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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