AS part of an official visit to Cuba by Philip Hammond – the first British Foreign Secretary to visit the island since the triumph of the Revolution in 1959 – the United Kingdom and Cuba signed four memorandums of understanding for cooperation in higher education, energy, culture and in the financial and professional services sector on Thursday.
Hammond indicated that these agreements identify specific areas in which to strengthen bilateral relations and referred to Cuba’s new foreign investment law as a good start.
During a meeting with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, at the Cuban Foreign Ministry in Havana, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs recognized the progress of relations between the European nation and Cuba. He noted that there was “great potential to further improve the relations between the UK and Cuba in the coming months and even years.”
Hammond, who said it was a privilege to visit Cuba, further noted that much more could be done in terms of trade relations, tourism and people to people exchanges.
Meanwhile, the Cuban Foreign Minister stressed that relations with the UK are a priority for the island, just as with the rest of Europe.
Rodríguez expressed his satisfaction with the favourable development of bilateral relations between the two countries, with potential for further expansion.