Via AP:

Cuba pledged to sign nearly $450 million in contracts with hundreds of U.S. and international firms, kicking off the island’s largest annual trade event despite decades of economic sanctions. Less than two weeks after President Bush asked lawmakers to renew a 45-year U.S. economic embargo against the Communist-run island, Cuban officials touted their 25th annual trade fair as proof that the policy has failed.

Via Novosti:

Belarus and Cuba have prospects for cooperation in the oil refining industry, Cuban Ambassador Omar Medina Quintero told reporters in Minsk on October 26, Belapan reports. According to him, in December, Cuba puts into operation a large oil refinery with a daily capacity of 95,000 barrels. The refinery had been 70 percent completed before the breakup of the Soviet Union, and will now be operated in cooperation with Venezuela. It will be the first in a series of plants relating to oil refining, including plants manufacturing chemical fertilizers and plastics. Mr. Quintero noted that the two countries also have good prospects for cooperation in power generation, medicine, transport, agriculture and tourism.

Via IRNA:

Iran and Cuba have reached an agreement to establish a joint shipping company, said an Iranian minister. Minister of Commerce Masood Mirkazemi made the remark upon coming back Sunday from a four-day visit to Cuba and taking part in a Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) commercial meeting there. The agreement will have a significant bearing on trade with Latin American countries which has recently expanded.

Related posts

• Patchy blockade (0)
• Iran-Cuba Nexus (0)