Havana/The Cuban Government recognized this Monday the “financial difficulties” suffered by the Island, but promised a “more dynamic and more transparent environment”, with “more facilities and guarantees” for foreign investors.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Óscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, made these statements at the opening of the 41st edition of the Havana International Fair, the main business and commercial event in Cuba.
“The financial difficulties we face are a reality, but so is our determination to overcome them,” said the deputy prime minister. “We value the trust you have placed in Cuba and the high contribution to the development of our country,” he added.
Pérez-Oliva assured that the Cuban Government is taking “firm steps to modernize the economy and offer a more dynamic and transparent environment,” with “more facilities and guarantees for those who bet” on the future of the country.
As EFE announced, the Cuban Government has informed many international companies on the Island in recent months that they will not be able to repatriate nor extract deposits as cash that they had in foreign currency in bank accounts in the country. Furthermore, last week the Executive explained to 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 to date.
Many companies on the Island will not be able to repatriate or extract deposits as cash
In parallel, the organizers of the fair highlighted that the event brings together delegations from more than 40 countries, including Venezuela, Mexico, Russia, Vietnam, Spain and Turkey, in addition to the European Union and trade promotion agencies from fifteen nations. They also pointed out that about a quarter of the exhibitors participate for the first time, while 75% repeat their presence, which they interpret as a sign of continuity of international interest. Domestically, there are some 240 Cuban companies, 181 state-owned and 61 private MSMEs.
The vice prime minister announced that at the fair measures will be announced to promote business development such as “facilities to boost investment,” protocols to “speed up” the approval of projects and “new opportunities.”
Pérez-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 at the end of October as a category 3 (out of 5) on the Saffir-Simpson scale, leaving a “painful mark.”
Pérez-Oliva also acknowledged that the country is going through “difficult weeks”
The mere celebration of the fair is a “show of will” when “circumstances seem to challenge” the country’s “impulse,” said the deputy prime minister.
The FIHAV is specifically committed to sectors such as renewable energy, in the midst of an energy crisis with prolonged daily blackouts, and tourism, which despite the drop in international visits continues to be a fundamental component of the economy and the generation of foreign currency.
This would be the first important public event in which Óscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga participates after being named, last October, in the position of deputy prime minister of the Republic. The appointment reinforced the tendency for the country’s highest responsibilities to be concentrated in figures closely linked to political and economic power. Pérez-Oliva is the grandnephew of Fidel and Raúl Castro, son of the biologist Mirsa Fraga Castro and grandson of Ángela Castro, sister of the founders of the Revolution. He is also the nephew of José Antonio Fraga Castro, who presided over the powerful company Labiofam until 2014.
