Trade Commissioner
LATIN AMERICAN CARIBBEAN TRADE COUNCIL APPOINTS SENORITA ISAAC FROM INDIA 2nd March, 2023 CHENNAI
The Latin American Caribbean Federation of India (LACFI) organized the Latin American Conference which was attended by the Business community in South India. The President of Indian Economic Trade Organization Dr. Asif Iqbal welcomed the Ambassador of Cuba in India HE Alejandro Simancas Marin and pledged the commitment of support between the two nations for a robust partnership. There is a huge interest in India for Cuba, a country with great scope for bilateral trading opportunities in Pharma, Medicines, IT development and Industrial development by Indian companies. The Delegation from India headed by the then president Shri Ramnath Kovind has evinced lot of interest between the two nations. The event was also graced by the officials of the Embassy of Congo in Delhi.
The event was attended by the Head of Secretariat of Ministry of External Affairs, Mr. Venkatachalam Murugan IFS who also spoke about accelerating India’s relationship with the Latin American region and welcomed Ms. Senorita to pledge support for the various other island nations around the Caribbean region. India has also in the past extended various credit lines to Cuba through the Exim Bank a line of credit of USD 75 million (over Rs 500 crore) to Cuba for financing solar parks. An agreement was signed between Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) and Banco Exterior De Cuba in July 2020. India was amongst the first countries to extend recognition to Cuba after the 1959 Revolution.
A delegation mounted by the D/o Biotechnology and BIRAC (Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council) visited on the sidelines of the visit of President of India to Cuba to hold discussions with ‘Bio CubaFarma’. A Tripartite Letter of Intent between BIRAC, KIHT and Kalam Institute of Health Technology (KIHT) and ‘Bio CubaFarma’ was also signed during this time for ollaboration in Biotechnology.
A hockey turf at the National School of Hockey was inaugurated on 19 November in Havana for which India has contributed US $ 1 million.
Ambassador of Cuba said Indo Cuban trade relations were essential and it was gratifying to see the development of trade relations between India and Cuba. During his speech, Ambassador Alejandro Simancas recalled historic moments that laid the foundations of friendship, dialogue and cooperation, which currently exist between Cuba and India, and stressed the opportunity for Indian trade community to maintain this legacy and continue strengthening ties between the two nations. The Cuban diplomat valued India's defense of its sovereignty and national independence, as well as its struggle for unity and consensus, concepts with which we fully identify.
“As a President of the organization, my goal is to build bilateral relations reach new heights between India and Cuba and our forthcoming Indian delegation in May 2023 will see tremendous interest from the Indian side” said Dr. Asif Iqbal who is looking to connect the companies for business in Cuba. Indian delegation will explore opportunities in areas of Pharma, Vaccines, farming, poultry industry, meat processing and agricultural collaborations and they will also identify other opportunities for building up a robust infrastructure needs of the country in the field of setting up education institutions.
The High Commissioner also presented the Cuban Rum from Havana to the main guests from Chennai.
The Ambassador also expressed great interest in supporting the trade relations between the two countries and invited the trade community to explore all the available choices for investors.
Latin American Caribbean Federation of India (LACFI) is working on building bilateral trade relations by assisting Indian companies that are looking at various projects coming up in Latin American region for promoting growth in commerce and trade, especially in Indian Pharma which likely to increase as the Cuban market expands.
The delegation of the Latin American Caribbean Federation of India is taking delegation to Cuba and other parts of South America during 2023 to strengthen mechanisms created for enabling these trade opportunities between India and Latin American region.