Istanbul, Republic of Türkiye. Cuba is a unique, exemplary country; Cuba is a cleaner, more ethical country, it is a very transparent, very direct government; that is a very important asset. So said, without hesitation, Osman Murat Karadeniz, President of the Karadeniz company, in a meeting of the member of the Political Bureau and Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz, with a group of Turkish businessmen, as part of his visit to the Eurasian nation.
The distinguished businessman, whose entity has helped improve the energy situation in our country, did not express it because "he was in front of the Cubans", but because those have been incentives "very valuable to highlight during these seven years of joint work with their specialists, a source of immense human resources. Cuba has a great potential."
Speaking at the meeting - sponsored by the Cuban Embassy in this nation and DEiK, a Business Diplomacy organization that manages the foreign economic relations of the Turkish private sector - Marrero Cruz assured them that "they can always count on the willingness of our government to accompany and support current and future business exchanges".
The meeting on June 5 was a continuation of the one held last November by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, during his official visit to this country, as well as the one held in 2015 by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Havana, both milestones in the positive bilateral relations.
Marrero Cruz recalled that, in both cases, the promotion of business ties had a special space as an expression of the importance of economic, trade, investment and cooperation issues between the two countries, and that "we are working to advance in strengthening the climate of trust and security for the development of business, mainly in the areas of taxation and reciprocal promotion of investments".
For her part, Leyla Ilhan Pamucku, president of the DEiK Business Council for Cuba, highlighted her satisfaction with this meeting and praised the opportunities offered by Cuba for the establishment of direct business. "For us this meeting is very important, and since the founding of the Council in 2016 we have contributed a lot to improve our relations," she added.
A PROMISING FUTURE
Cuba and Türkiye maintain business projects and cooperation actions in sectors such as agriculture, energy, health, transportation, tourism, construction and biotechnology. In the latter, there are conditions to make significant progress in the short term. For this reason, the ministers of some of these portfolios participated in the exchange, who presented in detail the mutually beneficial investment opportunities.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment, Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz said that the economic-commercial, financial, investment and cooperation ties between the two nations are valued as positive "and, above all, we are optimistic about what we can achieve if we keep working together".
He also referred to the fact that our country has a safe climate for foreign personnel, with high indicators in education, social security and public health, as well as institutions at the service of investors, with highly qualified personnel.
Cabrisas Ruiz called on Turkish businessmen to explore the advantages offered by the Mariel Special Development Zone, as a first-class productive and logistics platform. He also considered that the excellent connections between the Chambers of Commerce and the work of the Cuba-Türkiye Business Committee "should enhance more actions to promote trade with our country".
Representatives of several companies that carry out investments with Cuba, or are interested in doing so, spoke at this meeting and referred to projects related to the textile industry, agricultural machinery, mining, road infrastructure ... In this regard, Marrero Cruz meant the interest in materializing projects related to housing construction and food production.
Finally, he thanked on behalf of the Cuban people and government the Turkish businessmen for their willingness and interest to do business in Cuba despite the limitations and risks imposed by US-led blockade and economic war on the island.
"We are sure that, with the good will and tenacity of both parties, we will find alternatives to overcome the difficulties," said the Prime Minister, who assured that this Monday's meeting "renews our confidence and optimism in a promising future for the development of economic-commercial relations, investment and cooperation for the benefit of both peoples."
Photo: Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz held an exchange with Turkish businessmen in order to continue strengthening economic-commercial, investment and cooperation relations. Photo: Estudios Revolución
