Cuba will close 2012 with favorable results in its trade balance and a surplus mainly marked by a sustained growth in high value added export growth, said Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment, Oscar Pérez Oliva.
t the closing of this year, this favourable results in exports will mean earnings for 2.44 billion USD, of which over 1.40 billion were in health and tourist services, showing an upward trend in those fields.
After explaining the performance of the country's foreign trade before members of the economic affairs commission of the Cuban Parliament, Perez Oliva told journalists that despite these results, the diversification the economy needs has yet to be achieved.
He said a high dependence on the export of goods with very changeable prices at the international market still prevails.
In remarks to Prensa Latina, Perez Oliva said the country keeps on depending on imports, a situation that will not change because it is an open economy with a strong foreign trade involvement.
He said the key point is not how much the country imports, but rather what the country imports; therefore, it is essential to stimulate the mechanisms encouraging food production.
He said foreign trade is centered today in nickel, sugar, rum, cigar, generic and biotech-based medicines, whose potentialities in the international market and Cuba capacities to develop them with a high added value must be carefully taken into consideration.
He said those products represent higher earnings for the country as compared to others, and they also allow a better management of foreign price situations.
Cuba main trade partners include Venezuela, China, Canada, Spain, Brazil, Holland, Mexico, Italy, France and the Russian Federation.