With as many as $6 billion committed to over 400 international joint ventures and partnerships –lots of them in the tourist industry- Cuba is turning to foreign investment in an effort to rekindle its economy amid an unpredictable international scenario.
The island nation’s government seeks to draw other modalities such as contracts for partnered productions, totaling 270 so far according to a detailed report issued by Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Investment and Cooperation (MINVEC).
Regardless of the economic crisis sweeping the world today, cigar sales in over a hundred countries are still reaping big profits with a market value of $240 million, Jaime Garcia Andrade, co-chairman of Habanos S.A. told the press.
The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) has been holding talks with strategic regional partners on the implications for the tourism sector of a series of trade negotiations which Caribbean member states are currently involved in and which deal with tourism services.
Barcelona’s Savings and Pensions Fund (known as Caixa) will shell out $30 million to bankroll industrial projects in Central America, including some in the field of tourism, the Central American Economic Integration Bank (BCIE) reportedly informed.
According to BCIE, the funds granted by Caixa will be funneled into a number of projects aimed at raising both productivity and competitiveness in Central America.
Cuban authorities assured that foreign investors continued to show interest in the Caribbean island last year, forming joint ventures and cooperation projects with state-run companies despite a hard currency crunch, sluggish economy and the U.S. blockade.
The Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Ministry said state-run companies formed 24 joint ventures and signed more than 70 cooperative production agreements, according to a report on the ministry´s year-end meeting in the Communist Party´s daily, Granma.
The cost reduction plan implemented by Sol Meliá early last year in the face of some very gloomy perspectives following the 9/11 terrorist attacks has led, among other things, to payroll cutbacks.