The Hindu : National : Cuban team arrives in India with a big shopping list

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Cuban team arrives in India with a big shopping list

Sandeep Dikshit

Bilateral trade in the 1980s was worth $300 million
It plummeted in the 1990s in the wake of economic crisis

NEW DELHI: A large Cuban delegation has arrived in India with a “big shopping list.” The team will try to revive bilateral trade ties which have been in a state of slump after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Ambassador of Cuba Miguel Angel Ramirez Ramos told The Hindu here.

The 19-member delegation, led by Deputy Foreign Trade Minister Edurado Escandell Amador, arrived here on Saturday and will be here for 12 days.

“Though Cuba is small, when we buy we buy big,” pointed out the Cuban Ambassador. He gave a historical perspective on why trade with India went down and why it could be revived to the previous levels. In the 1980s bilateral relations were strong, with annual bilateral trade touching $300 million. But the 1990s saw the demise of the Soviet Union, the economic crises in Cuba and a change of policy in India. Then there were outstanding debts. All these factors had now been overcome.

This century had seen the Cuban economy recovering. Foreign trade which was $10 billion annually in the 1980s, plummeted to $3 billion in the 1990s and has now recovered to $15 billion. The gross domestic product grew by 50 per cent between 2004 and 2007. The growth rate last year alone was 7.5 per cent. The visit of the Cuban Foreign Minister saw India cancelling the outstanding debt which opened opportunities for a new line of credit.

“India has good quality products and there will be a lot of opportunities, now that all issues have been solved,” said Mr. Ramos. Cuba imports products worth $3 billion from China. “If only we bought 10 per cent of that from India, trade will again touch $300 million. It is not difficult for bilateral trade ties to grow dramatically though we will have to work hard at that.”

Cuba is building shopping malls and looking for energy saving devices, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. It also wants to project the country as a tourist destination.

Huge requirement

With Cuba embarking on a nation-wide drive to replace all electrical devices with energy efficient ones, the requirement is huge.

The focus on housing and transportation means it requires tyres, spare parts and engines. “We are coming with a huge shopping list. If the prices are okay and financial facilities are in place, there is no reason why we will not buy from India. In future, we would like to see India exporting rice. We hope the ban on exports would not be a permanent situation.”

Cuba is also seeking to cater to India’s energy needs by allocating two blocks to ONGC Videsh in the Gulf of Mexico and three elsewhere in joint ventures. But it wants Indian energy companies to be more enterprising.

“The first cows get clear water, the others get mud,” said the Ambassador.

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