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France to fund development projects in Cuba

Xinhua, July 30, 2016 Adjust font size:

France will finance various Cuban priority development areas through long-term preferential loans, official sources said Friday.

Cuban Foreign Trade and Investment Minister Rodrigo Malmierca and French Ambassador Jean-Marie Bruno signed an agreement here on Friday for the opening of the French Development Agency (AFD) in Cuba to fund projects on renewable energy, tourism, transport, agribusiness, sanitation and urban development.

A part of the financing will come from a fund of 231 million euros (about 258 million U.S. dollars) created from the renegotiation of Cuba's external debt with France and other members of the Paris Club, according to the Cuban Foreign Ministry.

The committee administrating the fund will be elected in the second-half of 2016 during an official visit to Cuba by Matthias Fekl, the French Minister of State for Foreign Trade, the Promotion of Tourism and French Nationals Abroad, said Malmierca.

A score of French companies already do business in Cuba, with investments in tourism, construction and other priority areas, said the minister. Endit