Puerto Rico´s governor Alejandro García Padilla said he expects to open an office in Havana to promote trade and cultural exchange.

Padilla made the announcement while speaking to reporters during the recent Summit of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), held Saturday in Havana.

The governor recalled that Puerto Rico maintain offices in the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Panama, Spain and in New York City and in the US state of Florida and the Havana office would allow Puerto Ricans to expand their businesses. This is part of an effort to lower unemployment and it has been successful in our region, he said.

If a commercial office is set up in Cuba it could boost a two-way export avenue between the two Caribbean island nations.

The Puerto Rican governor attended the Havana Summit on the invitation of ACS outgoing secretary general Alfonso Munera. He also met with President Raul Castro and held bilateral meetings with Cuban foreign trade minister Rodrigo Malmierca and with Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez.

In his welcoming speech at the summit in the presence of the Puerto Rican governor, Raul Castro said “we expect to have with us (at the ACS) all Caribbean nations, including Puerto Rico, as an independent and sovereign nation.

This was the first time since 1898 that an acting Puerto Rican governor visits Cuba.