Cuba’s Portfolio of Investments for Foreign Investment contains a total of 503 projects, 43 more than the previous year, totaling an amount of over 12 billion dollars. The Portfolio also contains a number of smaller projects at the local level.
Rodrigo Malmierca, the Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment (MINCEX) said that foreign capital represents an important role in the progress of the economy.
Malmierca said that the contribution of foreign investment is an essential element for the financing of local projects, a primary objective of the economic and social development strategy of Cuba.
In a tweet posted in his account, the Minister tweeted: “Foreign investment is present in Strategy to boost the economy as a financing factor for development. Including local development projects is consistent with the role of the municipality in the new Constitution.”
It is for these reasons the new business portfolio of 2021 includes business projects related to local municipal companies.
Katia Alonso Cañizares, the Director of Business at MINCEX told the media the intention of this new concept is to carry out a survey of the existing potential at the municipal and provincial level for generating exports.
This decision explains the intention of promoting production and services from the base and to contribute to the autonomy of the territories from foreign investment, she added.
Cuban Expats Can Invest
“There have been comments that this (the investment of Cubans residing abroad) cannot be done, but that was never prohibited; now everything is being concatenated,” said Alonso, who indicated that one point (to consider) is that, in general, Cuban business people abroad do not have sufficient capital to invest.
In fact, Cuba has included some smaller projects for investors with less capital in the Portfolio of Opportunities.
” … we are also advocating for small projects and they are projects more tailored to Cubans living abroad, who are people who have small and medium-sized enterprises,” Ms. Alonso said.
Prioritized Sectors for Foreign Investment
The sectors prioritized for foreign investment are the Construction, Energy, Telecommunications & Information Technology, Transportation, Water, Tourism, Industry, Professional Services, Food and Sugar, and Pharmaceuticals sectors. There are currently over 50 prioritized projects belonging to these areas of the economy.
Obtain a copy of Cuba’s latest Portfolio of Opportunities here:
David Urra is the chief marketing analyst at International Consulting & Representation Services/Cuba (IcarusCuba). He has produced market studies for a wide range of Latin American, European and U.S. clients exploring market entry possibilities in Cuba’s IT, tourism, ranching, pharmaceutical and manufacturing sectors.
