[NYTr] Cuba-Venezuela Trade to Reach 7 Billion Dollars This Year
 
Date: Sun, 23 Dec 2007 19:29:44 -0600 (CST)

Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com

Cuba-Venezuela Trade to Reach 7 Billion Dollars

Santiago de Cuba, Dec 23 (Prensa Latina) Commercial exchange between
Cuba and Venezuela is expected to reach 7 billion dollars this year,
Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage informed in this eastern Cuban
province.

When the first steps to strengthen mutual trade links were taken in
1998, it totaled 388 million dollars, he recalled.

The Cuban official made the statements at the closing of a ceremony
Saturday, when the two countries signed 14 new integration deals.

Lage stated that 27 joint ventures had been created already, including
the first phase for the enlargement of the oil refinery in the
central-southern province of Cienfuegos, which concluded yesterday.

In 2001, the inter-governmental joint commission agreed upon 21 actions
to carry out projects for 36 million dollars, and the 2007 agreements
worth 1.5 billion dollars, the vice president explained.

As many as 39,000 Cubans are currently working in Venezuela in
practically all sectors, with nearly 31,000 of them in health services,
he sustained.

In addition, over 3,500 young Venezuelans are being trained as doctors
at Cuban universities, while the Barrio Adentro-1 program is forming
another 26,000 doctors in that country with the aid of Cuban
professors, Lage noted.

The Cuban vice president called Petrocaribe integrationist initiative
"an exceptional event in history," given the easy payment terms for
regional countries.

Lage also recalled other integrationist and solidarity actions
encouraged by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, such as "UnaSur" and
the Bank of the South.

ef dig rgc

PL-6
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