Cuba Announces Portfolio of Opportunities in FIHAV 2019

Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment Rodrigo Malmierca presented Cuba’s 2019-2020 Portfolio of Opportunities which contains 460 projects, 47 of them based in Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM).

The announcement was made during the opening ceremony of the 4th Investment Forum within the 37th Havana International Fair, FIHAV 2019, running from November 4-8 at Expocuba fairgrounds.

According to Malmierca, most of the portfolio business corresponds to strategic sectors such as tourism (116), oil (114), agro-food (81, including 11 in the ZEDM) and industries (32, including 21 in the same zone). Other sectors present in the portfolio are mining (15), construction (14), renewable energy (10), as well as pharmaceutical and technological, and transport, the latter with six.

The total investment is 11.745 billion dollars and although there are supposedly fewer projects, the capital to be invested is greater.

The new portfolio creates new opportunities for productive chains, because foreign investment has to be linked to domestic industry, which will help import substitution, the Cuban minister said.

He also highlighted the measures adopted to ease the investment approval processes, and announced that on January 3, 2020, they intend to implement the Single Window for Foreign Trade.

Translated from ACN