Japan will donate medical equipment to Cuba to deal with the spread of COVID-19 on the Caribbean island, as part of the Japanese government’s Non-Reimbursable Financial Cooperation program.
The signing ceremony for the donation, worth 500 million Japanese yen (approximately US$ 4.7 million), was held this Wednesday by the Asian country’s ambassador in Havana, Fujimura Kazuhiro, and Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Déborah Rivas, Cubadebate reported.
Firmado hoy en @MINCEX_CUBA nuevo convenio de cooperación entre #Cuba y #Japon, consistente en donación equipos médicos para nuestros hospitales. No estamos sólos. #SomosCuba #NoMasBloqueo pic.twitter.com/m4kJDok386
— Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz (@R_Malmierca) September 16, 2020
With the donation made up of high-quality health equipment, the Japanese executive hopes to contribute to the strengthening of the health system and the measures to control infectious diseases in Cuba, the source indicated.
This is the first international assistance that Japan has signed under the new government of Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide, who has just assumed office, following the resignation of Shinzo Abe.
Japón incluye a Cuba entre los países con veto migratorio por la pandemia
Abe, 65, notified at the end of August his intention to resign for the same health reasons that led to his first resignation as prime minister thirteen years ago: chronic ulcerative colitis, which he has suffered since he was a teenager.
“If you are sick and not in good physical shape, you should not make important political decisions or stop producing results,” said the then prime minister at a press conference at the government headquarters.
