implement our cooperation. He also said that the Cuban Chamber of Commerce and Industry is constantly working in this direction. As a result of the work of the intergovernmental commission held in Moscow, four intergovernmental agreements were signed on additional incentives for Russian entrepreneurs to invest in Cuba. He called for filling the signed documents with real content and restoring a climate of trust between our countries.
According to Ricardo Cabrisas, the government of the Republic of Cuba “made a sovereign decision to open the gates to foreign investors and, above all, Russian ones.” A “road map” for the implementation of framework agreements has been developed, a program of bilateral trade cooperation makes it possible to track the areas that countries have identified as fundamental, the representative of the government of the Republic of Cuba emphasized. He noted the efforts of the Russian government to explain to entrepreneurs the new conditions in Cuba.
“We can take into account the past positive experience that has been accumulated since the ancient times of the Soviet Union, but there are also new circumstances that cannot be ignored and work with new approaches,” said Ricardo Cabrisas.
He drew attention to the need to see and take into account each other's problems. According to him, the introduction of sanctions against Russia turned out to be a boomerang against those who introduced them - Russia survived and confirmed that it has a strong economy and emerged from the situation with good GDP indicators.
A representative of the Cuban government invited the head of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sergei Katyrin, to visit the Republic of Cuba.
The meeting was attended by Vice-President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vladimir Padalko, Director of the Department of Project and Investment Activities Elena Medvedeva, Deputy Director of the Department of External Relations of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ilya Nesterov, Deputy Chairman of the Russia-Cuba Business Council, General Director of NC SESLA Tatyana Mashkova, Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba to Russian Federation H.P. Julio Antonio Garmendia Peña.
By Peter Cheremushkin,
Chamber Press Office
