Day of negotiations at Cuba’s top tradeshow

Experts from 1,293 companies and 49 countries attending Havana’s 21st International Fair are engaged in negotiations within the framework of the island nation’s biggest yearly tradeshow now taking place at the ExpoCuba Fairgrounds.

According to sources close to the organizing committee, Thailand is making its big break at the Cuban fair with an array of homemade products that could perfectly draw a bead on the island’s domestic market.

During the course of the opening ceremony, Cuban vice president Carlos Lage underscored the desire of U.S. industrial producers and service providers to resume trade ties with the island nation. There are as many as 153 entrepreneurs and 71 companies from the United States at the fair.

Mr. Lage pointed out that Washington’s embargo on Cuba could remain in force for a few more years despite the fact that it’s flying in the face of an increasingly larger chunk of corporate America interested in doing business freely with the island nation in a number of economic sectors.

”The peoples of our two countries want this kind of relation and there’s no doubt in my mind that they’ll pull it off because both of them will benefit from it,” he said.

Jay Brickman, president of one of the U.S. freighter companies attending the 2003 fair in Havana, told the press it’s ridiculous that a bunch of people from the state of Florida is clinging to an embargo that’s doing harm to an entire nation.

For his part, Pedro Alvarez, president of Cuban company ALIMPORT, explained his country is willing to import 100,000 cattle heads from the States.

Mr. Alvarez said the aforesaid purchase could help the island nation to buttress its milk and beef outputs for domestic consumption and meet the increasing needs of the Cuban population in this respect.

Other highlights at the fair –with over 5,000 square yards of exhibiting space- are Mexico, Japan, Spain, China and Vietnam. There’re 49 nations in all.

The Havana International Fair will stretch out until Nov. 9 and forecasts have it that a significant number of trade agreements could be signed in the days ahead, some Cuban officials and foreign businesspeople indicated.