Havana’s ambassador to China, Carlos Miguel Pereira

Havana, Jan 20 (RHC) Cuban authorities today predicted greater progress in 2023 relations and multisectoral cooperation with China, based on the guidelines, agreements, and consensus reached during the visit of President Miguel Diaz-Canel.

In an interview with Prensa Latina, Havana’s ambassador to China, Carlos Miguel Pereira, stressed that the results of the president’s trip last November instill optimism in the ties towards the future, although they entail a lot of work to make them a reality.

According to him, that short but intense visit marked a before and after, it was timely, it allowed to review the state of ties and, in addition, to resume the in-person talks at the highest political level to address with transparency and sincerity the universe of issues on the bilateral agenda.

Among the positive aspects, the diplomat cited the negotiation of the terms and conditions of the debt process with China, the high sensitivity of the leaders, and their confidence that difficulties can be overcome with deeper cooperation.

He highlighted the announcement of financial facilities for the island to execute important programs of socio-economic impact, the resumption of industrial works, renewable energies, and the modernization of the media, among others.

He mentioned the joint call of Diaz-Canel and his counterpart Xi Jinping for greater insertion of Chinese companies in areas such as wholesale and retail trade in the Antillean country, taking into account the great investment opportunities in that area.

He also talked about the commitment to strengthen cooperation in biotechnology and health, since new perspectives are added from the situation of the Covid-19 pandemic and there is already an attractive joint project of the Pan-Coronian vaccine against different mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

Pereira emphasized that Diaz-Canel’s visit was the initial step to reestablishing face-to-face contacts and it is expected they will continue to be reestablished since their relations cover almost all economic sectors.  (Prensa Latina)