Havana, Cuba.-The Regional Meeting for Latin America and the Caribbean, of the International Council for Science (ICSU), is beginning here today with specialized debates focused on sustainable development.

Cuba will present during the event the scientific progress made in the last decades, especially in the field of medicine and biotechnology, the national press stressed.

This is the first meeting of this kind based in the island and will be attended by renowned experts from Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Panama, members of the scientific council, the ICSU director for the region, Manuel Limonta, stated.

The objective is to follow up the international programs of the Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, he stated.

Sustainable energy, risks and disasters, mathematics education, biodiversity, and open data (related to the dissemination of scientific findings) are among the issues of the agenda.

The event, which will take place until tomorrow at a Havana hotel, will include the presence of South African doctor Heide Hackmann, Executive Director of the ICSU, and Erlinda Handal, Minister of Science and Technology of El Salvador.