The City and Science
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FOUNDED OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE 1964 CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA The city and science Message from the President uba Foreign Trade magazine is pleased to dedicate this issue to Havana’s 500th anniversary, which we Cwill celebrate in the next days. We are proud to have the capital as headquarters of our institution and venue of the upcoming 37th Havana International Fair (Fihav), where we will launch the present issue of our magazine. The article that appears in the first pages shows the potential that allows Havana to make a significant contribution to the economic growth of our nation. The wide range of business opportunities offered by the city has been segmented in order to present them adequately in the pages of Cuba Foreign Trade. This time we have put special emphasis on companies, prod- ucts and services of the scientific sector. In other pages we review important events that have taken place in recent weeks and months, which tes- tify to the strength and progress of Cuba’s international economic relations in the face of the hostility that seeks to hinder them. An offprint inserted in this issue updates the status of foreign investment at the Mariel Special Develop- ment Zone one year after the publication of the article “Mariel: from Project to Fact” in our magazine. Cuba Foreign Trade is also pleased to present a testimony of the 55th anniversary of its foundation. We welcome our partners and other businessmen who visit us and those who join us in cordial ties and common interests, wishing them all a profitable and happy stay at Fihav 2019. Today, everything we do takes place in circumstances of marked hostility towards Cuba, its people and its economy from President Trump and his Administration. The Cuban business system, a relevant sector in our country, is fighting this battle together with the peo- ple: a battle of resistance and confrontation with the hatred, lies and aggressiveness imposed on us by the current US government. Orlando Hernández Guillén OFFICIAL PUBLICATION CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA NO. 4/2019 EXECUTIVE BOARD DIRECTOR Loida E. Rivera Fabré PRESIDENT EDITOR Orlando Hernández Guillén Carlos M. Menéndez VICE PRESIDENT TRANSLATION Rubén Ramos Arrieta Abel González Alayón GENERAL SECRETARY ART-DESIGN Omar de J. Fernández Jiménez Roilán Marrero Gómez COVER-DESIGN José Enrique Area Echemendía BOARD OF DIRECTORS PROOFREADERS Maritza Lam Tajes INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT Olimpia Sigarroa Celia M. Labora Rodríguez ADVERTISING Lucila M. Domínguez Garcés FAIRS AND EXHIBITIONS DEPARTMENT PRINTER Miriam Martínez Delgado Arelys B. Alfonso Zamora LEGAL AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT Natacha Gumá García ASSOCIATES DEPARTMENT Milena Pérez Cepero INFORMATION AND PUBLICATIONS DEPARTMENT Loida Rivera Fabré Editorial Office: Calle 21 no. 661 esq. a calle A, INFORMATICS DEPARTMENT El Vedado, La Habana, Cuba Reynol González Carballosas Phone: (53) 78338040 E-mails: ACCOUNTING AND FINANCES DEPARTMENT [email protected] / Danay Verdecia Navarro [email protected] Website: www.camara.cu HUMAN CAPITAL AND CADRES DEPARTMENT Belkis Smith Pérez Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of Cuba World Trade Center Havana Member of the International Chamber of Commerce ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE DEPARTMENT Alberto López Rodríguez Articles and graphic materials may be totally or partially reprinted provided the source is credited. CONTENTS 5 The City and Science 8 Economic Potential of the Capital 14 BioCubaFarma - Group of Biotechnological and Pharmaceutical Industries 16 Sierra Maestra: A Scientific Institution with History and Future Inversiones Gamma: servicios profesionales del más alto estándar 19 Inversiones Gamma: Professional Services of the Highest Standard 26 Cecmed: Strategic Center for the National Health System 28 INN: Highly Qualified Medical Services 30 Cuba-European Union Joint Council 32 Developments in Cuba-Russia Economic Relations 34 New agreements with Vietnam 36 Mediators of the Cuban Court of Arbitration Ratified 37 Cuba Foreign Trade’s 55th Anniversary 44 THE CHAMBER TODAY TRIBUTE OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE REPUBLIC OF CUBA AND CUBA FOREIGN TRADE MAGAZINE he Cuban capital is about to celebrate its 500th Tanniversary and Cuba Foreign Trade, as the official publication of the Chamber of Commerce, wants to join the celebration. It will do so by pay- ing tribute to those features of the city proper of the magazine’s profile, namely, its remarkable economic potential, its export capacity, its busi- ness opportunities, and its interest for foreign in- vestment. However, as the diversity of these topics is so wide in the capital, they will be divided by sectors addressing each in successive issues of the maga- zine in order to provide the required space. On this first occasion, a subject with a long tra- dition and current strength in Havana will be ad- dressed: science. Frontispiece of the Museum of the