A significant number of Cubans residing abroad participated this Wednesday in the “Together
In the forum, the eighth of the year with the diaspora and parallel to the Havana International Fair (Fihav 2025), The businessmen spoke directly with representatives of Foreign Trade, the Chamber of Commerce and several ministries, review Cubadebate.
There, the general director of Consular Affairs, Ana Teresita González Fraga, asked the businessmen to present their “ideas” and “proposals,” while she presented the new flexibilities for investment and opportunities in the territoriesannounced yesterday by the Government.
#Now | Within the framework of the 41st Havana International Fair, the Cuban Entrepreneurs Forum “Together X Cuba” is being held, a space for dialogue and construction for the economic development of the nation. #FIHAV2025 pic.twitter.com/dhpXekJYkR
— Cuban Foreign Ministry (@CubaMINREX) November 25, 2025
“Cubans residing abroad have the same opportunities as any foreign investor to do business in Cuba,” said Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, vice prime minister and head of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment yesterday.
Exhibitors and in “briefcase in hand” mode
Days ago it was announced that many of the Cuban businessmen abroad would come to Fihav as exhibitors and others in a “briefcase in hand” mode to carry out business and investments on the island.
During the largest commercial and business event in the country, which will conclude next Sunday at Expocuba, it includes a specific space for commercial exchange with this communityexplained to the Cuban News Agency the deputy prime minister and head of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga.
The number of Cuban-American businessmen It is not yet specified, although it could be greater than in the last edition of Fihav (a total of 30), suspended in its last days due to the effects of Hurricane Rafael in western Cuba. Now, both Cubans and foreigners will have a range of possibilities in at least five new thematic exhibition areas.
Four of them are dedicated to Cuban exportable products and services; the energy transition on the island; artificial intelligence (AI); and integration mechanisms in which Cuba participates.
The fifth, for its part, focuses on a “comprehensive promotion” of the tourism sector, amid a sustained decline in the arrival of international visitors in the last two years.
“No restrictions to invest in Cuba”
The Cuban investors residing abroad They began to have their own panel at the Fair starting in 2023at a time of intensification of relations between the Island and the North American country. “There is no restriction on the Cuban side, but there has always been a kind of taboo regarding whether Cubans residing abroad can invest in Cuba or not,” said the then Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Rodrigo Malmierca.
Since the 38th edition, the Fair began to be designed “so that they know better what can be done” and “give them all the information so that they can do business with Cuba,” Malmierca then added, after recalling that, due to US sanctions on the Caribbean country, North American firms that wish to do business with companies from the Island must request a permit from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
On that same date, the island hosted the Cuba-United States Business Foruma summit of businessmen from both countries that, according to analysts, had not been held on that scale since 2016, during the “thaw” of relations between both countries.
Flexibility in foreign investment
Cuba aims to attract foreign investment to reactivate an economy deeply depressed after the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as by US sanctions and internal inefficiencies and errors in the application of economic and monetary policies.
Cuban government announces flexibility in foreign investment
Along these lines, among the measures announced yesterday the creation of new special development zones stands outthe simplification of processes for business approval, incentives in the real estate sector and access to the purchase of fuel and its import.
Likewise, new business models are introduced, including the possibility of investors using underutilized Cuban facilities and the creation of new special development zones is also intended.
In addition, “changes are introduced in the hiring of the workforce,” so that now the employer would participate in the selection of its workforce, and on this point “bonuses in foreign currency are authorized.”
Investors will be able to trade wholesale with economic actors without restrictions and also “they will be able to access the purchase of fuel in foreign currency and the possibility of directly importing fuel is included if necessary.”
In this edition, Fihav 2025 has the presence of nearly 50 countries and the European Union, with a program that includes, in addition to the presentation of the Business Opportunities Portfolio, the eighth edition of the Investment Forum and the National Days of the participating countries.
