Historic visit to Cuba by French Foreign Minister

The political opening is expected to open up strong economic cooperation between Cuba and France as well as the EU.

Last weekend, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius made a historic visit to Cuba. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius' visit to Cuba marked the first time a high-ranking French official had visited the Latin American island nation in 31 years..

French Foreign Minister Fabius and Cuban Foreign Minister Parilla (photo: VOA)

The visit comes after Cuba and the European Union agreed to start negotiations on normalizing relations between the two sides. The French Foreign Minister did not aim to sign a document that would serve as a basis for future cooperation activities, but it is a sign that not only France but also the European Union is ready for further concrete steps to improve relations with Cuba.

French engine

First of all, this visit of French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius to Cuba must be placed in the context of the significant improvement in relations between Cuba and the European Union (EU) in recent times. The two sides have begun promoting cooperation exchanges since the beginning of this year.

For its part, France of course also has its own calculations for this trip. Mr. Fabius said in Cuba that France recognized Cuba's "dramatic changes in implementing economic and social reforms" and he said that Cuba is a "friend" of France and that even though there are many disagreements between friends, the two sides can still talk to each other.

In fact, besides the political significance, such as being the first French Minister to visit Cuba in 31 years, Mr. Fabius's trip also has a very large purpose of economic cooperation. We all know that after the recent cabinet reshuffle in France, Mr. Fabius is now not only in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but also in charge of the French Foreign Trade sector. Mr. Fabius himself has repeatedly stated that economic diplomacy will be a major priority for him in the coming time. Therefore, this can also be considered Mr. Fabius's trip in his position in charge of French Foreign Trade.

France wants to promote economic relations with Cuba. Despite the US embargo, there are currently about 60 French companies doing business in Cuba and with the prospect of reform in Cuba, French investors are looking forward to investment opportunities in Cuba. French businesses are particularly interested in the project to build a special economic zone in Cuba in the deep-water port of Mariel, so Mr. Fabius's trip is considered to take advantage of that opportunity. In addition, it is necessary to mention the overall economic diplomacy strategy of France in the Latin American and Caribbean region. Before going to Cuba, Mr. Fabius accompanied the French President to visit Mexico to sign a "strategic partnership" and 41 economic contracts. France is paying great attention to economic relations with countries in this region, including Cuba.

Moving towards normalizing bilateral relations

Taking place in the context of the European Union sending a signal of wanting to promote cooperation with Cuba and being reciprocated by Cuba last March, this visit to Cuba by the French Foreign Minister could be the start of the negotiation process between the European Union and Cuba to move towards normalizing relations between the two sides.

This is something that both sides are looking forward to. During his trip to Cuba, the French Foreign Minister stated that “Cuba has no problem that cannot be reconciled with France”. France is the leading important power in Europe, so this French view is also considered as part of the European view.

Mr. Fabius said that he welcomed the results of the Latin American and Caribbean Summit (CELAC) in which the majority of countries supported Cuba and asked the US to lift the embargo. In fact, relations between Cuba and the EU have been initiated since 2008 with dialogues in many fields.

By March 2014, Cuba had agreed to the EU's proposal to start discussions on a new bilateral political agreement. If these discussions progress, it is expected that by 2015, the two sides could move on to discussing trade and investment agreements. Therefore, this trip by the French Foreign Minister is considered a new step to lay the foundation for future discussions.

The intention of Europe, through France, is that before political discussions, the two sides can cooperate to better understand each other through joint projects such as implementing humanitarian medical activities in Africa, an area where Cuba has strengths. Both sides benefit if the relationship is improved. Cuba needs foreign investment. Currently, foreign investment in Cuba only accounts for about 8% of the country's GDP, while according to calculations, if Cuba wants to achieve a growth rate of 6-8%/year, it needs a foreign investment rate of 25-30% of GDP. On the contrary, EU businesses also look forward to the opportunity to invest in a market that is almost completely new but has a lot of potential in tourism, shipping and medicine like Cuba.

Exploration trip

Western media pointed out that during this visit, France and Cuba have no intention of signing any agreement. This trip of Mr. Laurent Fabius is a trip of political significance. It puts an end to the diplomatic distance between the two sides for many years and lays the foundation for future dialogue.

There are still many differences between Cuba and the EU, especially in politics, so it is impossible to demand immediate economic cooperation until the political problems between the two sides have been resolved. The two sides have set a specific roadmap and this trip of Mr. Fabius is to push that roadmap in the right direction and go faster.

Once political dialogue yields results, there will certainly be economic cooperation. For example, France currently has a foreign trade turnover with Cuba of 280 million euros, if the relationship progresses, the number will be many times that. France and many European countries, such as Spain, are very interested in economic cooperation with Cuba, but this cooperation must be cleared politically, in this case, the reform roadmap of Cuba as well as the commitments that the two sides make to each other. In addition, we cannot fail to mention the role of the United States in this process. The United States is still embargoed on Cuba, so if the EU wants to do anything with Cuba, a small country located right next to the United States, it will have to be cautious and probe the attitude of the United States, its most powerful and important ally./.

According to VOV