Cuba Speeds Up Procedures in Foreign Investment Projects

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel recently described foreign investments as a priority for the country

Cuba has sped up the procedures for the approval of foreign investment projects to support the creation of joint ventures with foreign capital, an official source said today.

Deborah Rivas, an official from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment (MINCEX), told reporters that the modifications of the complementary rules of Law 118 on Foreign Investment, which have a technical impact, will speed up the process to create the files for that activity.

As an example, Rivas mentioned the possibility that the documents for a project are submitted for approval with a lower level of review demanded by the current rules.

The previous rules demand a complete feasibility study that includes several analyses attached to the proposal, she added.

However, the modification of the regulation allows presenting one pre-feasibility study, thus speeding up the evaluation process and the submission of the file to the MINCEX for approval.

In addition, the director of MINCEX Foreign Investment added that the regulation demands the establishment of the sums to be contributed by each of the parties in relation to the social capital since the beginning of the negotiations.

In this regard, Rivas noted that it also includes the request of a timetable to clarify how the investment will be executed.

This, she said, allows speeding up the investment process since the design phase, because both parties can reach more concrete definitions.

The changes introduced in this process also improve the methodological foundations to make the studies and provides the consulting companies with the tools to make better feasibility studies, the official underlined.

Rivas pointed out that the speeding up of the processes prior to the approval of businesses with foreign investment does not imply ignoring any of the requirements established in the legislation to develop that activity. ‘Speeding up the processes required for the approval of associations does not mean that the parties involved do not comply with all the dispositions in force in the Law on Foreign Investment,’ she stated.

In recent statements, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel described foreign investments as a priority for the country and one of the best ways for its growth and economic development.