Panamanian Businesspeople Express Interest in Cuba
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Cuba is attracting great interest from Panamanian businesspeople, as it is a good destination for their exports, the vice president of the Chamber of Commerce of Cuba, Ruben Ramos, said.
Speaking on Cuba's Day at the 37th edition of Expocomer, the official referred to trade between the two countries, which grew by more than 10 million dollars in 2018.
Ramos elaborated on the Economic Complementariness Agreement signed between Panama and Cuba, a commercial instrument that lays the foundations to establish rules and preferential access to the two countries' markets.
He spoke about the complex situation faced by Cuba, due to its limited financial resources and the poor availability of hard currencies as a result of the blockade imposed by the United States and its tightening due to policies implemented by President Donald Trump.
Despite that, the Cuban Government favors boosting economic growth through a plan until 2030, mainly aimed at prioritized sectors of the country, Ramos noted.
The official explained that Cuba's foreign trade focuses on sustained and diversified commerce in order to reduce the country's dependence on imports and to increase production, with high technology and efficient productive chains to reduce imports.
Therefore, foreign investment is a key element to boost development programs, and Cuba has a legal, safe and transparent framework.
For his part, Adolfo Linares, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Panama, recalled the historic commercial relations between the two countries since the Spanish colonial period, when the goods transported from South America to Portobelo were taken to Havana first. / PL