History of Sciences, former venue of the Academy of Sciences, in Havana’s Historical Center National Center for Scientific Research, cradle of modern science in Havana THE CITY AND SCIENCE Carlos Manuel Menéndez Lara n the history of the city, science has a long history, became the seat of the colonial government. How- Ialthough of course Havana’s economy had a dif- ever, it was not recognized as capital until 1607. The ferent beginning. title of city had been conferred on it in 1592. Since the beginning of the Spanish colonies in Thus, Havana grew and developed. After the America, every year two fleets left Seville for the initial gold rush, exports consisted of tobacco and new overseas possessions: one in April to Mexico sugar cane, honeys and raspaduras, among other and the other in August to South America. For rea- goods. Meanwhile, services to the fleet and crews, sons of Cuba’s geographical location and sailing on the one hand, and smuggling, on the other, pro- convenience, both fleets had to meet in Havana duced essential income for the population. before embarking on the return trip to Europe in A milestone in the history of science in the March. This fact turned the port of Havana into a capital were, undoubtedly, the visits of the great great commercial center of America. German scientist Alexander von Humboldt at the The city boomed, and from 1563 onwards the beginning of the nineteenth century (in 1800-01 governor, who until then had settled in Santiago and 1804). Here he developed important works de Cuba, moved his residence to this town, which Pepe Menéndez Pepe FOREIGN TRADE : Photo Foto / Humboldt’s house in the Historical Center of Havana 5 as a naturalist, geographer, economist and other After 1959, science gained a boom that was an- branches of science, but he was also connected nounced in the prophetic words of the leader of to notable scientists who were already outstand- the Revolution, Fidel Castro: ing in Cuba, such as the educator José de la Luz y Caballero, the doctor and hygienist Tomás Romay, the economist Arango y Parreño and others with whom he maintained relations of collaboration and respect. The Academy of Medical, Physical and Natural Sciences of Havana already existed in the 19th cen- tury, where personalities such as the civil engineer Francisco de Albear, the naturalist Felipe Poey, and very prominently the doctor Carlos J. Finlay worked. “The future of our Homeland must necessarily be a future of men of science.” From a very early date, biotechnology began to be promoted as a cutting-edge branch of the coun- try’s scientific development. Some milestones of this process were: Tomás Romay -1965: Foundation of the National Center for Sci- entific Research (Cnic). -1981: Beginning of the National Center for Bio- logical Research, which developed leucocyte and recombinant interferon and the first monoclonal antibody. -1986: Foundation of the Center for Genetic Engi- neering and Microbiology (CIGB). -1989: Creation of the meningitis vaccine, the Pepe Menéndez Pepe world’s first effective vaccine against group B me- : ningococcus. -1990-1996: Extensive investment program and Photo accelerated development of a scientific center west of the capital; creation of research-production in- Foto / stitutions; improvement of the health register; cre- ation of the basis for the evaluation of products. FOREIGN TRADE Pepe Menéndez Pepe : Monument to Dr. Carlos J. Finlay in the Historical Center Photo Entrance to the Planetarium of Havana Foto / 6 Pepe Menéndez Pepe Pepe Menéndez Pepe : : Photo Photo Foto / Foto / This is how it came to be today, when Havana plays an important role within the scientific level that is also present throughout the country. The following pages present: Façade of the ancient Academy of Sciences - the consolidation and advances of biotechnol- ogy together with the pharmaceutical industry in the BioCubaFarma Business Group, whose head- quarters and main institutions are located in the capital, - the continuation in the Sierra Maestra scien- tific, technological and innovative center of the re- Menéndez Pepe search carried out by Commander Fidel Castro, : - the interrelation of different scientific institu- tions in the services promoted by GAMMA Invest- Photo ments, - a strategic center for scientific development Foto / and health: Cecmed, - an example of the advanced medical services of- fered by Cuba: the Institute of Neurology and Neu- rosurgery and its international medical assistance facilities, which are outstanding testimonies of the link between the city of Havana and science. Sources Eusebio Leal: “History, Geography... and Business”, interview by Fernando Dávalos, CFT 1/98. Armando Bayo: Humboldt. Ciencias Sociales Publish- ing House, 1972. Enildo González: “Cuba’s first exports in the 16th cen- tury”. CFT 4/09. Ecured: Carlos J. Finlay Museum of the History of Sci- ence. FOREIGN TRADE 7 ECONOMIC POTENTIAL OF THE CAPITAL HAVANA, AT 500, HAS MORE TO OFFER Eng. Luis Carlos Góngora Domínguez MSc. Isabel Luisa Hamze Ruiz A sea that is eager of palms bling casinos, prostitution and recreation centers and the foam of rumba and son… for wealthy clients.