Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan stressed here today the willingness of both governments to increase economic exchange in various sectors.
The head of Cuban diplomacy, who is making an official visit to this city-state as part of a tour that began in Malaysia and will conclude on the 21st in Laos, made the remarks on his account on the social network X.
«It is always productive to meet with Vivian Balakrishnan, foreign minister of Singapore,» Rodríguez Parrilla wrote.
According to the Cuban Foreign Minister, the meeting with his Singaporean counterpart was also an opportunity to ratify his willingness to continue developing the relations of friendship and cooperation that exist between the two countries.
Balakrishnan paid an official visit to Cuba in April 2023, which was described by the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and president of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel, as «very significant and a milestone in our relations».
Moreover, he added, it expresses the will of both countries to continue advancing in bilateral ties and cooperation.
On the occasion, the head of state highlighted the active participation of Singaporean businessmen in Cuba, with a presence in important sectors such as the port – with the administration of the port and the container terminal of the Mariel Special Development Zone -, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, and tourism.
These businesses are doing well and open up the possibility of finding new areas for the development of collaboration, including one of vital importance such as food security and another in the field of renewable energies.
Summing up his four-day stay in Havana, the Singaporean Foreign Minister said that Cuba’s territorial extension is 150 times larger than that of his country.
Balakrishnan also expressed his admiration for the island and its people, «for their determination, patriotism, innovative capacity and willingness to move forward despite the challenges posed to this people for more than 60 years».
The Cuban Foreign Minister arrived here from Malaysia, where he corroborated the existence of capacities to expand bilateral collaboration.
«We agreed on the potential of both countries to carry out economic and commercial cooperation projects in various areas,» Rodríguez wrote on the social network X at the end of a courtesy meeting with Prime Minister Dato Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim.
In his first visit to Kuala Lumpur, the Cuban foreign minister also held official talks with his counterpart Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and was received in official audience by His Majesty Sharafuddin Idris Shah, Sultan of Selangor.
He also witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the National News Agency of Malaysia and the Latin American news agency Prensa Latina of Cuba, among other activities.
