Remarks by Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of Cuba Communist Party and President of the Republic, on the recent official visits to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Iran, for Mesa Redonda.
December 12, 2023
“65th Year of the Revolution.”
(Shorthand Versions - Presidency of the Republic)
An assessment of the delegation that participated in these events has to start, first, from a group of general considerations and, then, point out a group of elements specific to each of the three countries visited.
Firstly, Cuba had the mandate to participate in COP28 and, within COP28, to preside over a summit of the Group of 77, an unprecedented event in this type of summit.
I believe that there was an impact of the Cuban position, of Cuban participation in COP28 and also the leadership in the chairmanship of the Group of 77 in relation to achieving consensus in the countries of the South on the issues of the climate crisis that we face as a challenge. shared.
In relation to the countries visited, it must be said that there was a consolidation of political-diplomatic relations with these countries and, in addition, the opportunity to print a new economic-commercial dynamic and cooperation with them.
In the places visited we appreciate that there is broad support for the Palestinian cause and the role that Cuba has played in denouncing the genocide to which the Palestinian people are subjected is recognized.
There is a lot of willingness in all of these countries to advance economic-commercial relations with Cuba, and I believe that we now have to have all the capacity to take advantage of the existing potential in this area of countries to advance and deepen these economic-commercial ties.
There is interest from the counterparts of these countries in strengthening relations and moving forward immediately, with speed and a sense of opportunity. The close, kind and empathetic treatment that the leaders of these countries gave to the Cuban delegation was very evident.
In the case of the United Arab Emirates we have to say that it was a very honest, very transparent conversation, where an entire relationship of friendship was raised between our people, between our governments and that was renewed with this visit, to the point that we saw an immediate reaction in the leadership of the United Arab Emirates when, less than an hour after having had the first meeting, the official conversations, the needs that Cuba had to resolve the country's energy problems were already requested by the Emirati side. They requested immediate projects in the areas of tourism, agriculture, biotechnology and renewable energy.
In this country, important agreements were signed that establish and facilitate the mechanisms to achieve investments: first, the Reciprocal Investment Protection Agreement and the Double Taxation Elimination Agreement were signed; Progress was also made on the issues of the Intergovernmental Commission and the Bilateral Economic Agenda; an agreement was signed between the central banks of both countries; Memoranda of understanding were signed between the chambers of commerce of both countries in the tourism sector and also in the area of science, technology and the environment.
On the other hand, cooperation agreements were reached in physical culture and sports. A joint venture was signed for the domestic trade sector; Compliance with the renegotiated debt with the Abu Dhabi Fund was followed up, which is mainly oriented towards investments in hydraulic resources and education; and the interests of the Emirati side were raised: moving forward in relation to investments and airline presence, investments in tourism, in BioCubaFarma, and exchange in science, technology and innovation; expand health collaboration; and issues related to renewable energy sources and the development of hydraulic resources, based on the application of the benefits that the Emirati fund gives us.
On the other hand, there was great sensitivity in supporting investments in food sovereignty for Cuba.
It was precisely within this country where we participated in COP28. The day before COP28 began, it was received as shocking and perhaps surprising news that the damage and loss fund had been approved. Now we have to see how the countries of the South will be able to access this damage and loss fund.
There was a broad denunciation of the situation in Palestine, of the genocide against the Palestinian people at this summit. There was a call from Lula for peace to be able to face the climate crisis. There was a direct criticism of capitalism and its consumption patterns as the main origin of the climate crisis; a criticism also of the North-South relationship and the non-fulfillment of the responsibilities of the developed nations, and the South rose up with the proposal of not accepting conditions on development to solve the problems of the climate crisis, because they are the countries of the South those that have damaged the environment the least.
There was also talk about the debt that our countries have and topics of much global debate today, such as artificial intelligence, and, of course, Cuba presented its commitments based on the Nationally Determined Contribution that our country has approved and which is related to the planting of thousands of hectares of adaptive species.
On the other hand, there was also talk of the reduction of CO2 emissions, of a whole group of measures in the transformation of the country's energy matrix and of the Life Task as a task to confront climate change.
