Cuba Promises “Facilities and Guarantees” to Foreigners
amid crisis and blackouts
At the opening of the Havana Trade Fair, Vice Prime Minister Óscar Pérez-Oliva called for confidence in a “more dynamic and transparent” business environment.
HAVANA TIMES – The Cuban government acknowledged on Monday the “financial difficulties” the Island is experiencing but promised a “more dynamic and more transparent environment,” with “more facilities and guarantees” for foreign investors.
Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga, made these statements at the opening of the 41st edition of the Havana International Fair, Cuba’s main business and trade event.
“The financial difficulties we are facing are a reality, but so is our determination to overcome them,” the vice prime minister said. “We appreciate the confidence you have placed in Cuba and your significant contribution to the development of our country,” he added.
Perez-Oliva stated that the Cuban government is taking “firm steps to modernize the economy and offer a more dynamic and more transparent environment,” with “more facilities and guarantees for those who bet on” the country’s future.
As EFE previously reported, the Cuban government has informed many international companies on the Island in recent months that they will not be able to repatriate or withdraw in cash the deposits they held in foreign currency in Cuban bank accounts. In addition, last week the Executive told the diplomatic corps that it could not guarantee that embassies would be able to transfer abroad or withdraw in cash their deposits in foreign-currency accounts.
Meanwhile, the fair’s organizers highlighted that the event brings together delegations from more than 40 countries, including Venezuela, Mexico, Russia, Vietnam, Spain, and Turkey, as well as the European Union and trade promotion agencies from about fifteen nations. They also noted that nearly a quarter of exhibitors are participating for the first time, while 75% are returning, which they interpret as a sign of continued international interest. Domestically, some 240 Cuban companies are taking part, 181 state-owned and 61 private.
The vice prime minister announced that the fair will feature measures to encourage business development, such as “facilities to stimulate investment,” protocols to “speed up” project approvals, and “new opportunities.”
Perez-Oliva also acknowledged that the country is going through “difficult weeks,” especially after the passage of Hurricane Melissa, which crossed the eastern end of the island in late October as a Category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale, leaving a “painful mark.”
The very holding of the fair is a “sign of willpower” when “circumstances seem to challenge” the country’s “momentum,” the vice prime minister said.
FIHAV is focusing particularly on sectors such as renewable energy—at a time of a deep energy crisis with prolonged daily blackouts—and tourism, which despite the drop in international arrivals continues to be a fundamental sector for the economy and foreign-currency generation.
This is the first major public event in which Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga has participated since being appointed vice prime minister last October. His appointment reinforced the trend of the country’s highest responsibilities concentrating in figures closely connected to political and economic power. Perez-Oliva is the great-nephew of Fidel and Raul Castro, the son of biologist Mirsa Fraga Castro and grandson of Ángela Castro, sister of the founders of the Revolution. He is also the nephew of Jose Antonio Fraga Castro, who was president of the powerful company Labiofam until 2014.
First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.