Cuba – Participation of Franck Riester in the 6th Session of the France-Cuba Economic and Commercial Commission and the 6th Meeting of the Strategic Orientation Committee that manages the French-Cuban Counterpart Fund (Paris, Dec. 14)

This morning Franck Riester, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness, attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, and Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz, Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, co-chaired the 6th Session of the France-Cuba Economic and Commercial Commission and the Sixth Meeting of the Strategic Orientation Committee that manages the French-Cuban Counterpart Fund.

Established under the French-Cuban debt restructuring agreement signed in 2016 and endowed with €217 million, the Franco-Cuban Counterpart Fund is designed to finance projects of common interest for France and Cuba, with support from the French Development Agency.

During the two meetings, the minister delegate and his counterpart examined all the projects financed by the fund. They signed agreements to fund two new public health projects worth €6.1 million.

They also applauded the effective establishment of a French medium- and long-term public credit insurance line of €150 million, which will promote French exports and French-Cuban trade relations.

Mr. Riester reaffirmed the priorities underlying our cooperation and France’s desire to support Cuba on the path of reform and in its commitments to respect human rights under the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement signed by Cuba and the EU.

Two agreements to fund sanitation projects supported by the French Development Agency were also signed, totaling €32.5 million.

These discussions illustrated the intensity of French-Cuban cooperation in 2021 despite the economic and human consequences of the health crisis.