Health center and US software company signed agreements … – Reuters

By Daniel Trotta

HAVANA (Reuters) – – A research center for cancer and a software company in the United States reached Tuesday cooperation agreements with counterparts in Cuba, as part of a business mission that visited for two days the island, which was headed by the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo.

Cuomo, a Democrat politician, is the first governor to visit the Caribbean island since the US president, Barack Obama, and Cuba Raul Castro announced in December the start of a process to restore diplomatic relations and normalizing trade and travel.

The Molecular Immunology Center of Cuba and the Institute Roswell Park in Buffalo, in the state of New York, signed an agreement to develop clinical trials of a vaccine against lung cancer in the United States said the president of the American Institute, Candace Johnson.

In addition, the Infor company New York [INFGS.UL] identified a Cuban partner and reached an agreement to distribute software in Cuba, said its chief executive, Charles Phillips.

“We were surprised and impressed by the level of technology and experience they have in health technology,” Phillips told reporters before returning to the United States after being part of a delegation of businessmen from New York who visited the island.

Both agreements were announced at the Havana airport, following a two-day visit to Cuba of the delegation of 18 business leaders and academics, led by Cuomo.

Obama has eased some restrictions on economic embargo that Washington applies to Havana, but would require Congress, controlled by the Republicans, to lift the sanctions altogether and establish a normal trade.

Among the executives traveled with Cuomo were senior JetBlue Airways Corp., Pfizer Inc. and MasterCard Inc. Continued …