What Cuba Has to Offer US Businesses

Cuba Opportunity Summit in New York Sells Out

By Tracey Eaton  (alongthemalecon.blogspot.com)

Touring Havana.  Photo: Juan Suarez
Touring Havana. Photo: Juan Suarez

HAVANA TIMES — Assistant Secretary of State Roberta S. Jacobson is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the Cuba Opportunity Summit in New York City on April 1.

The event is sold out, but organizers are trying to increase capacity and have set up a waiting list.

Standard pre-registration went for US $1,495 per person and on-site registration was $1,695. The summit will take place at MarketSite Tower in Times Square. Organizers planned the event after the US and Cuba announced in December the renewal of diplomatic ties.

The summit website states:

“What will this historic change mean for economic relations between the U.S. and Cuba? What opportunities — and risks — should American companies consider as they explore the business potential of one of the largest markets in the Caribbean?

“In order to answer these questions, Knowledge@Wharton in partnership with The Lauder Institute and Momentum will bring together the leading business, political, policy and legal experts who have real-world experience with the Cuban economy and government with renown thought leaders from the world’s leading business school, Wharton, at the Cuba Opportunity Summit on April 1.”

Arts and crafts.  Photo: Juan Suarez
Arts and crafts. Photo: Juan Suarez

Other speakers include:

  • Stefan M. Selig, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade?, U.S. Department of Commerce
  • Maria Contreras-Sweet, Administrator, Small Business Administration
  • Frank J. Del Rio, President, Chief Executive Officer, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.
  • Gustavo Arnavat, Senior Adviser, Center for Strategic & International Studies
  • Thomas J. Herzfeld, Founder, Chairman and President, Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors, Inc.
  • Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, Chief International Correspondent, CNBC
  • Hugo Cancio, President, Editor-in-chief, On Cuba
  • Raja Chatterjee, Global Risk Officer, Tishman Speyer
  • Luis G. Coello, CEO and Founder, CubaMobile LLC
  • Enrique R. Martínez, President and Managing Director, Discovery Networks Latin America
  • Guillermo Santa Cruz, Vice President, Latin America, Mexico & US Hispanic, IMG Media
  • Faquiry Diaz Cala, President/CEO, Tres Mares
  • Mauro F. Guillén, Dr. Felix Zandman Professor, Professor of International Management, Director, The Lauder Institute, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
  • Serge Elkiner, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, YellowPepper
  • Dr. Teo Babun, Chief Executive Officer, HERZFELD/CUBA Alternative Investment Division Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors, Inc.
  • Jay Brickman, Vice President of Government Services, Crowley Maritime
  • Mark Entwistle, Former Ambassador for Canada to Cuba and Founding Partner, Acasta Capital
  • Ted A. Henken, Professor, Baruch College
  • William B. Jacobson, Partner, White Collar Crimes and Investigations Group, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP
  • MarketSite Tower.  Venue of the Cuba Opportunity Summit.
    MarketSite Tower, venue of the Cuba Opportunity Summit.

    Stephen J. Kobrin, William H. Wurster Professor Emeritus of Multinational Management and Publisher, Wharton Digital Press at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

  • Eddie Lubbers, Founder and CEO, Cuba Travel Network
  • John McIntire, Chairman, Cuba Emprende Foundation
  • Gustavo J. Membiela, Partner, Hunton & Williams
  • Ted Piccone, Senior Fellow, Project on International Order and Strategy and Latin America Initiative in the Foreign Policy Program, Brookings
  • Philippe Pouletty, M.D., Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Truffle Capital
  • Julissa Reynoso, Partner, Chadbourne & Parke LLP
  • Susan Segal, President & CEO, Americas Society/Council of the Americas
  • Natalia G. Shehadeh, Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, Interim General Counsel & Corporate Secretary, Weatherford
  • Julia Sweig, Senior Research Fellow, LBJ School at UT, Austin
  • Alana Tummino, Director, Policy, Americas Society/Council of the Americas
  • Glenn T. Ware, Esq., PwC, Principal Leader , U.S. Corporate Intelligence Practice Group Washington D.C.

