Distinguished Mr. Yukiya Amano, Director General of IAEA
Distinguished Members of the Presidency
Distinguished Invitees
Cuba appreciates the great honor to have the floor in this session of the International Conference on the IAEA Technical Cooperation Programme: Sixty Years and Beyond and takes this opportunity to express its recognition to all personnel of the Division of Technical Cooperation for these 60 years of hard and fruitful work.
Our country is a Member State of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since its foundation in 1957 but it was not until 1977 when the first technical cooperation national project was executed.
Since then, the Programme of the Technical Cooperation between Cuba and IAEA has been a successful example of cooperation. The benefits of this programme have reached the most prioritized sectors of the country such as, human health, agriculture, industry, and environment through the implementation of domestic, regional, and interregional projects.
During these 40 years, Cuba has carried out 111 domestic projects and it has participated in 173 regional projects and 24 interregional projects achieving an annual average rate of implementation of over 90%. As a result of this cooperation, Cuba has been benefited with more than 740 scholarships, 350 scientific visits and the experience of 700 international experts.
Our country participates actively in the framework of the Regional Cooperation Agreement for the Promotion of Nuclear Science and Technology in Latin American and the Caribbean (ARCAL) and at present, we are the focal point of the human health sector in the region.
This cooperation has a significant impact in the training of human resources in such important areas like care for patients suffering from cancer and other communicable diseases which are responsible for the bad conditions of various health indicators in the region for instance, the loss of years of life, child malnutrition and cerebrovascular diseases.
Thanks to the executed projects, the country can produce almost all radiopharmaceuticals and labelled compound which are required by the nuclear medicine modules nowadays. It has increased its capacities to conduct clinical and preclinical studies for the development of new pharmaceuticals and in the recent years it has started to make modest exports to countries of the zone.
Besides, the health sector has a laboratory for the studies of body composition with advanced equipments and highly qualified human resources. It has allowed professionals to make valuable studies on child malnutrition which have had an effect in the domestic strategies on prevention for child and juvenile ages. Likewise, nuclear nephrology and cardiology services complying international standards are available.
The Technical Cooperation Programme has also contributed to the execution of national programmes linked to the improvement of agricultural yield, the efficient use of the soil, the development of new varieties and food preservation.
Under these projects new rice, sugar cane, and tomato varieties have been developed through radio mutagenesis. Moreover, laboratories for the control of organic and radioactive food contamination have been accredited. The radioimmunoassay technique was assimilated to increase the production of milk and cattle reproduction and some assessments of the land degradation applying nuclear and isotopic technologies have been performed. They have contributed to introduce better practices in the country for the efficient soil and water use in agriculture.
In the area of Water and Environment we have three laboratories which belong to ALMERA network and a center known in the region for the study and monitoring of ocean environment and cost ecosystems. A domestic network of analytic laboratories providing services for the preservation and care of the environment has been established. Additionally, the use of nuclear and isotopic technologies has contributed to the improvement of the management of the main basin of the country, the surveillance of the atmospheric pollution and the monitoring of industrial waste. All these achievements have been reached thanks to the participation of Cuba in various technical cooperation projects.
Counting on the IAEA´s assistance, Cuba has strengthened the domestic capacities to carry out the power planning studies. It has also created the irradiation facilities and has developed irradiation technologies of different products.
Nuclear and Radiological Safety as well as Physical Security are fundamental pillars for the application of nuclear technologies and they have been prioritized areas for Cuba. Thanks to the support provided by IAEA, our country has a regulatory system in line with the international standards. The radiological surveillance of all workers, the public and the environment is guaranteed. A safe management of radioactive waste and disused sources is executed. There is an implemented preparedness and response system to the radiological emergencies and we have well-known metrological capacities for doses and activity measurement.
Distinguished participants,
The Technical Cooperation Programme in Cuba has a bilateral approach and it was recognized by IAEA Director General Mr. Yukiya Amano during his visit to Cuba at the end of September 2013 when he considered the country to be “an IAEA very active member” and he highlighted its advances in the pacific use of nuclear energy and cooperation projects.
In the conference delivered in the Auditorium of the University of Havana in the margins of this visit Mr. Amano pointed out that our cooperation was “a two- way street” and that Cuba is an important contributor to the Agency´s Technical Cooperation Programme not only as a beneficiary of it but also as a supplier of experiences and knowledge to other countries, as well as the participation of its laboratories and research centers in regional projects.
Our country has returned the IAEA support contributing to the training of human resources of other Member States, mainly. Cuba has carried out during these 40 years more than 1000 experts´ missions. It has also trained more than 200 students of all regions in its facilities and more than 700 specialists have been trained in courses delivered in our country.
During all these years of technical cooperation between Cuba and IAEA the key to the success has been the constant effectively lining up of the technical cooperation with its priorities and domestic resources, the active participation in regional and interregional programmes and the use domestic capacities carried out to contribute to the development of other countries and, at the same time, all this enhances our experience and competences.
Among the achievements of the last years we may mention the improvement of the nuclear medicine service in Havana, the use of oyster as ocean sentinel for the protection against poisoned shellfish, the production of Hydrogel membranes to treat burn patients, the strengthen of nuclear cardiology in Cuba, the enhancement of radioactive waste management and the use of nuclear and isotopic techniques to identify the risks and weaknesses of cost areas in Cuba.
During the visit performed by the Head of the Department of Technical Cooperation of IAEA, Mr. Dazhu Yang to Cuba last March, the Caribbean Observatory for Ocean Acidification Studies was officially inaugurated. It will provide significant information related to climate change.
Considering the above-mentioned reasons, Cuba believes that the IAEA Technical Cooperation Programme as an effective mechanism of cooperation and technology transference which contributes to reach Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
It has been four decades since the first cooperation project started and the challenges which inspired the pioneers of this initiative are the same. Obviously, those challenges are subject to new realities and accumulated experiences. Many dreams have become true and they have grown together with scientists, technicians, and experts of undeniable prestige that live in this island of the Caribbean. The human capital, the values we share, and the IAEA´s support have made the difference and have made possible something that was apparently impossible.
Distinguished participants,
I reiterate our congratulations to all IAEA directors, to their officers and the other members of the Agency that together with the Cuban chiefs and specialists have made possible the attained achievements.
Lastly, I would like to ratify the Cuban commitment to continue working with IAEA as usual, beyond of those 60 years in order to reach a common goal which is to make true the current motto of the Organization: “Atoms for Peace and Sustainable Development” for all peoples.
Thank you very much
(Embacuba Austria / Cubaminrex)