Tim Cole, British Ambassador to Cuba

About the relationships between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Cuba, we sat down with Tim Cole, British ambassador to the island nation, who addressed the present framework of ties that bind both countries, as well as current and potential cooperation areas.

He’s just arrived in Havana to fulfill his first mission as top UK diplomat overseas. He had previously been Attaché Chief of Mission at British embassies in two African states: Zimbabwe and Mozambique. But Cuba is the first Spanish-speaking state on his career. Loaded with expectations and projects, Mr. Tim Cole welcomes us as the ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and North Ireland, in his Havana residence.

How do you describe the current state of relations between your country and Cuba?
The relations are good and quite close. We are based on the 2011 bilateral declaration that sets the framework for our cooperation. Several topics are contained in this document. It’s indeed a long list of issues, and that’s pretty interesting in the case of a Spanish-speaking country. The list goes from climate change, regional security to trade and human rights, just to mention a few.

I love the idea of being here to deal with these matters, because Cuba’s voice is quite loud in the UN, especially in climate change, for instance, and for my government this is actually a fundamental question and we need to share opinions with other people that also give special importance to this topic. It’s all about sharing positions.
 
A huge and complicated process of debates in terms of climate change is been developed all over the world. United Kingdom labeled it as a priority when it chaired the G8 back in 2005 and even before. And we believe that it is vital to establish dialogues with governments that play an important role, just like the Cuba does in many negotiations.

What’s your background on Cuba in terms of its cultural life? What do you think the contribution of your mission in Havana would be to the exchange between your country and the Caribbean island nation in this sense?
Cuban music gained momentum in my country 20 years ago. It became very popular. They had Buenavista Social Club and the LP they recorded with Ry Cooder, but Cuban music is still played in London and most of the United Kingdom. So, I love Cuban music.

The cultural atmosphere is very intense in Cuba. Here you have music, dancing, theater, and we also have that in the United Kingdom. We want to develop and promote this area. We recently held the British Week. We have to decide how to keep on promoting our culture. We will probably have more events on this matter coming, though we have to choose the performers, because United Kingdom is a multicultural country. For instance, curry is today’s number-one dish in England, and it comes from India.

Over the last years, we have noticed a sort of “offensive” –in the best sense of the word– related to the image of Great Britain.

This year, our country has been celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and we hosted the Olympic and Paralympic games in London. These are two outstanding events and we have promoted them all over the world. The games were fortunately a huge success. British people are very pessimist by nature and we didn’t think that everything was going to be that good, but it was great.

Over the years, the United Kingdom has clung to some kind of a traditional image, but it’s also a modern country where many different nationalities coexist. London is a fantastic city. 300 languages are taught in its schools, and that shows its global nature.

As for trade relations, what are the main exchange areas between your country and Cuba?
There is commercial exchange between Cuba and the United Kingdom and it has grown in recent years, but it is not that far-reaching. British tourism is significant, but we also provide services when it comes to training professionals from the energy sector and supplying machinery. From Cuba, the United Kingdom imports lubricants, for example. I think that it is not enough. I’m going to stay in Cuba for four years and I would like to witness a consistent growth in this sense, which it is very important to us and Cubans as well. It is to us because Europe is facing an economic crisis, and to Cuba because the United Kingdom is a developed economy with experience in such fields as biotechnology, agriculture and renewable energy.

British companies have expressed their interest in certain commercial branches. There is a group interested in investing in sugarcane byproducts, for example. In November, we are going to have a multi-sectorial trade mission, the first of its kind in three years, with a mix of interests: food and drinks (the mission includes a tea-producing company, a British tradition), energy (a company that produces a liquid which is blended with oil and works more efficiently), and education, culture and medical equipment sectors.

We want to promote British investment in Cuba, based on mutually profitable deals and commitments. We know that there are companies from our country with more than one trillion of pound sterling to invest in Cuba. There are four companies interested in building golf courses, and there are others involved in biotechnology.

Would you like to promote any other element?
We are looking forward to boosting some exports from the United Kingdom. For example, we’d like to have British beef certified in Cuba, so we can export it. We also have whisky, a very special product and highly emblematic in our country, and we want to promote it because we think there is a market niche for it here.

In terms of trade, we try to put our products on the map, those that we can export. And I think that being open to markets, such as the British one, is very important for Cuba.

What do British tourists look for in Cuba? What would you recommend so Cuba could maintain or increase visitor inflows from the United Kingdom?
Cuba boasts fantastic beaches and we don’t find that in the United Kingdom. Our country is located up north and we try to look for sunshine during our vacation time. I can be in Spain, France, Italy, Portugal or the Caribbean. Each year, 175,000 British tourists visit Cuba, an average of 3,000 on a weekly basis. The beaches are great, but you also have culture, landscapes, and there are typical elements such as cigars, which can’t be easily acquired in our country, but it is different here.
 
Nevertheless, there is a lot of competition in the Caribbean and I believe that tourism companies in Cuba must spend some time to figure out how to improve conditions offered to customers. Catering is very important for most European tourists and there are excellent bistros serving exquisite food in Cuba. Attention must also be paid to the maintenance of highways and infrastructure.
 
Tourism is a very important sector for Cuban economy. As long as I am here, I want –and this is what I told Cuban authorities– the country to have an increase of British visitors up to 200,000 per year, maybe more.

Do you have any predictions?
The educational level, the thinking level of Cuban people is what has impressed me the most during my first days in Cuba. They have many ideas, and are very communicative and outspoken. This is really good for the future and for the relationships.