Indonesia, Cuba agree to strengthen agricultural cooperation

JAKARTA, Mar 19, 2021, ANTARA. Indonesian Ambassador to Cuba Nana Yuliana met with Cuba’s Vice Agriculture Minister Ydael Jesus Perez Brito on Wednesday to discuss ways to step up bilateral cooperation in the agricultural sector, ANTARA reported.

Indonesia and Cuba signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the agricultural sector in 2015.

During their meeting, Yuliana and Brito agreed to implement the MoU soon and plan a virtual meeting to share experiences on the use of digital technology, as part of efforts to increase agricultural productivity, the Indonesian Embassy in Havana said in a written statement received in Jakarta on Thursday.

The Indonesian ambassador also offered Cuba training programs on capacity building in the agricultural sector, including cow breeding with artificial insemination, rice, corn, soybean, and chili farming, and training courses on agricultural machine assembly and maintenance.

She also offered Cuban students scholarships under the developing country partnership to study at various universities in Indonesia for S1, S2, and S3 degrees. One of the universities is Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), which is well known for its agricultural studies.

Yuliana also expressed her wish to visit tobacco and sugarcane plantations in Cuba to observe their management as the plantations have successfully made Cuba one of the world’s major cigar and sugar producers.

Brito welcomed the wish and said he will schedule the ambassador’s visit.

Trade between Indonesia and Cuba reached US$6.9 million in 2020. Indonesia exports paper, soap, ceramics, and household utensils to Cuba, while it imports sugar, tobacco, and rum.