Cuba opens international trade fair with call to revitalize economy

Cuba opens international trade fair with call to revitalize economy

English.news.cn 2012-11-05 10:59:17



HAVANA, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Cuba on Sunday opened the 30th International

Trade Fair of Havana FIHAV 2012 and called foreign investors to

revitalize the country' s economy.



About 1,500 companies from 62 countries are attending the fair, the

island country's most important commercial fair, which will last until

next Saturday.



During the opening ceremony, Cuban Foreign Trade and Investment Minister

Rodrigo Malmierca said it is a priority to develop an intense investment

process so foreign trade will continue playing an important role at

present and in the future.



Malmierca said the first steps have been given to the creation of the



Special Development Zone of Mariel established in the April 2011 reforms



approved by Cuba' s Communist Party to increase the exports and the

effective substitution of imports.



The minister said the number of foreign participants in FIHAV 2012 is a

strong demonstration of the growing trust and interest in the Cuban

market and a way to reject the U.S. embargo imposed to the country more

than half a century ago.



For his part, Estrella Madrigal Valdes, president of the Chamber of

Commerce of Cuba, said the trade fair contributes to finding

alternatives to stimulate and diversify the exports, attracting external

financing and identifying investments to benefit key projects for the

development of the country.



Madrigal said that the increased participation of foreign companies in



the fair is the best reflection of the confidence and security of the

international entrepreneurs in Cuba.



During the trade fair, Cuba will showcase its best products from

industries like biotechnology food, construction, and raw materials.



The island country also has in the trade fair a stand for sale of

professional services, mainly in health sector which covers currently

about 70 percent of its exports.



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