Cuban Chamber of Commerce Spreads Out Institutional Relations

The General Assembly of Chamber Associates reviewed the work of the Chamber in 2016, and there the official also stated that they signed with China nine agreements, in order to strengthen the ties of this island with this important trading partner.

The first agreement with Venezuela’s Fedeindustrias was also signed, and relations with the Curacao Chamber of Commerce and Industries and the Barbados Industrial and Development Corporation were extended in the Caribbean, among other exchange-promoting institutions.

The CCC currently has 702 associated companies, six more than in the previous year and maintains among its main objectives the recruitment of new entities.

The Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Rodrigo Malmierca, acknowledged the usefulness of the Annual General Assembly of Associates as a useful meeting space to exchange with a broad representation of the companies and economic sectors of the country.

He noted that the Cuban economy is going through a complex period, after the slowdown in the growth of the Gross Domestic Product and the fall experienced in 2016, the result of domestic factors and also to a large extent of external adverse conditions.

He said that the stage that began on December 17, 2014, with the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, had an impact on other markets and opened business opportunities of which, in the case of companies from that country, only a few could become a reality.

This is due to the continued economic, financial and commercial blockade of Washington and the limited nature of the measures approved by the former US President Barack Obama.

He commented that the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States raises a new stage of uncertainty regarding the position of that government, which currently reviews its relations with Cuba.

Malmierca reiterated that the largest island in the Caribbean does not discriminate against US companies because of its origin and is interested in mutually advantageous businesses with that nation. (Taken from Prensa Latina)