Havana, Jul 30 (IANS): France will finance various priority development areas in Cuba through long-term preferential loans, sources said.
Cuban Foreign Trade and Investment Minister Rodrigo Malmierca and French Ambassador Jean-Marie Bruno signed an agreement on Friday for the opening of a French Development Agency in Cuba.
It will fund projects on renewable energy, tourism, transport, agribusiness, sanitation and urban development, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to the Foreign Ministry, a part of the financing will come from a fund of 231 million euros (about $258 million) created from the renegotiation of Cuba's external debt with France and other members of the Paris Club.
The committee administring the fund will be elected in the second half of 2016 during an official visit to Cuba by Matthias Fekl, the French Minister of State for Foreign Trade, said Malmierca.