Cuba-Venezuela Trade to
Reach 7 Billion Dollars
Commercial exchange
between Cuba and
Venezuela is expected to
reach 7 billion dollars
this year, Cuban Vice
President Carlos Lage
informed in this eastern
Cuban province.
When the first steps to
strengthen mutual trade
links were taken in
1998, it summed up 388
million dollars, he
recalled.
The Cuban official made
the statements at the
closing of a ceremony
Saturday, when the two
countries signed 14 new
integration deals.
Lage stated that 27
joint ventures had been
created already,
including the first
phase for the
enlargement of the oil
refinery in the
central-southern
province of Cienfuegos,
which concluded
yesterday.
In 2001, the
inter-governmental joint
commission agreed upon
21 actions to carry out
projects for 36 million
dollars, and the 2007
agreements worth 1.5
billion dollars, the
vice president
explained.
As many as 39,000 Cubans
are currently working in
Venezuela in practically
all sectors, with nearly
31,000 of them in health
services, he sustained.
In addition, over 3,500
young Venezuelans are
being trained as doctors
at Cuban universities,
while the Barrio
Adentro-1 program is
forming another 26,000
doctors in that country
with the aid of Cuban
professors, Lage noted.
The Cuban vice president
called Petrocaribe
integrationist
initiative "an
exceptional event in
history," given the easy
payment terms for
regional countries.
Lage also recalled other
integrationist and
solidarity actions
encouraged by Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez,
such as "UnaSur" and the
Bank of the South. |
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