Within this COP28 Summit we lead, occupying the pro tempore presidency of the Group of 77, the summit of the Group of 77, to achieve consensus and an open, democratic and inclusive analysis among the countries of the South in relation to how our countries They suffer from the consumption patterns that capitalism has imposed and which, therefore, have caused climate damage to which Southern countries are more vulnerable than developed countries. And here the leadership of Cuba in the exercise of the presidency of the Group of 77 and China was recognized.
In Qatar, we appreciate that there is a huge willingness to evaluate investment projects. Work was done on the constitution of the Intergovernmental Commission, an aspect that must be followed up: the need to create a Business Committee and a Supreme Business Council is raised.
There is an immediate request from the Qatari side that we present projects in tourism, food, airports and air connections, biotechnology, renewable energy sources, and there are also investments in hydraulic resources, with a willingness to invest in what Cuba prioritizes. That is why we must insist on these sectors that we have explained to achieve attractive investment projects that are truly beneficial for both countries.
There are also proposals to strengthen working relations in the banking and financial sector, the rescue of the mechanism of the Intergovernmental Commission and the Business Committee, and the possibility of increasing cooperation in health. It must be said that in that country there is a high-tech hospital, a very modern hospital that works with Cuban personnel and that has enormous prestige, not only in Qatar, but in the entire Middle East area.
In Iran, we appreciate a lot of expectation in the future of our relations – they classify them, or we share it, as strategic relations, not tactical relations –, a lot of willingness and the desire to advance more quickly in all the proposals that we have worked on together in the last years; the approach of a strategy of creative resistance, taking advantage of the potential for complementarity that exists between the economies of both countries and using the foundations of compensated trade.
Here it was possible to reorganize a debt that existed due to the Cuban export of vaccines to Iran. Memoranda of understanding were signed in science, technology and innovation, in energy and mining cooperation, in agricultural, livestock and fishing cooperation. Also a memorandum of understanding to continue expanding relations between the Pasteur Institute and the Finlay Vaccine Institute of Cuba, and, of course, in the development of biotechnology.
The requirement to have an action plan for cooperation in health and medical sciences is important; also in telecommunications and information technologies, which were other aspects that were present in the official conversations.
The compensated exchange agreements are more focused on projects in biotechnology, food sovereignty, investments in the sugarcane sector, and also on the joint exploitation of oil wells and the operation of refineries, as well as mining.
There is an interest in strengthening banking exchange, venturing into the issues of electricity generation and domestic transportation. And an expansion of cooperation in science and innovation, which is already a cooperation that marks an important milestone in bilateral relations between our two countries. The historical relationship between the Pasteur Institute and the Finlay Institute demonstrates how two countries can complement each other based on their talent, their possibilities, their potential, and that is precisely the concept that marks this economic strategy of resistance to confront the sanctions imposed by the Government of the United States on Iran, and the economic, commercial and financial blockade that the Government of the United States also imposes on Cuba.
I consider that it was a fruitful visit, an intense visit, in a few days there were dozens of meetings, dozens of meetings, in addition to the official conversations, with different sectors of the society of these countries, the sectors of solidarity with Cuba, the Cuban residents in those countries; also the business sector, in the three countries we had relations with the business sector, in some of them with the chambers of commerce and with other institutions associated with the deepening and perspectives of economic and social collaboration, and, of course, continue strengthening our political-diplomatic relations.
Now there is a lot of expectation, our main challenge is to respond to the interests that these countries have raised to cooperate with Cuba, to go to a new stage of cooperation; a more concrete, more intense cooperation, with more results, and for that we have to have the ability to present truly robust projects, solid projects that respond to our priorities, but that are also attractive and of interest to our counterparts.
Therefore, I rate the visit as a satisfactory visit that now has a lot of follow-up. Yesterday afternoon we did a first check and a first orientation of all the aspects derived from this with the Executive Committee of the Council of Ministers and with the ministries that are most involved in the issues that we are going to address together, and there will be systematic follow-up. to all these actions.
That is what I can say in relation to the results of the visit.
Thank you very much for giving us this opportunity.