By Maria Josefina Arce
Over the years, Cuba and Japan have maintained a close cooperation that has materialized in strategic sectors for the Caribbean nation such as health, technical capabilities and food production.
Precisely in this last area, a contract has just been signed for an initiative that seeks to contribute to the recovery and resilience of food systems in the municipalities of the province of Pinar del Río, the hardest hit in September 2022 by Hurricane Ian.
It should be recalled that with a category 3 on the Saffir Simpson scale, the powerful meteorological phenomenon caused considerable material damage in the western region of Cuba.
With a financing of more than 62 thousand Euros, the project includes the installation of processing equipment, freezers and transport vehicles in two organoponics in the municipality of Pinar del Río.
In recent days, another contract had already been signed for an initiative between the Japanese embassy in Havana and the Portuguese non-governmental organization Oíkos, which will benefit the inhabitants of the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, also impacted by the meteorological event of September 2022.
Cuba is also one of the 150 developing nations supported by JICA, Japan International Cooperation Agency, for their socioeconomic and human resources development.
Through that entity, cooperation projects have been promoted, always taking into account strategic areas for the sustainable progress of the Caribbean country, subjected to the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed more than six decades ago by the United States.
Since 2018 JICA opened an office in the Cuban capital, with the aim of strengthening its ties with Cuba, expanding existing projects and exploring new areas for joint work.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency has been present in our territory since the 1960s and its support has been essential in all these decades.
In the health sector, it has contributed to provide better care to patients through the computerization of hospital management. It has donated computers and supplies for connectivity in health care centers.
Although geographically distant, Cuba and Japan are close, they are two countries united by an old and sincere friendship. The Asian nation has always accompanied the largest of the Antilles and expressed its rejection of the criminal U.S. blockade that affects the welfare of the Cuban people.
