This past Monday, The Commonwealth of The Bahamas and the Republic of Cuba signed a Basic Framework Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation. Signing on behalf of their respective governments were the Hon. Brent Symonette, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and His Excellency Jose Luis Ponce Caraballo, Cuban Ambassador to The Bahamas. Minister Symonette thanked the Government of the Republic of Cuba for its commitment and continued support as demonstrated by the Agreement which, he said, represents the framework Agreement from which any cooperation project/agreements going forward would follow.
Ambassador Caraballo affirmed that Cuba remains committed to rendering assistance to The Bahamas in any endeavour. *”This Agreement proves to further enhance cooperation between both countries,”* he said. Already, The Bahamas is engaged in technical cooperation with Cuba, specifically in health and education.
The accord aims at promoting trade and investment, technical information exchanges and joint cooperation programs. It also establishes the creation of a Cuba-Bahamas Joint Commission for technical cooperation that will assess, on a yearly basis, the progress and implementation of the Agreement.