Cuba’s Portfolio of Opportunities for Foreign Investment 2019 – 2020 is now available. The new portfolio contains 460 projects in 18 economic sectors, 47 of these are located in the Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM).
Déborah Rivas, Vice Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment (MINCEX) confirmed to Cuba Business Report that these projects total more than $11,745 billion USD.
This year’s Havana international trade fair (la Feria Internacional de la Habana) (FIHAV) has been canceled due to Coronavirus pandemic concerns. This is unfortunate because FIHAV, is the most important trade fair in the region, and the showcase whereby Cuban and international business display new products and services and connections are made.
Foreign investment is vital to the development of the Cuban economy. It will be especially so, post-COVID-19, a fact confirmed by Cuba’s Foreign Minister Rodrigo Malmierca, who stated in Twitter, “Cuba prioritizes foreign capital attraction for economic development in Post Strategy COVID19.”
Supporting foreign investment, Cuba’s Law No. 118 enacted in 2014, has created a favorable business environment for investors. Tax incentives are one of the benefits for foreign investors who choose Cuba as the place to invest. The Island’s central location in the Latin American/Caribbean, its network of airports, ports, and educated workforce are just a few of the advantages to investing here.
The greatest number of investment opportunities lie in the tourism sector which offers a total of 116 projects.
Within the other key industry sectors, investors will find projects in Renewable Energy (10), Oil (114), Construction (14), Mining (15), Agri-Food (81), Transportation (6), Pharmaceutical-BioTechnology (6), Health (4), Culture (4), Water (4), Commerce (4), Sugar (5), Telecommunications (3), Audiovisual (2), Logistics (2), and Real Estate (1).
MINCEX streamlined the entire investment process with the launching of its VUINEX platform earlier in January of this year. VUINEX is a “one-stop shop” that expedites the negotiation process, document submission and the approval of businesses for the foreign investor.
Download the English version of the investment Portfolio of Opportunities here. Get the Spanish version here. Available on Cuba Business Report, courtesy the ProCuba.cu website.
