Japan donates almost 10 million dollars to Cuba for the cleaning of Havana

Havana, February 16 (EFE).- Cuban media published this Friday that Japan and Cuba they signed a donation of 1.05 billion yen (about $10 million) destined for the purchase of specialized cleaning equipment for Havana, as part of the Japanese program to aid the development of the Island.

The non-refundable financial assistance from the Japanese Government will allow "optimize the collection and final disposal of solid waste" in the city, "a priority for the country" that will celebrate the five centuries of its capital in 2019, indicates a note from the agency Latin Press.

The donation was made official during the visit to Cuba of the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Masahisa Sato, who signed the agreement together with the first vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment (Mincex) in Cuba, Antonio Luis Carricarte.

Sato confirmed his country's interest in contributing to improving the city's urban environment, which will also favor "the territory's capacity to face adverse climatic situations due to hurricanes and other meteorological phenomena."

The Japanese diplomat announced that on March 9 they will officially inaugurate the permanent office of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Havana, a step towards strengthening economic ties between both nations.

Masahisa Sato highlighted the dialogue with the Mincex authorities on the work of the Cuba-Japan Public Private Committee for Bilateral Cooperation, which must meet in the first months of this year and which specifically deals with trade and investment initiatives.

Relations between Tokyo and Havana have boomed in the last three years.

In 2016, more than 400 Japanese companies visited Cuba to seek opportunities in the Cuban market and both countries reached an agreement to reorganize the Cuban debt.

"For Cuba, cooperation and economic relations with Japan are of great importance"Carricarte in turn assured, while thanking Japanese help in the spheres of tourism, health, agriculture, energy and environmental protection.

In the relaunch of bilateral ties, the visits to the Cuban capital by the Japanese Foreign Minister, Fumio Kishida, in 2015, and by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in 2016, stand out.

The first Cuban vice president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, also traveled to Japan that same year, and everything indicates that he will become the island's next president in April, when Raúl Castro leaves office.