The summit website further states:

“While your registration cannot be guaranteed, if you are interested in securing a ticket, please email Chipo Siantumbu, Operations Manager at [email protected] and we will place you on the wait list and contact you should additional registration passes become available.”

 

14 thoughts on “What Cuba Has to Offer US Businesses

  • By “LAW”? Can you name that law John? …because I am unfamiliar with it.

    You are a perfect example of how uneducated our kids are in todays world

  • Now you are compounding the errors .
    If you’re a capitalist BY LAW you must value profits before your fellow humans .
    Capitalism is notable for its unequal accumulation of wealth.
    You are then, as a capitalist supporter are in in favor of putting the desires of the wealthy ahead of the needs of the poor .
    It is not what Jesus would have done according to the Gospels I read.
    But I’m sure you can twist the words and meanings of the Bible and Christ just as do all the “prosperity” ministers from their multi-million dollar mega-churches who tout money-making just as you do .
    Your position in contradiction to the teachings of Christ as regards the poor is a problem for you, not me.
    But living a lie is what you do on a daily basis.

  • Your bible lessons badly miss the mark. In this case the words Jesus spoke when he admonished the false believers” to render unto Caesar…..” more appropriately apply here.

  • Moses,
    There are simply too many errors of fact in your inane post to bother with.
    Ye cannot worship both God and Mammon .
    ( from YOUR holy book)

  • Frank,
    You seem to forget that it is the government of the United States that is intervening into the sovereign Cuban nation.
    It has been doing so for 54 years .
    It is largely why Cuba has the economic and democratic problems it does.
    It helps the immoral cause of imperialism to have jokers like you blame the victim.
    It helps the Cuban people not at all.

  • Working people buy houses and other things. Currenty Cuba has two classes of people – rich and poor. Lots of people working in good jobs will produce a well off middle class.

  • Cuba has one thing to offer: the cash that exiles send to Cuba and that Cubans can spend to buy US products.

  • My two Cuban – Canadian children are being educated in Cuba and are looking forward for the other Cubans be be as well off as they are. You can not drive a car forward by looking in the rear view mirror. It is time for the radical Cuban Americans to toss in the white towel.
    I will make my 88 th research trip to Cuba in May.
    email – [email protected]

  • Question: How many of them, outside of Julia, have been to Cuba on a regular basis? How many of them said “present” during the hard days? Who told them that they were “experts” Book experts? Really?

  • The Cuban “economic system and its governments leaders” are wonderful. How dare anyone “demonize” them.

  • Yes, shocking how they are all lining up to get pole position to pounce but I am a bit confused as to how they are all have ‘real-world experience with the Cuban Economy and government’ when that has been ostensibly out of reach for US citizens and companies. I wonder if they know just easily things can go wrong for foreign businesses in Cuba and, foreigner or no, end up in prison in Cuba.

    How fitting that the summit has been scheduled for April 1st, April Fool’s day.

  • It is correct of you to acknowledge that “capitalists” run the US. Thanks be to God for that. When socialists are in charge of a country you end up with Cuba. You are also correct that money is amoral. As it should be as a medium of exchange. Morality is a function of the Church or its social equivalent in society. Money is a tool of the State. Given the merits of keeping Church and State separate, your observation that “money trumps any stands on moral principles” should come as no surprise given the two are unrelated. So you see John, like a broken watch, even you can be correct at least twice a day.

  • The capitalists who run the government of the USA have demonized Cuba, its people, its other-than-free enterprise state capitalist economic system and its governments leaders for over 50 years BUT…..do take notice that they are all running to make as much money in that “wicked” country as they can once relations between the Empire and “revolutionary” Cuba are somewhat normalized.
    Money trumps any stands on moral principles .
    It’s the way of the USA.

Comments are closed.