Havana_ Habanos S.A. Corp., a joint-ventured marketer run by Spanish and Cuban combined capital, closed its operations last year with as many as $260 million in revenues, a 30% increase as compared to the year 2000. Corporation execs indicated that, ruling out the United States, Cuban hand-rolled cigars picked up over 70% of the world market’s quota.

San Jose._ The Costa Rican economy won’t get a dramatic new lease on life this year as the Gross National Product (GNP) will barely grow a meager 1.3%, reportedly forecast the Economic and Financial Advisors enterprise (CEFSA). The available GNP will grow just 1.9% while the country’s population increases at a 2.3% annual rate. This means Costa Ricans earn less revenues, CEFSA indicated.

Kingston._ Despite the woes in the travel business, Air Jamaica is doing just fine and business is better than originally anticipated, its marketing executive Allen Chastanet said. Chastanet believes the carrier will exceed budget for both January and February this year, while advance bookings for March, April, May and June look extremely promising. "The critical question is when do we stop the level of discounting that we are having to do in order to resuscitate this business."

Santo Domingo._ Several costly projects are going up in Santiago de los Caballeros, the Dominican Republic´s second largest city. In addition to the new airport, a mega hospital and a large deluxe hotel are in advanced stages of construction. Together the projects amount to over US$58.17 millions. The Hospital Metropolitano de Santiago is luring Dominican health practitioners in the United States to come home to practice. The center promises to offer the most sophisticated medical services.

Tallahassee._ The Florida Department of Tourism is faced with finding a way to make the budget numbers balance while trying to ensure that the tourist-based economy rebounds, the Sun Sentinel daily reported. Revenue from the tax is down dramatically in light of fewer tourists in the area since Sept. 11, county figures show.

Nassau._ E-commerce is proving to be the way to do business, in today´s fast-paced world. And the Bahamas is no exception when it comes to logging on to that trend, as The Nassau Guardian reports. "E-commerce is great way to increase productivity here in the Bahamas," says Mr. Daniel Thompson, business lecturer at the College of the Bahamas School of Business.