HAVANA, Cuba, Jan 6 (acn) Democrat Terry McAuliffe, governor of Virginia, highlighted on Tuesday the potential of a close working relationship between the deepwater port of his state and that of Mariel.
After a tour of the port terminal and other areas of the Special Development Zone of Mariel (ZEDM), McAuliffe attended the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the National Port Authority of Cuba and the Port of Virginia, which seeks to strengthen ties.
McAuliffe said he was pleased with the signed document, which acknowledges the interest of both parties to establish a partnership for cooperation, which would include the exchange of information in order to support trade by sea lanes and investment.
The governor said at a press conference that he dreams of the day when the great Post-Panamax ships dock at the Port of Virginia, one of the largest on the east coast, and then come to Mariel, which would serve as a transfer point to get to other ports in the Caribbean and Latin America.
In that regard he pointed out that he will continue to advocate the elimination of the blockade, a policy he described as inefficient and unfair and that prevented U.S. businessmen to have normal trade relations with Cuba.
He assessed the construction of the port of Mariel as a turning point in the development of Cuban economy for the business opportunities offered and stressed that the twenty businessmen who accompanied him to the island want to do business and establish production facilities at the ZEDM.
He highlighted the commercial results of his state with Cuba in the last decade, despite the limitations that persist because of the blockade against the island and reiterated the need for it to access credit that facilitates economic relations.
We are the third State with the largest amount of exports to Cuba and as governor the goal is to be the first, he said.
"If we can do business with other countries around the world, we must be able to freely conduct business with a country that is our neighbor," he reiterated.
He described his visit as very successful and emphasized the advantages of normalization of relations between the two countries.
McAuliffe is carrying out a three-day visit to Cuba, which began on Monday with a meeting with Ricardo Cabrisas, Vice-president of the Council of Ministers and Rodrigo Malmierca, Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment, in order to boost exports of agricultural products to the island, which in the last decade reached the figure of 400 million dollars.
Also, he opened a business forum between representatives of twenty companies of Virginia and Cuban companies.
In the presence also of the state authority, the universities of Virginia and Havana signed an agreement designed to revitalize academic exchange.
Accompanying the governor were the secretaries of Agriculture, Todd Haymore; Health and Human Resources, William Hazel; Technology, Karen Jackson; and representatives of the Virginia Commonwealth University, the Port, the Association of Economic Development and the Museum of Fine Arts of that U.S. state.
Democrat Terry McAuliffe is the fourth governor of that country coming to Cuba after the turn in bilateral relations last year and the announcement of the reestablishment of diplomatic bonds between Cuba and the U.S.
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