Cuba seeks to woo Brazilian investment in road-show presentation

Cuba seeks to woo Brazilian investment in road-show presentation
Published May 07, 2015 EFE

Cuba's foreign trade and foreign investment minister presented Brazilian
business leaders a portfolio of 246 projects that the Communist-ruled
island is counting on to attract $8.7 billion in foreign investment.

"Cuba is in the process of updating its economic model, and foreign
investment promotion is one of the most notable steps" being taken to
that end, Rodrigo Malmierca said Thursday during a gathering at the
headquarters of the Federation of Industries of the State of Sao Paulo,
or Fiesp, Brazil's leading industry group.

The projects are spread across 11 sectors and some of them will be
developed in the Port of Mariel special development zone, a largely
Brazilian-financed project that is part of an ambitious plan to attract
foreign investment, Malmierca said.

During his presentation, which he delivered in fluent Portuguese, the
minister touted special tax benefits for foreign investors stemming from
a 2013 law.

He said that in the case of the Mariel special development zone
investors will be exempt from paying a profit tax for 10 years and after
that time will be required to pay a levy of only 12 percent.

"That's an incentive," Malmierca said.

Cuba also is carrying out a currency-unification plan that will make the
island more attractive to foreign investors, the minister said, although
he cautioned that it is "a complicated process."

If the island ends its dual-currency system, the convertible peso, or
CUC, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar and used in the tourism and
foreign-trade sectors, would be eliminated.

That would leave the peso, or CUP, which is worth far less (24 to one
CUC) and is the currency in which ordinary Cubans receive their wages,
as the only one in circulation, although the government has not said
when the change will be implemented.

The currency overhaul is aimed at "minimizing the negative short-term
effects (for foreign investors)," Malmierca said. EFE

Source: Cuba seeks to woo Brazilian investment in road-show presentation
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