HAVANA: Burying old Cold War tensions, Germany and Cuba have agreed to open a trade office in Havana. German Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the countries “want a new partnership on an eye-to-eye level.”
The memorandum, signed by Sigmar Gabriel (above, center) at the start of his two-day trade visit on Thursday, could prove to be beneficial to German businesses seeking to invest in Cuba, and potentially increase the current 225 million euros ($244.22 million) in annual bilateral trade.
Speaking at the launch of a forum of German businesses and Cuban government officials, Gabriel said the deal marked “the start of a very dynamic process for our bilateral economic relations.”
“Part of this process will also surely be to modernize our political relations,” the vice chancellor added.
“There were difficult times for economic and political cooperation, and now is a good time to change that.”
Echoing Gabriel’s sentiments, Cuba’s foreign trade minister, Rodrigo Malmierca, said he too saw “great potential” to strengthen ties as Cuba reforms its economy.
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