FIHAV 2012 Opens in Havana

The International Fair of Havana, FIHAV 2012, opened doors today through Sat. Nov.6, to mark its 30th anniversary, attended by more than 3,000 exhibitors from 62 countries.

Russia, with a delegation led by Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov, as well as Italy and Venezuela, boast a dramatic increase in the size of their delegations against 2011 while Spain places as the largest and China continues demanding more space in Cuba´s biggest trade pool.

The 25 pavilions of EXPOCUBA, an exhibit center in southern Havana, is the customary venue where over 1,500 firms show their products, including food, construction materials and equipment, raw materials for industry, as well as health, education and tourism services, among others.

Since its inception in 1982, FIHAV has contributed to diversify Cuba´s foreign trade and other advantageous businesses for national firms, in an atmosphere of respect and security.

In remarks to Prensa Latina, Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment, Rodrigo Malmierca, also president of the organizing committee, considered very significant the participation of some 1,500 firms from over 60 countries and nearly one hundred Cuban firms, turning this event into the largest in the past ten years.

Malmierca noted that firms from all continents are present in this fair, but those from Latin America and the Caribbean are worth noticing because this is an expression of achievements made in the pro-integration process in the region.

He cited the stand of the Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA), grouping products from Caribbean countries, and the presence of all countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America.

Cuban firms in the exhibit include Union Suchel, Cubaexpert, Tecnoazucar, Los Portales, Thaba, Labiofam, Rio Zaza and Havana Club Internacional, among others.