Cuban President Raul Castro (left) meets Quebec Premier in a surpise encounter yesterday
Photo Credit: Twitter

Raul Castro meets Quebec Premier Couillard

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard ended a two-day visit to Cuba yesterday on a high note, following a surprise meeting with President Raul Castro. The meeting was not part of the premier’s itinerary.

Couillard is the first Quebec premier to make an official visit to Cuba. He led a trade delegation of 40 Quebec companies from a variety of fields including construction, renewable energy, science and technology,  food processing, and tourism.

Couillard said the meeting was “fruitful” and said Castro is interested in developing the Quebec-Cuba relationship.

According to Radio-Canada, the two sides reached an agreement on tourism during the visit, as well as a verbal agreement in principle to have a permanent Quebec representative in Cuba.

The trade delegation is continuing meetings in Cuba until Friday. Quebec exports to Cuba were only $84 million, last year, which is about one per cent of total provincial exports abroad. Cuba was Quebec’s 45th largest trading partner.

Couillard is hopeful Quebec can take advantage of the nation’s economic recovery as former diplomatic tensions thaw between the communist island and the United States.

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