Cuba and El Salvador strengthen trade relations

HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 26 (ACN) Cuba and El Salvador created new mechanisms to continue strengthening trade relations with the signing of the first additional protocol to the Partial Scope Agreement (PSA), according to information from Prensa Latina.

Endorsed by the Salvadoran Minister of Economy, Luz Estrella Rodríguez and the Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Rodrigo Malmierca, the agreement contemplates the improvement of the tariff issue and other trade exchange mechanisms.
With the extension of the framework agreement, in force since 2012, both countries agreed to incorporate new products to the variety that integrates the export portfolio with tariff preferences.
They also perfected procedures to facilitate trade and adjusted provisions on technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary measures.
Sandra Alvarado, El Salvador's ambassador to Cuba, and Ileana Nuñez, Vice Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment for the Caribbean country, participated as honorary witnesses in the signing of the important agreement.
This activity is included in the agenda of the delegation that accompanies the President of El Salvador, Salvador Sanchez Cerén, during his official visit that began in Cuba on Tuesday.
The Partial Scope Agreement between the two countries has been in effect since August 1, 2012, and as a result El Salvador's exports grew by 400 percent, according to data from the Central Reserve Bank.
Among the main products exported to Cuba are: concrete posts, cardboard boxes, medicines and intravenous serums, PVC compounds, among others.
Coming from Cuba, El Salvador receives devices for the medical industry, inputs for the chemical-pharmaceutical sector, tobacco, among other products.
The Agreement covers reciprocity in scientific and technological areas, as well as in innovation and the transfer of knowledge to achieve greater social and economic development.
In this sense, the authorities of both countries committed themselves to promote the training of specialists, the exchange of information and experiences on scientific research in areas such as biotechnology, genetic engineering and medicine, mutual assistance for technological development and productivity.