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/