The Republic of Cuba is keen to develop bilateral relations with Saudi Arabia in various areas including politics, business, culture and education, said Laureano R. Castro, Ambassador of Cuba. It is in this context, he said, that the Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marcos Rodriguez Costa, will pay his first official visit to Saudi Arabia from Jan. 23. The ambassador said Cuba is looking forward to signing bilateral cooperation agreements with Saudi Arabia on a number of fronts including education, culture and the improvement of contacts between foreign offices of the two ministries. He said that during his three-day stay in Riyadh, Costa will hold talks with Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Dr. Khaled Bin Muhammad Al-Anqari, Minister of Higher Education, and that he is expected to sign memorandums of understanding for cooperation in several areas. Saudi Arabia and Cuba have common interests in a number of international and regional issues. Both countries respect the UN and international laws and Cuba like Saudi Arabia has always expressed its solidarity with the Palestinian cause, the envoy added. Since the Cuban Embassy was opened in Riyadh in 2007, Saudi Arabia and Cuba have developed friendly and close bilateral relations, he said. “We opened our embassy in Riyadh just two years ago and are still at the initial stages of developing bilateral relations with Saudi Arabia,” Castro said. He said Minister Al-Anqari is scheduled to visit Cuba next month to attend an international conference in Havana.
