This was announced on Sunday by Foreign Trade Minister Raul de la Nuez during the inauguration ceremony of the 15th Expocaribe International Trade Fair that began yesterday in eastern Santiago de Cuba with the participation of 187 firms from 28 countries.

    De la Nuez said that the Caribbean roots of this event have expanded to other regions of the world as reflected by the presence in the fair this year of companies from Europe and Asia.

    “During these 15 years, the main goals of Expocaribe have been to strengthen trade ties among countries of our region, to identify new business opportunities and to promote regional cooperation as part of our integration efforts in the face of the current world economic order in which inequality and neo-liberal policies prevail,” he added.

    The Cuban official stressed that Cuba has commercial ties with 167 countries and noted that Venezuela, China, Canada and Spain are its main partners.

    The program of Expocaribe 2008 includes the presentation of products and services by national and foreign firms. The Cuba-CARICOM Business Committee will also hold its session during the event.

 (Adelante.cu)