HAVANA, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Cuban and South African leaders on Friday pledged to strengthen and diversify the economic and trade relations between the two nations.

During their talks, Cuban First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel and his visiting South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, "reaffirmed the excellent state of bilateral relations as an expression of the historical ties of brotherhood that unite Cuba and South Africa," an official statement said.

Cuba and South Africa established diplomatic relations in 1994 after the fall of the apartheid regime in South Africa. Since then, bilateral cooperation has mainly focused on health and education.

Ramaphosa, who started his three-day visit to Havana on Wednesday, leads a delegation of officials and businessmen from such sectors as telecommunications, tourism, mining, engineering, construction and manufacturing.

Among them are also representatives from 15 entrepreneurial groups covering biopharmaceuticals, sugar, children's goods, as well as household and personal hygiene products.

On Thursday, Ramaphosa and his entourage participated in a business forum with their local counterparts to explore investment opportunities in the Caribbean island country.

Ramaphosa said the forum promoted exchanges between the entrepreneurs from both countries and would help strengthen economic cooperation and explore new areas for mutually beneficial cooperation.

In 2014, Havana and Pretoria signed an agreement to expand their trade, which reached 8.6 million U.S. dollars that year, according to Cuban official data.