Author: Government of BarbadosSenior Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Dr. The Most Honourable Jerome Walcott and Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, the Honourable Rodrigo Malmierca, have both expressed the desire to collaborate to further develop relations between their countries.Senior Minister Walcott advised of the intention of Export Barbados which has responsibility for pursuing cooperation in the field of life sciences, to participate in the 38th Havana International Fair.In turn, Minister Malmierca assured of Cuba’s willingness to collaborate with Barbados in the biotechnology sector. In terms of trade, he stated that particular attention will be given to having Barbadian products on the Cuban market.The two officials also discussed matters related to Cuba’s role in disaster management and the access to COVID-19 vaccines. In this regard, Senior Minister expressed appreciation to the Cuban government for the availability of medical professionals to Barbados and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to assist with the efforts to wrest the COVID 19 pandemic.On 8 December 1972, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago established diplomatic relations with Cuba. Barbados will host the 8th CARICOM-Cuba Summit on 6 December to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the relationship between the Community and Cuba.Senior Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Dr. The Most Honourable Jerome Walcott (right) and Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, the Honourable Rodrigo Malmierca in bilateral talks at Illaro Court. (Photo credit: MFAFT)This change of date facilitates the participation of the parties at the 10th Summit of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), Heads of State and Government in Luanda, Angola from 6-10 December 2022. (MFAFT).During bilateral talks held recently in the margins of the AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum 2022, they identified trade and investment and biotechnology as priority areas for cooperation.
