Cuban president's visit to Belarus will boost economic and trade ties.
by María Josefina Arce
Six years after his first visit, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel returned to Belarus. We maintain a dialogue with this nation at the highest level, and we are united by close ties of friendship and solidarity.
Both countries value their bilateral relations and consider each other significant partners and strategic allies in the international arena.
The Cuban president's visit will boost economic and trade ties, a shared interest in which the two states are engaged.
Last May, for example, officials and businesspeople from both countries met in Havana for the Twelfth Session of the Cuban-Belarusian Intergovernmental Commission for Economic and Commercial Cooperation.
According to the organizers, the meeting was highly fruitful and confirmed the potential for economic complementarity between the two countries.
During the forum, Belarus proposed several business deals with Cuba, ranging from providing equipment and parts and technical training to promoting joint productions for domestic markets and exports.
Minsk and Havana are committed to strengthening cooperation in biotechnology. In fact, CIMAVAX, a Cuban therapeutic vaccine against lung cancer developed by the Molecular Immunology Center in Cuba, was registered in Belarus last year.
Additionally, Belarus was the first state in the region to register Soberana, the Cuban immunogen against SARS-CoV-2 developed by the renowned Finlay Vaccine Institute.
During his second visit to Belarus, the Cuban president invited the Minister of Health and biopharmaceutical representatives to travel to Cuba to further strengthen the collaboration, which would benefit both countries.
Belarus's firm condemnation of the genocidal economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba is noteworthy. This position was reiterated by Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko to his Cuban counterpart at the recent meeting in Minsk.
Relations between Cuba and Belarus are excellent and are marked by respect, friendship, solidarity, and a shared desire to expand them further.
