Cuba's evolution and prospects for relations with Europe
Cuban and European experts participated in a seminar to debate issues of common interest and to foster greater mutual collaboration.
"On 22 and 23 September, the seminar ""European-Cuban Academic Views on Economy, Development and Cooperation"" was held in Madrid. The seminar was organised by FRIDE and CIDOB, in conjunction with the Centre for the Study of the Cuban Economy (CEEC) of the University of Havana and was sponsored by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECID).
The seminar brought together a group of Cuban and European experts to debate issues of common interest and to foster greater collaboration, by means of four main subject areas. In the first one, participants analysed the evolution of the Cuban economy and its insertion into the international markets, paying particular emphasis to the adjustments that have been made in the past two decades, the structural challenges to the channelling of sustained development and the reform options that are currently under discussion.
In the second area, the participants tackled the evolution and adaptations of social policies, as well as different approaches for dealing with the current challenges that are threatening the standard of living and social cohesion of the Cuban population. In the third session, the debate was based on responses to external confrontations and the transformations that have taken place in Cuba’s external economic relations, while more specifically analysing the evolution and prospects for the European presence in this framework.
Finally, the participants on the fourth round table presented different experiences of Cuban academic co-operation with various European countries, and a discussion ensued as to the possibilities of making progress in these and other areas. In conclusion, it should be mentioned that the event represented a framework for exchanging positions and points of view within a frank, cordial climate of mutual respect. To this end, and beyond the debates that were held, the seminar helped to rebuild trust between the different parties and to stimulate academic co-operation between Cuba and Europe.