“There is a trend to the increase of foreign companies”, says engineer Leandris Lazo Nodarse, director of Events from the Agricultural Fairs Enterprise, while pointing out that this year the International Agricultural Fair (FIAGROP, by its acronym in Spanish), in Havana, inaugurated in 1933, has accomplished its main purpose.
Its purpose is to promote opportunities for trade, the introduction of new firms, joint companies and other businesses for a market that is in constant development: the market for agriculture, stockbreeding and new technologies related to the agricultural and industrial progress of Cuba.
In Rancho Boyeros, almost 20 kilometers from Havana city, in the midst of an unusual landscape marked by stockbreeders wearing large hats and spurs in their boots. All that added to the sound of hundreds of animals in exhibition, more than 400 cattle and about 100 horses, sheep, goats, pigs; as well as hundreds of fowls, little chickens no older than a day, rabbits, and about 20 buffalos.
Some of these specimens will be auctioned after a show in which a female pig with its offspring have been sold for 25,000 Cuban pesos, as told by those who are regular participants at the fair year after year.
Game on…
For German entrepreneurs Jorge Barrera, from Josera Gmbh & Co. KG and SigurtElert, from AIMEX Gmbh, this is their first time in an event like this one in the island.
Barrera declared in and exclusive to OnCuba, that his company, specialized in animal nutrition, is interested in “offering the Cuban government dairy substitutes for the first breeding stage –one of the harder stages–of calves, in addition to dog and cat food, specifically for gundogs”. He also said he has already made some contacts here.
SigurtElert, on the other hand, noted that his experience at Havana’s International Fair (FIHAV by its acronym in Spanish) has been very positive: “on that occasion AIMEX established contact with Medicuba, which is interested in our technology in the field of stomatology”.
Obviously, this German company changed its portfolio for its new commercial trip to Havana and brought samples of equipment for creameries, sugar mills, and irrigation and gardening techniques. In fact, there is a model of evaporators and centrifuges and full mills, a SwingOver –a system for milking cows–, electric fences and a full gear for working in the farms.
In addition to Germany, there are four Latin American and six European countriestaking part in this year’s event through 16 foreign companies, which is good news in view of the diplomatic rapprochement between Cuba and the European Union for those who favor fully reestablished economic bonds.
BELOFARM, a company specialized in pharmaceutical products, is another German enterprise that traditionally participates at the Fair. But there is also Bustar, a company that deals with the production and commercialization of seeds; THESUS International S.A,specialized in machineries; and Malongo from France, related to the coffee sector.
“This is the first time a French company takes part at the Fair since in 1990 when it became international”, stated the director of the event. At the same time, Malongo’s legal advisor, Dominique Héctor, told Prensa Latina that this company buys coffee from coffee-grower nations in order to commercialize it after adding it higher aggregate value.
The other side of negotiations
“Wehavebrokeneveryparticipation record fromnational and foreigncompanies. Historically, we have received many intention letters for negotiations but we haven’t closed many deals. We are confident in that we will have better results this time”, says LazoNodarse while walking down the four exhibition halls.
There is a total of 43 national entities grouped by spaces, out of them 36 belong to the Agriculture Ministry. Yet, TABACUBA along with AZCUBA and Mountain Agriculture (GEAM by its acronym in Spanish) stand out among the rest for the elegance in their products.
Luis Felipe Milanés, Quality Manager from TABACUBA, commented to OnCuba that their exhibit covers all production stages and they decided to promote their products through a conference that closed with the tasting of a Habano and a singular contest to see who can get the “largest ashes”.
They have also arranged a round table with nine “Habano man”, who will share their experiences and will debate on the introduction of technologies in the production process and on the results obtained from researches made to the soils.
Milanés explained that in terms of the commercialization of cigars, there can not be contact with foreign companies interested because “there is a contract on the exclusiveness of distributions with Imperial Tobacco”.
Regarding coffee and potential clients we talked with Leonel Guevara Aranda, general director of the Rolando Ayub Coffee Processing Company, from Contramaestre, in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba, which is the largest coffee processing company in the country as its takes all the grain produced in Sierra Maestra Mountains.
Guevara highlights that Brazilian and Canadian companies have expressed their interest in the characteristics of the Extraturquino and Turquino coffee, which are some of the grains produced in the Eastern mountains which last year yielded about 3 500 tons. He added that for 2020 they aim at harvesting the incredible figure of 15 000 tons by means of a special development program.
FIAGROP’s general program for the remaining days until March 23 includes: 14 technical lectures, a cattle fair, art crafts and industrial sales, national championships (between Villa Clara, the favorite, and Sanctis Spiritus provinces), an international rodeo, horse-riding contests and specimens auctions.
