Cuban delegation in Europe to tout benefits of new investment law

Cuban delegation in Europe to tout benefits of new investment law

Published June 26, 2014 EFE



Cuba's deputy foreign trade minister explained here Thursday the

opportunities available to foreign companies under the Communist-ruled

island's new investment law.



Ileana Nuñez Mordoche, who is heading a high-level Cuban delegation,

arrived in Madrid as part of a tour of European capitals.



In Madrid, she spoke to dozens of business leaders at the headquarters

of the High Council of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Navigation of

Spain.



Spain is one of Cuba's main trading partners and a key source country

for foreign direct investment, or FDI, Nuñez noted, pointing out that

her country is looking to attract foreign capital as part of efforts to

"update" its socialist economic model.



The goal of the new legislation, approved by Cuba's National Assembly in

March, is to reduce Cuban imports, promote exports and bolster industry

through infrastructure build-outs and technology inflows, the deputy

minister said.



"We must change the energy matrix, with more space for renewables and

biomass," Nuñez said.



Cuba's director general for foreign investment, Deborah Rivas, added

that there is a "favorable climate" for FDI in Cuba and recalled that

the island is a signatory to different trade-promotion and

investment-protection treaties under the World Trade Organization and

other entities.



The new law allows foreign companies to form joint ventures with Cuban

entities or create enterprises that are 100 percent foreign-owned.



It sharply reduces the profits tax for foreign investors from 35 percent

to 15 percent and exempts them from paying it for the first eight years

of business activity.



The president of the High Council of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and

Navigation of Spain, Manuel Teruel, recalled that Spanish small- and

medium-sized enterprises have a traditional presence in Cuba and said

now is the time to facilitate the entry of large multinational firms. EFE



Source: Cuban delegation in Europe to tout benefits of new investment

law | Fox News Latino -

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2014/06/26/cuban-delegation-in-europe-to-tout-benefits-new-investment-law/