Emirates and Cuba hold the first session of the Joint Economic Committee

Abu Dhabi, July 4/WAM/The Ministry of Economy and Tourism, Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment in the Republic of Cuba held the first session of the joint economic committee between the two countries in Dubai.

The committee aims to enhance economic cooperation in many sectors and activities of common concern, including trade, investment, energy, renewable energy, agriculture, food security, infrastructure, transportation, logistical services, creative, cultural, health, tourism, biological and pharmaceutical industries, and support the development of commercial partnerships at the level of the governmental and private sectors.

The course was chaired by His Excellency Abdullah Ahmed Al Saleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry and His Excellency Carlos Luis Khorkhi Mendes, Senior Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment in the Republic of Cuba.

This committee is one of the outputs of the Commercial, Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement signed between the two countries, and was attended by His Excellency Hazza Ahmed Al -Kaabi, the UAE ambassador to the Republic of Cuba; Norberto Escalona Carillo, the Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba to the UAE, and a number of government officials from both sides.

His Excellency Abdullah Al Saleh stressed that the bilateral relations between the UAE and the Republic of Cuba are witnessing a continuous development in various levels, especially economic and commercial, in light of the adviseary vision of the leadership of the two friendly countries to strengthen these relations and invite them for further growth and prosperity, and in a way that serves common interests.

His Excellency said: “The first session of the joint economic committee between the two countries is an important station to enhance economic and investment relations during the next stage, expand areas of cooperation in various sectors of mutual interest, support communication between the UAE and Cuban business community, and explore promising opportunities in the markets of the two countries, in order to support the achievement of national targets to see” We Emirates 2031 “.

During their meeting, the Emirati and Cuban sides agreed to develop a joint framework to follow up the implementation of all the committee’s outputs that draw the features of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries during the coming period and pushed it for further growth and prosperity.

The two parties stressed the promotion of bilateral work in organizing business and joint economic events and the exchange of commercial delegations, to create new opportunities that support the growing trade relations between the two countries and stressed the facilitation of increasing commercial flows and investment activities between the UAE and Cuban business community, including exploring opportunities in advanced economic sectors such as biotechnology, health services, renewable energy, tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, and others.

It was proposed to host joint meetings, seminars and workshops that include investors and investment promotion agencies and investment companies to enhance the possibilities of investment in priority sectors and benefit from the incentives and benefits of the markets of the two countries.

The two parties stressed the importance of enhancing economic cooperation in establishing new partnerships in the entrepreneurial and startups sector, with the aim of accelerating the growth of small and medium enterprises in the two countries, increasing their investments and supporting their exports to reach foreign markets, which contributes to increasing the percentage of small and medium enterprises in the local product of the two countries.

The two parties expressed great interest in enhancing joint cooperation in the fields of food security and agriculture by increasing trade exchange in food commodities and agricultural products, while supporting bilateral work in order to define specific areas of cooperation during the coming period such as sustainable agricultural practices, food and agricultural technology.

The Emirati and Cuban sides pointed to the importance of organizing joint tourist exhibitions, events and conferences during the next stage that would promote the most prominent tourist and historical monuments in the two countries, and to encourage the exchange of experiences and information in the fields of tourism resources, and collect data for tourism statistics, innovations and digital technologies related to the tourism sector.

The non -oil trade exchange between the UAE and Cuba witnesses continuous growth, as it amounted to more than 39.1 million dollars in the year 2024, achieving a growth of more than 2% compared to the year 2023 and 46.4% compared to 2022, and the non -oil trade exchange between the two countries increased by 5.6% during the first quarter of the current year compared to the same period of the year 2024 and more than 25% compared to the fourth quarter 2024, more than 825 Cuban brands work in the UAE market so far.

• For more: Follow Khaleejion 24 Arabic, Khaleejion 24 English, Khaleejion 24 Live, and for social media follow us on Facebook and Related