Gambian ambassador in Cuba highlights relevance of Expocaribe 2022 for Africa

Santiago de Cuba, June 28th - Kujejatou K.B. Manneh, the Gambian ambassador to Cuba, highlighted the relevance of the Expocaribe 2022 International Fair for trade and cooperation relations with her country and others on the African continent. 

As a space for learning and negotiating business, she described the event that ended in Cuba on Sunday, and said that she would return in June 2023, after learning about the potential and opportunities for foreign trade and foreign investment in the eastern region, the production and export of medicines, the advantages of multi-destination tourism and the strengths of Cuba to face climate change.

For her nation, made up of 60 percent of young creatives and innovators, the event is of great importance, because they could find a safe market for their products in the Caribbean, also to the advantage of Gambia's geographical location on the Atlantic Ocean, she said in Exclusive interview with the Cuban News Agency (ACN).

She referred to the possibilities to export goods and services for the benefit of both regions of the world and foreign investment in the eastern zone, especially multi-destination tourism, which requires an efficient maritime transport system, hence the intention that the holder of the branch of the African country visits the island, in order to finalize common projects in this area.

The diplomat expressed interest in the biopharmaceutical sector, in line with the experience of the largest of the Antilles in that field, and pointed out the purpose of helping with the raw material necessary for these productions, because access to the international market is difficult for Cuba. by the US economic, commercial and financial blockade.

She expressed the rendering of a report to her government about what was witnessed at the Fair and they will also take it to the African Union (AU), due to the importance for it of strengthening the link with the Caribbean and the promotion of South-South cooperation. 

In this regard, she alluded to the intention to sign a memorandum with the Oriente University, located in this city, for the development of agriculture in the province, and then extend it to others in the region, such as the one with Havana high studiesHouse  in the matter of health.

She also praised the archipelago's preparation for natural disasters -the subject of another panel at Expocaribe 2022-, in particular the capacity for prevention and recovery after their occurrence, and stressed that her country should learn and exchange with the island about the creation of conditions to face the long periods of drought, one of its main problems.

On May 19th, 1979, diplomatic relations were established between Cuba and the Gambia, which are strengthened by the presence of Caribbean health professionals in the African nation, who contribute to the care of its inhabitants and the training of specialists at the University of Banjul, its capital.

The largest of the Antilles also receives Gambian support in the international sphere in various multilateral affairs, and in the fight for the end of the economic, commercial and financial blockade of the United States, imposed for six decades.