Meeting with Cuba’s Deputy Prime Minister and the Cuban Delegation.-
I had a very interesting and informative time last night at a small meeting with the Cuban delegation headed by Cuba’s Deputy Prime Minister and Economic Minister Hon. Alejandro Gil Fenandez at City College of New York (CCNY) and hosted by CCNY’s President and The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce. We discussed a number of things of mutual interest as well as the Cuban economy under the current American embargo, the ramifications to the Cuban economy relating to Covid, and how to achieve both better relations on multiple fronts including economic strategies. My questions included finding out more about the particulars relating to Cuba’s foreign investment incentives to which the delegation agreed to provide.
The Cuban delegation besides the Cuban Deputy Prime Minister included among others Cuban Ambassador Yuri Gala Lopez, the Charge d’Affaires of the Cuban Mission as well as H.E. Gerardo Penaiver Portal Ambassador, First Foreign Deputy Minister and Permanent Representative to the U.N.. The American attendees included community, political, educational and institutional and financial leaders of Greater Harlem and beyond. I am both an Executive Board Member of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce as well as a member of CCNY’s President’s Executive Advisory Board. I have been to Cuba in the past with Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce delegations, and especially relating to the arts which triggered significant cultural exchanges. There is also a deeper Hellenic/Cuban connection including the maritime industry than most people are not aware of but a story for another time.
