Brazil and Cuba have signed three memoranda of understanding (MOUs) to boost investment in Cuba's first special development zone at Mariel port, whose first phase was inaugurated Monday, state media reported Tuesday.
Under the MOUs, Brazil will finance a project to enlarge and modernize Cuba's airport infrastructure, a joint project to manufacture plastic polygon will be launched and the two countries will explore the possibility of building a cigarette joint venture.
The MOUs were signed by Brazilian Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade Fernando Pimentel and Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Rodrigo Malmierca, state-run news website Cubadebate reported.
On Monday, Cuban leader Raul Castro and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff jointly inaugurated the first phase of Mariel development zone, some 45 km west of Havana.
The 957-US-dollar Mariel development zone project was largely financed by Brazil, whose National Economic and Social Development Bank lent a total of 682 million dollars as soft credit.
During the signing ceremony, Pimentel called Cuba an "excellent partner and a very reliable country in the sphere of business, with a long tradition of respect for international contracts."
The minister also described the signing of the MOUs as an important step towards the implementation of the port as well as a measure that contributes to the integration of Latin America and the Caribbean [company registration].
He also said the Brazilian government was very involved in the financing of the second construction phase of the Mariel project. "We are going to support it in every way needed," he added.
Brazilian President Rousseff said Monday that her government will contribute 290 million dollars to the second phase of construction.
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