VUCE – the One Stop Shop for Investors

The procedures of foreign investment for investors is about to change in a positive way. Investing in Cuba is about to get a whole lot easier. Ventanilla Unica del Comercio Exterior or the Single Window of Foreign Trade, otherwise known as VUCE (formerly known by the name VUINEX), is an integrated digital platform with the aim of easing the entire process.

With this new program, foreign investors will be able to do all the paperwork in Cuba in a more expedited way simplifying the entire process which was, in the past, a somewhat cumbersome endeavor.

The VUCE program was developed by the software company Desoft S.A. and presented to the public at last year’s Feria Internacional de la Habana (FIHAV 2018).

Over the last week from September 16-20, a training and validation workshop of the VUINEX program was held at the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment (MINCEX) offices. With the participation of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), a delegation from the European Union (EU), experts from the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), Ministry of Agriculture (MINAG) and business groups conducting foreign trade took part in a series of training and meetings.

The Single Window of Foreign Trade is the simplification of the procedures for the export and import of goods. It will provide investor information and allow electronic management of the paperwork for the approvals required for the import and export of commodities.

The “One Stop Shop” program is already in use at the Special Development Zone of Mariel (ZEDM) for businesses at the Zone. The plans to initiate this process throughout Cuba are set to go. VUINEX is going to hasten the investment process for foreign investors by eliminating the paperwork and bureaucracy.

As stated in our interview with Rodrigo Malmierca, Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, there are two new One Stop Shops — one for Foreign Trade and the other for Foreign Investment.

“We expect that the One Stop Shop for Foreign Investment throughout Cuba will be in place in January 2020. We are confident it will speed up the assessment process of the foreign capital projects as well as facilitate getting all the permits and licenses the investors are required from different Cuban authorities to materialize their investments in my country.”

This article has been edited to reflect the name change of the new digital platform which was originally called VUINEX and is now known as VUCE – the ‘One Stop Shop’ for foreign investors..