Swiss boost development aid to Cuba
Swiss boost development aid to Cuba
Aug 14, 2015 - 08:59
Switzerland’s foreign minister, Didier Burkhalter - in Cuba to mark the reopening of the United States embassy in Havana - has used the opportunity to announce a CHF3 million ($3.1 million) increase in development funding to Cuba.
This is the first ever ministerial-level visit between Switzerland and Cuba. During a meeting with his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla on Thursday, Burkhalter offered his congratulations on the resumption of relations between Cuba and the US, foreign ministry spokesman Jean-Marc Crevoisier said.
Both foreign ministers pledged to deepen relations between their own countries, with Burkhalter telling Rodriguez that Swiss development aid to Cuba would rise to CHF12 million in 2016.
Cuba is a priority country for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), which is mainly working in the area of decentralization and municipal development in the Caribbean island.
Good offices
At another meeting, Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, Cuba's vice president of the Council of Ministers, thanked Switzerland for its good offices role. It acted as a discreet diplomatic go-between between Cuba and the US for 54 years. This service is coming to the end with the resumption of US-Cuba relations.
More:
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/havana-visit_swiss-boost-development-aid-to-cuba/41602904