San José, Costa Rica.-Minister of Science, Technology and Telecommunications (Micitt) Marcelo Jenkins advocated here to continue strengthening scientific collaboration between Costa Rica and Cuba.

This purpose aims to fulfill one of the objectives of the visit of President Luis Guillermo Solís to Cuba in December of 2015; it was stressed at the closing of this week in a meeting between both parties.

Jenkins, along with Cuban ambassador to Costa Rica, Danilo Sánchez, held a working meeting with the members of a delegation of nine Costa Rican biotechnological researchers, headed by Vice Minister Carolina Vásquez, who recently left the Caribbean island.

There they participated in an international scientific convention in Havana, exchanged with Cuban counterparts and visited important centers of the Cuban production research complex BioCubafarma.

For a week, Costa Rican researchers explored areas where cooperation and exchange of experts would be possible and agreed that the Cuban experience in the close link between research and production was very useful.

They also considered that Cuba could benefit from the achievements of Costa Rica in the field of nanotechnology.

This direct exchange between experts from both countries working on cancer research, agricultural biotechnology and seed production for food security opens up new prospects for future initiatives.

Among them, they mentioned the interest in inviting Cuban researchers to Costa Rica and encouraging the participation of Costa Ricans in events already planned for this year in Cuba specifically in the agricultural area.

After listening to the experiences of the internship and the possibilities of collaboration in the different areas, the minister asked the researchers to present immediately the proposals that would allow Licit to continue the links with the Cuban scientific institutions, aimed at the realization of joint research projects and of production for the benefit of both parties.

During the meeting, the minister and the Cuban ambassador announced that a collaboration agreement between the Ministry of Science and Technology of Costa Rica and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment of Cuba would be signed in San José in the next few days.