The Permanent Secretary of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA), Ambassador Lesly David, held a meeting with Cuba’s Minister of Finance and Prices, Vladimir Regueiro Ale, who reaffirmed his commitment to working together for the development of the region.

Minister Vladimir Regueiro Ale expressed his willingness to continue working with SELA on strategic issues such as productive development, regional cooperation and the activation of intra-regional synergies in Latin America and the Caribbean.

During the meeting, interest was expressed in strengthening the training of civil servants through scholarship programmes, the transfer of technical skills and the dissemination of best practices.

In the agricultural sector, it was agreed to promote the recovery of technological capabilities in key sectors such as coffee, cocoa, pork production, sugar cane and fertilisers, sectors identified in the study Mapping of Potential Productive Niches conducted by SELA for Cuba and ALBA-TCP countries.

The need to develop programmes to mitigate the effects of climate change in these strategic sectors was also addressed.

In terms of logistics, participants discussed SELA’s project: Digital and Collaborative Ports, aimed at promoting the digitisation of ports and port logistics communities, as part of a port modernisation and regional integration agenda that seeks to design public policy strategies aimed at increasing the sector’s efficiency and reducing bottlenecks in the transport of goods.

This meeting between the Permanent Secretary of SELA and the Minister of Finance and Prices of Cuba reaffirms the joint commitment to moving towards a more integrated, productive and resilient region.