Cuba Says Opening To Foreign Capital Does Not Imply A Privatization Of Economy

Cuba Says Opening To Foreign Capital Does Not Imply A Privatization Of
Economy / EFE, 14ymedio
Posted on March 5, 2016

EFE/14ymedio, 4 March 2016 — Cuba's opening to foreign capital does not
mean the "accelerated privatization" of its economy, so the island
insists on attracting investment projects that "match" the "public
policy" of the country, according to an article Friday in the official
newspaper Granma.

Deborah Rivas, Director General of Foreign Investment of the Ministry of
Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment (MINCEX), told the state media that
there more than 200 businesses with foreign capital, 35 of which were
approved under the new Foreign Investment law, March 2014.

"The objective is not to sell the country, it is not about doing any
project that interests some foreign investors. It's about attracting
investors whose projects are consistent with our public policy. We are
not undertaking an accelerated process of privatizing the Cuban
economy," said Rivas.

The MINCEX director said that most of the investments come from Europe
and Canada, but added that the country is interested in the
"diversification" of its economic partners to avoid "by all means,
relying on a single market."

With the growing interest of US businesspeople in doing business with
their Cuban counterparts, Rivas said that because the United States
still maintains an embargo on Cuba, "this is not one of the issues that
will be solved most quickly" in the current process of normalization
between the two countries.

Foreign investment is one of the pillars of economic reforms that Cuban
President Raul Castro has ben seeking since the 2011 "update" of the
country's socialist model.

The new Law on Foreign Investment and the Mariel Special Development
Mariel Zone (ZEDM), which provides favorable conditions for the
establishment of foreign corporations, are the two flagship projects on
the island to attract foreign capital, although the results still have
not been felt.

The island is currently promoting a portfolio of business opportunities
that includes 246 projects distributed in 11 economic areas which would
total about 8.7 billion dollars.

Source: Cuba Says Opening To Foreign Capital Does Not Imply A
Privatization Of Economy / EFE, 14ymedio | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/cuba-says-opening-to-foreign-capital-does-not-imply-a-privatization-of-economy-efe-14ymedio/