“Russia and Cuba are bound by traditions of friendship and partnership that have received a noticeable positive boost of late”, Mr Medvedev said in his message. “Greater trust has come to our bilateral political dialogue and our trade and economic ties have taken on a new dynamic. In particular, the use of credit schemes has brought about an increase in Russian-Cuban trade. I think we should now make even more active efforts to develop our cooperation in areas such as fossil fuels production and processing, energy, transport, information technology, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, areas in which our countries have made many advances. We should work together and take steps towards carrying out bilateral investment projects and setting up joint ventures. The Russian-Cuban Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation has a big part to play in this process. Its regular meetings should focus above all on identifying and developing new areas for long-term cooperation.
I am sure that our abundant experience of constructive cooperation in a broad range of areas will continue to serve the interests of our peoples and contribute to building a fair and just world order.”
Mr Medvedev’s message was passed on by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, who is in Cuba for a meeting of the bilateral Intergovernmental Commission.