As President Raul Castro’s Cuba allows computers and cell-phones as it steps towards economic reforms, the biggest-ever Cuban trade delegation will be landing in India next week to talk business and strike deals to buy computers, television sets, refrigerators, medicines and food.

The delegation is likely to meet Commerce minister Kamal Nath, Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and Minister of State (External Affairs) Anand Sharma in the government and representatives of the Tata group, Exim Bank, CII, ITPO, State Trading Corporation and members of trade organisations during its 10-day visit.

Led by Cuba’s Deputy Foreign Trade Minister Eduardo Antonio Escandell Amador, the 26-member delegation will comprise officials and business leaders from Cuba. Cuba’s ambassador to India, Miguel Angel Ramirez Ramos, told The Indian Express, “This is the largest business delegation from Cuba in the history of India-Cuba relations, coming from both government and private sectors, which is coming here to look for business partners and suppliers of a whole range of products. Time is ripe for bilateral ties and trade to take a leap.”

The team will land in Delhi on May 17 and will be spending most of the time in the Capital, before going to Mumbai. They fly back on May 28. The team from Cuba has a huge shopping list: members from the power enterprises in Havana are looking for power equipment for their transmission and distribution system, officials from Medicuba are looking for suppliers of medicines and medical equipments, and a marketing head of a Cuba-based appliance firm will be looking for suppliers of home appliances, vacuum cleaners, and a representative from the Cuban textile ministry will be looking for cloth suppliers.

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