Cuba and Russia Sign Ten Agreements

HAVANA TIMES — The governments of Cuba and Russia on Monday signed ten agreements for economic cooperation, trade and scientific technology at the closing of the Tenth Session of the Intergovernmental Commission, held in Havana, reported EFE.

The bilateral economic agenda governing mutual cooperation over the next eight years aims to “strengthen, deepen and broaden” the commercial exchange, investments and ties in key sectors such as industry, transportation, agriculture, nickel, finance, energy, culture and education, according to the Cuban Information Agency.

Cuban Vice President Ricardo Cabrisas said that despite progress “the level is still far from what is required,” however he noted that trade in 2012 grew 17 percent over the same period last year.

The Russian Minister of Industry and Trade, Denis Manturov, who was received by Cuban President Raul Castro, said that products from the biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry were priorities on the bilateral trade agenda.