Spanish minister heads trade, tourism delegation to Cuba

Spain’s Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism, Jose Manuel Soria (in photo at top), will arrive in Havana on Monday (July 6) on a mission “to strengthen institutional and entrepreneurial relations between Spain and Cuba,” Radio Habana has reported.

He is scheduled to meet with various government officials, including his Cuban counterpart, Alfredo Lopez Valdes; the minister of Foreign Trade, Rodrigo Malmierca; and the vice president of the Council of Ministers, Ricardo Cabrisas.

Soria will be heading a delegation that includes Spain’s secretary of Trade, Jaime Garcia-Legaz; the director general of Trade and Investments, Antonio Fernandez-Martos Montero; the director general of ICEX Spain Exports and Investments, Isaac Martin Barbero; and the international director of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, Alfredo Bonet.

García-Legaz was in Cuba in April for talks on trade and tourism.

The minister of the Economy and Competitiveness, Luis de Guindos, was supposed to have led this delegation but had to remain in Spain to deal with the repercussions of the crisis created by the weekend referendum in Greece on a bailout by the European Union.

On June 22, the Spanish Development Finance Institution (COFIDES) announced that it will open a $45.37 million line of credit for Spanish firms doing businesses in Cuba.

For background in Progreso Weekly on recent developments in Cuba-Spain relations, click here.