Cuban entrepreneurs signed business contracts and a letter of intention with their counterparts from the United States on Wednesday to acquire US food worth 27 million dollars.

The contracts were signed here between the Cuban food import firm ALIMPORT and US businessmen from Nebraska, said sources close to the transactions.

The deal was reached during the 23rd International Trade Fair Havana 2005, which is a platform for business transactions between ALIMPORT and US firms. A 25-strong US delegation participated in the fair.

ALIMPORT President Pedro Alvarez hailed the signing of the contracts, saying it indicates that the moment has come for the two countries to normalize mutually beneficial trade relations.

He said the restrictive measures imposed by the US government on trade with Cuba have brought great damage to producers.

He estimated that the trade volume between Cuba and the United States over the past five years would have amounted to 20 billion US dollars if the restrictions had not been in force.

Over the past years, Latin America, whose trade with Cuba accounts for 49 percent of Cuba's total, has become Cuba's largest trading partner, followed by Europe with 29 percent.

Despite the US blockade, imposed 46 years ago, Cuba's economy has grown steadily. In the first half of 2005, it grew by 7.3 percent, with improvements in 13 of its 22 industrial sectors, said Alvarez.

Source: Xinhua