It is a reality and a challenge that the director of Foreign Investment (EI) of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Trade (Mincex), Carlos Luis Jorge Méndez, knows very well. He spoke exclusively with Prensa Latina after presenting in Montevideo the portfolio of business opportunities offered by his country.
The US blockade affects our financial transactions, access to financial sources and external suppliers, in addition to exacerbating difficulties in using commercial logistics channels, the official upheld.
He said that the US policy against Cuba includes measures “directly aimed at discouraging foreign companies from doing business with the island”, which have been used to punish and even threaten companies and businessmen with investment interests.
The Cuban representative denounced that his country is facing an intensified economic war, with the application of more than 240 measures applied in the final days of President Donald Trump’s administration and kept intact by the current president.
He mentioned the activation of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, with the clear intention of intimidating potential investors under the intimidation of facing lawsuits in US courts.
Added to this is the inclusion of Cuba in the spurious list of countries sponsoring terrorism.
Even under such conditions, Cuba prioritizes attracting FDI an indispensable factor in its national economic and social development plan until 2030.
According to the director from Mincex, the portfolio of FDI opportunities promotes hundreds of projects, although it gives priority to sectors and activities most need like food production; tourism, including health; power generation, with emphasis on the development of renewable energy sources.
Also the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons, mining, construction and improvement of industrial infrastructures, and the so-called knowledge-intensive industries, such as those linked to pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, where Cuba treasures talent, knowledge and internationally recognized results.
In addition, he noted, it has opened up to foreign investment in wholesale and retail trade.
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