The Italian Cooperation resumed operations in Cuba in 2009, when a bilateral Joint Declaration was signed allowing both parties to re-establish relations interrupted in 2003. In March 2011 a Declaration of Intent was signed in Havana for the start of new cooperation activities and in the same year Cuba was included among the priority countries for the Cooperation of the Italian Government. The establishment of the Havana office was approved on 1st January 2017. The areas of intervention on the the Agency are: • Sustainable rural development and agri-food supply chains, in particular with initiatives aimed at strengthening key players responsible for increasing production, integrating the different levels of the system and facilitating back-feeding between them and strengthening management capacities at local level; • Culture and heritage protection, especially in urban historic centers, with architectural interventions aimed at combining the restoration of the artistic value of buildings with the rehabilitation of their housing function; • Local economic development, working on the development of governance and on supporting good governance with a view to local development and democratic dynamization.