Spain confirmed this Friday its intention to support the growth of MSMEs and private entrepreneurs in Cuba, and strengthen their links with Spanish companies.
With this purpose, the Embassy of the European nation on the island held the meeting “How to do business with Spain” in Havana, which brought together Spanish authorities, representatives and businessmen and a large group of Cuban entrepreneurs.
Organized by the Embassy’s Commercial and Economic Office, the purpose of the meeting was to provide information and tools to private entrepreneurs on the island to facilitate potential businesses and exports, as well as the search for potential investors and associations with Spanish companies.
From the possibility of registering to receive information and make inquiries through the Embassy, to participation in sectoral meetings and access to visa mechanisms to travel to the Iberian country for business reasons or to participate in fairs and other events, were among the topics covered.
The door was also opened to a greater exchange with the more than 200 Spanish companies with a presence on the island, and the Association of Spanish Entrepreneurs in Cuba, as the entity that represents them.
Successfully concluded the meeting on “How to do business with Spain”, bringing MSMEs and entrepreneurs closer to the work of the Commercial and Economic Office of the Embassy of Spain.
Thanks to @Studio50 for your great collaboration.
See you next time! pic.twitter.com/bfHQbTEV3x
— ICEX Cuba (@ICEXCuba) May 12, 2023
“Our expectation is that all these measures that we put in place improve and make the new Cuban business sector stronger,” he explained to OnCuba at the end of the meeting Manuel Casuso, economic and commercial adviser of Spain on the island.
“It is a path that we start now. We have been observing for a year, seeing how the sector develops, to see when we could take the step and start helping. And we have considered that after a year and a half there are already companies that are gaining strength, that are having the possibility of doing international business, and this is the moment in which we have decided to open these services”, he added.
Casuso highlighted the “potential” that from his point of view the private business sector in Cuba has to boost the island’s economy and reaffirmed his country’s will to serve as a gateway to Europe for Cuban MSMEs and entrepreneurs.
For his part, Ángel Martín, Ambassador of Spain in Cuba, was satisfied with the results of the meeting, held in the Estudio 50 artistic space, and the perspectives that are opening up from it.
“The event has gone very well, and we are very happy about it. We see that there is a very great possibility of continuing to strengthen relations between Spain and Cuba through SMEs,” he told OnCuba.
In Martín’s opinion, the island’s MSMEs make up “a very dynamic sector, which is growing as a result of the measures that the Cuban government has been taking to promote this sector, and I believe that this opens up a great opportunity for both companies Cubans like the Spanish ones.
“Our intention is to continue supporting everything we can,” said the diplomat, who highlighted Spain’s position as Cuba’s third largest trading partner —only behind China and Venezuela— and the sustained presence of Spanish business in the Caribbean country.
In a future work, OnCuba will offer a more detailed approach to this meeting.
In 2021, the Cuban government gave the green light to the creation of MSMEs on the island. Currently there are more than 7,700, most of them private and carry out various activities such as the production and marketing of food, construction, transportation and beauty services.
However, they cannot carry out activities related to health, defense, and the press, among others considered “strategic” by the government, which maintains the state company as the main economic actor in the country.
