E C O N O M Y

• Cuba and Russia begin new stage of economic cooperation
April 3.08
THE work of the 8th Session of the Cuba-Russia Intergovernmental Commission ended on Wednesday with the signing, by Ricardo Cabrisas, Cuban government minister, and Igor Levitin, Russian transport minister, of a document that opens a new stage in economic cooperation between the two countries.

• 10TH CONFERENCE OF WORLD ECONOMISTS ON GLOBALIZATION AND PROBLEMS OF DEVELOPMENT
A space for diversity of opinions
March 18.08
REAFFIRMING itself as the stage for profound analysis of the greatest problems on a planetary scale, the 10th Conference of World Economists on Globalization and Problems of Development that took place recently in Havana, was also consolidated as a forum in which there is increasingly greater space for differences of opinions.

• U.S. economic crisis dangerous to the world economy
March 5.08
THE current financial crisis and recession in the United States, its impact on Latin American economies, developed countries and other regions such as Asia, with the increasingly clear possibility of its global generalization, with serious and unpredictable consequences, was one of the central issues addressed yesterday during the first day of the 10th International Conference on Globalization and Problems of Development.

• Cuban Economy Grows 7.5 Per Cent
January 1. 2008
Cuban economy grew in 2007 by 7.5 percent, figure below the expected 10 percent, but higher by 5.6 percent to the Latin American average rate. With the presence of Cuban first Vice President Raul Castro, Minister of Economy and Planning Jose Luis Rodriguez rendered the report on economic and social results for the ending year and the guidelines for 2008.

• Nickel production returns to normal
November 30. 2007
CUBA’S three nickel production plants, the René Ramos Latour, Pedro Soto Alba and Ernesto Che Guevara, located in the eastern part of the island, were subjected to intense rainfall that began in the month of October, a situation further aggravated by the downpours associated with Tropical Storm Noel, which brought precipitation to the highest level recorded in decades.

• Turkey aspires to host Expo 2015
November 26. 2007
THEY traveled for 17 hours, from Istanbul to Paris and Paris to Havana, with the goal of obtaining the island’s support for Turkey as a candidate for the venue of Expo 2015 in the city of Izmir.

• HAVANA TRADE FAIR
Contracts signed for $300 million
November 19. 2007
THE organizers of the Havana Trade Fair (FIHAV) closed its 25th edition with the conviction of having successfully sealed Cuba’s largest fair of this type. That can be seen in the figures, given that representatives from 1,398 companies – 428 Cuban and 970 from 53 countries (including 70 U.S. ones) – were present at the EXPOCUBA exhibition area to sign contracts worth some $300 million.

• SPAIN-CUBA
New push in trade relations
October 5. 2007
CUBAN and Spanish trade officials met this week at the Hotel Nacional in Havana with the purpose of giving a new boost to trade relations between the two countries.

• Significant increase in Cuban-Russian exchange predicted
October 5. 2007
OFFICIALS and experts from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Trade (MINCEX) and the Chamber of Commerce have reported that, as of this month, trade between Cuba and Russia has grown 60% compared to the same period in 2006, and at the same time predicted a substantial increase during the closing months of the current year.

• Cuba contributing technical personnel to the FAO for cooperation in various countries
August 10. 2007
CUBA is not only receiving the benefits of the UN Food and Agriculture organization (FAO) but also has become a close collaborator of that international agency in aid to other nations.

• 32ND ANNIVERSARY OF THE IMF
Bell the cat
August 10. 2007
THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) was in the main conceived just before the end of World War II, motivated by Washington’s concern over returning loans to Europe incurred during the war.

• Tariff agreement to promote trade with Iran
August 10. 2007
THE Cuban and Iranian Republics have ratified a preferential tariff agreement that will cover 140 products, thus strengthening trade between the two countries, reported the Cuban news agency Prensa Latina.

• Two new gas-fired power plants
June 18. 2007
THE Cuban-Canadian joint venture ENERGAS S.A. has opened two 35 Megawatt electricity generating plants fired by accompanying gas from oilfields in East Havana. With an increase of 70MW, the capacity for energy produced through gas has risen to 495MW; that is to say 13% of the total energy generated throughout the country.

• Cuba and Venezuela sign agreements for $1.5 billion in projects
March 1, 2007
THE approval of 355 cooperation projects worth $1.5 billion was the outcome of the 7th meeting of the Cuba-Venezuela Joint Intergovernmental Commission. The closing session, on the evening of February 28, was led by General of the Army Raúl Castro, first vice president of the Councils of State and Ministers.

• High level of economic growth predicted for 2007
February 16, 2007
THE Cuban economy has experienced sustained growth since 1995, the year in which the abrupt fall of indicators, due to the disappearance of the socialist camp, came to a halt.

• Economic growth at 12.5%
January 8, 2007
ON presenting its report to deputies, the Economic Affairs Commission of the National Assembly of People's Power ratified that the economy grew by 12.5% during 2006, the largest growth achieved in the years of the Revolution and the highest in Latin America.

• 2006: Favorable results
November 21, 2006
HOLGUIN.—This year, 2006, has been a year of hard work , with undeniably good results in diverse fields, and an indication that we can do things much better, stated Carlos Lage, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers at the end of a tour of the province. On the subject of energy, he asserted that with respect to the use of diesel and gasoline, we are still a long way off from achieving the savings that could be made and called for greater control so that fuel can be used for the economy with the maximum efficiency possible.

• Press Release from the Central Bank of Cuba
November 17, 2006
As is widely known, in late 2004, Cuba had to take measures to substitute the Cuban Convertible Peso for the dollar in monetary circulation, with the goal of frustrating the perfidious attempt by the United States government to prevent dollars in cash that had arrived in Cuba via completely legal channels from being utilized to pay for part of our imports of goods and services. At the time, it was extensively explained how the U.S. government was bringing pressures to bear against the Swiss Bank UBS to prohibit it from carrying out its normal business with Cuba.
 
• Canadians inaugurate pavilion at Cuban trade fair
October 31, 2006
HAVANA, October 31 (PL) —. More than 50 Canadian companies and organizations are attending the 24th Havana Trade Fair (FIHAVE 2006), and are to inaugurate their pavilion today.

• Cuba and China sign biotechnology cooperation agreement
October 19, 2006
AN agreement establishing the third joint venture between Cuba and China in the biotechnology sphere, now with the preparation of Neuro-technological products, was signed last night during the closing event of the 2nd Working Group Conference for Cuban-Chinese Biotechnological Cooperation.

• LEADING UP TO THE 24TH HAVANA TRADE FAIR
More than 750 companies from 43 countries and official delegations
from 11 nations
October 19, 2006
DESPITE the ongoing, all-out efforts by the Bush administration to intensify its blockade of Cuba, the island continues to expand its trade relations, as may be seen at the Havana Trade Fair (FIHAV), which opens the doors to its 24th edition on October 30.

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