Cuban deputy PM attends Eurasian Council meeting

HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 1 (ACN) Ines Maria Chapman Waugh, Cuban deputy prime minister, participated today, virtually, in the session of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, which took place in Yerevan, capital of the Republic of Armenia.

Cuban official expressed her country's willingness to expand and diversify ties with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the foreign ministry reported on its website.

Likewise, Chapman Waugh highlighted the celebration, at the same time as the meeting, of the 3rd Eurasian Economic Forum, where Cuba will also be represented.

In her speech before the prime ministers and heads of delegations of the EAEU Member States and Observers, the deputy prime minister reiterated the invitation to government and business representatives of the member countries to participate in the Havana International Fair, to be held November 4 to 9.

After receiving the status of EAEU Observer State on December 11, 2020, Cuba participates today for the twelfth time in the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council.

Due to its importance, we transmit below in full the words of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba, Ines Maria Chapman Waugh.

Your Excellency Mr. Nikol Pashinian, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia;

Your Excellencies, Heads of Delegations of the Member States of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council;

Distinguished guests:

I am honored to have been assigned, in my capacity as Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba, to address you on behalf of my country, in view of the fact that the Prime Minister is on other missions.
I would like to begin my remarks by expressing warm greetings and our gratitude to the Armenian people and Government, who are hosting this session of the Intergovernmental Council and the 3rd Economic Forum of the organization.

I take this opportunity to once again express Cuba's firm will to continue expanding and diversifying its relations with the Eurasian Economic Union, its member states and observers, on the basis of the historical ties between our countries.

Excellencies:

Since the previous session of the Council, held on June 3 and 4 this year in the city of Nesvizh, Republic of Belarus, the Eurasian Economic Commission has worked hard, carrying out multiple events and activities.

Our country has actively participated in these exchanges, in correspondence with the great importance that the Cuban State and Government attach to strengthening economic, commercial, financial and cooperation relations with the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as the decision to play a more active role, and not of a formal nature, in relations with this important economic integration bloc.

In that sense, last June a Cuban delegation held a cordial meeting with the President of the Eurasian Economic Council, Bakitzhan Saguintayev, in addition to a fruitful meeting with Sergey Glaziev, in which key issues of the relations of this integrationist bloc with Cuba were addressed, with emphasis on the food sector, links between business circles, issues of technical regulations in trade, and exchanges in the scientific-technical sphere.

As part of the interest in promoting interaction in the industrial sphere, the Cuban Minister of Industry participated in the Industrial Policy Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission, held in the context of the “INNOPROM-2024” Fair.

We are working closely with the Center for Project Coordination and Scientific and Technological Cooperation of the Moscow Institute of Pedagogy to identify companies that could be linked to some of the projects in the portfolio of opportunities of our Mariel Special Development Zone.

On the other hand, we highlight the beginning of exchanges in education, aimed at promoting Cuba's access to the Network of Universities of the Union, for which we are fostering links with the Moscow Institute of International Relations, the “SINERGIA” University of Finance and Industry and the “Séchenov” University of Medicine, with which we are assessing the possibility of organizing study programs in the medical field of high complexity and use of technologies.

Likewise, we welcome the growing interaction between the Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of Cuba and the Business Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission, as part of the efforts to strengthen ties, articulate interests and materialize mutually beneficial development projects.

Dear Colleagues:

The 3rd Eurasian Economic Forum, which is being held in parallel to this important event, is a propitious space to take stock of the work carried out, as well as to address the prospects and priorities for the development of the Union. On this occasion, Cuba will be represented in priority sectors such as industry, agro-industry, the medical-pharmaceutical industry and biotechnology, tourism, and special development zones.

We hope that, as a result of this event, progress can be made in the collaboration objectives established and projects can be carried out that will benefit our peoples and economies.

We welcome with great interest the holding, in the context of the Forum, of the Eurasian Economic Union-Cuba business dialogue, where mechanisms to deepen trade and economic cooperation between our countries will be analyzed.

Dear Heads of Delegations:

I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate the invitation to the Member States of the Union to invite government and business sector representatives from their countries to participate in the largest multisectoral trade exhibition event in Cuba and the Caribbean, and one of the most prestigious in Latin America: the Havana International Fair, to be held from November 4 to 9.

The occasion will have a special significance, as we will celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the conception of this space, which had its origins in 1984, thanks to the vision of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz.

We will be pleased to cordially welcome the representatives of your countries in order to continue expanding and diversifying economic, commercial, financial and cooperation exchanges. It is of vital importance to achieve a more active participation of business circles in this event, since they are the ones who keep the pulse of the economy and materialize, in practice, the bilateral cooperation projects decided between the countries.

I would not like to conclude my speech without expressing, on behalf of the Cuban people and government, deep gratitude to the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union for their permanent and unwavering support to the struggle of our country and the world for the end of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America, and for demanding the exclusion of Cuba from the illegitimate list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism. These unjust, arbitrary and unilateral measures bring pain and suffering to the Cuban people and are the main obstacle to their development.

Cuba will continue advocating for the establishment of a new, fairer and more inclusive international economic and financial structure that takes into account the particularities and real potential of our nations.
We are convinced that cooperation, solidarity and unity in diversity are the only possible ways to face and overcome the complex challenges currently facing humanity.

Rest assured that in this endeavor you can always count on the modest but sincere contribution of our country, which will continue fighting and defending its Revolution “until victory always”.
Thank you very much.