Venezuela is Cuba's No. 1 trading partner

Venezuela is Cuba's No. 1 trading partner

OCT. 31 5:28 P.M. ET Venezuela is now Cuba's top trading
partner with $1.4 billion (euro1.2 billion) in commerce
annually -- mostly in petroleum exports from the South
American nation, Cuba's foreign commerce minister said
Monday.
Cuba is now buying $1.1 billion (euro910 million) worth of
Venezuelan petroleum annually on highly preferential
terms, along with another $300 million (about euro250
million) in Venezuelan food, construction materials, and
other products, Foreign Commerce Minister Raul de la
Nuez said on the first day of the International Fair of
Havana, the island's annual trade fair.
"At this moment (Venezuela) indisputably is Cuba's top
trading partner," he said.
Cuba, in return, provides Venezuela with medical and other
professional services, including thousands of doctors and
health care workers.
De la Nuez predicted trade between the two allied nations
could reach $2 billion (euro1.7 billion) annually by the end
of 2006.
The trade fair, featuring products from more than 40
nations, runs through Saturday at the Expo Cuba
fairgrounds on the capital's western outskirts.

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