Rome, Italy.- The National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Development (ENEA) held here an informative day on Tuesday with a delegation from the Cuban biotechnology and pharmaceutical group BioCubaFarma.
The firm’s vice president, Mayda Mauri, and Agustin Lage, the scientific and commercial advisor to the President of BioCubaFarma, attended the exchange of information on behalf of the Cuban group, and were accompanied by Cuban Ambassador to Italy Jose Carlos Rodriguez and Minister Counselor Jorge Luis Alfonzo.
On the Italian side, Carmela Marino, director of the Division of Technology for Health Protection of ENEA; Gaetano Coletta, from the Management Directory of Contracts and Associations; Giuseppe Secchi, from Federquimica Assobiotec, and Ines Aronadio, from the Institute for Foreign Trade, were present at the meeting.
Marco Giomini participated on behalf of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who in his speech highlighted the excellent relations between Cuba and Italy and noted that the broadening of ties in the scientific and technological areas fits very well in the reciprocal interest to extend them to all sectors.
Carmela Marino, who led the morning session of the meeting, acknowledged the high level reached by Cuba in scientific research, particularly in the pharmaceutical and biotechnological fields, while praising the high quality of the presentations.
In his speech, Ambassador Rodriguez pointed out that the development achieved by his country in these fields has not been exempted from the damage caused by the intensification of the US blockade, which affects all sectors of the economy and society as a whole.
The diplomat referred to BioCubaFarma as a concrete example of Cuban scientific progress, composed by biotechnology and high technology research centers, as well as other industrial production of medicines, medical equipment and devices for disease prevention and treatment.
He recalled that the group is composed by 34 companies, 61 production facilities, with more than 700 registered drugs, more than 20000 workers, and 393 research projects, 101 of which are biotechnological products exported to 53 countries.
After stressing that for Cuba everything done in science and technology must serve human development, the diplomat said that specifying the mutual complementarities will be crucial to achieve the expected results as soon as possible.
A particularly significant moment at the meeting was BioCubaFarma’s recognition of Italian researcher and teacher Paolo Amati, master of the first generations of Cuban geneticists, who at the group’s proposal will be declared an honorary member of the Cuban Academy of Sciences.
The 85-year-old Amati referred with much affection to Cuba and, at the same time, he highlighted the country’s capacity to enrich the soul and give meaning to life.
At the conclusions of the meeting, ENEA President Federico Testa recognized the development achieved by Cuba in the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industries, and expressed his institution’s interest in deepening cooperation with scientific institutions in the Caribbean island