Iran is prepared to send specialists to Cuba to support the construction of power and energy plants and help implement refinery projects, the president of Ira Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture said during a visit to Havana for the city’s international trade fair.
Samad Hassanzadeh told Cuban Foreign Trade and Investment Minister Oscar Pérez Oliva Fraga that despite close political ties and “brotherly” relations between the two nations, their economic cooperation had yet to make meaningful progress.
Hassanzadeh said Iran had already proposed private-sector investment to revive Cuba’s sugar industry, including rehabilitating sugar mills. “We are ready to send Iranian experts to Havana for the construction of power and energy plants, as well as the implementation of refinery programs,” he said.
He invited Pérez Oliva Fraga and a Cuban business delegation, including the president of the Cuban Chamber of Commerce, to visit Tehran for further talks.
Pérez Oliva Fraga said Cuba welcomed Iranian investors and that “the doors of the country are completely open,” noting that Havana aims to launch an initial sugar agro-industry project with Iranian partners. He said the plan could proceed either as a joint venture or as direct investment by Iranian companies.