Cuba OKs rules on commercial zone at Mariel Port

Posted on Tuesday, 09.24.13



Cuba OKs rules on commercial zone at Mariel Port

BY ANDREA RODRIGUEZ

ASSOCIATED PRESS



HAVANA -- Cuba has approved tax exemption rules for a special commercial

zone at a massive port under construction west of Havana, in hopes of

luring more foreign investment as the country tries to lift its economy

with a series of reforms.



Signed by President Raul Castro and published this week in the

government's Official Gazette, the law says commercial operators in the

industrial park at the Port of Mariel will be exempt from labor and

customs duties, won't have to pay taxes on sales or services for the

first year and will enjoy a 10-year tax holiday on profits. After that,

profits will be taxed at 12 percent.



The 180-square-mile (465-square-kilometer) special zone aims to create

jobs and "promote increased infrastructure and activities that permit

the growth in exports, and the substitution of imports," the decree said.



Cuban authorities have recently recognized the need to attract more

foreign investment, which has waned in recent years although the

government has not made figures public.



Local employees must still be hired through state-run agencies, a

practice that is often criticized by foreigners doing business on the

island.



The rules take effect Nov. 1.



Cuba experimented with small special economic zones in the 1990s, but

they fizzled out without having a significant impact on the economy.



Mariel, about 28 miles (45 kilometers) west of the capital, is due to

come online around the end of the year and replace Havana as Cuba's hub

of shipping activity.



Havana decided to build the port after determining in 2009 that the Bay

of Havana could not be expanded to accommodate larger ships that will

begin passing through the Panama Canal in 2015.



Two-thirds of Mariel's $900 million cost has been financed with

investment from Brazil, whose president, Dilma Rousseff, is expected to

visit in January for the inauguration of the first stage of operations:

770 yards (700 meters) of docks and a container terminal.



"It's not just a port, it's a logistical system for the exportation of

goods produced here in Cuba," Rousseff said while touring the

construction site in early 2012.



Andrea Rodriguez on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ARodriguezAP



Source: "HAVANA: Cuba OKs rules on commercial zone at Mariel Port -

Business Breaking News - MiamiHerald.com" -

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/24/3647890/cuba-oks-rules-on-commercial-zone.html#storylink=misearch