IMTC has announced today that after several meetings with Cuban authorities the IMTC CUBA 2016 Conference has been given a green light.
IMTC hosts the world’s largest Money Transfer Conferences and Trade Fairs. With remittances continuing to rise, the industry is seeing significant changes to the traditional business models with new developments from the Fintech sector and a strong development of digital channels.
The main objective of this one-of-a-kind event is to explore the remittance and financial service sector in Cuba, looking at the past to understand the present and analyze what the future will bring, starting from the very small number of financial services firms that exist today to the opportunities that lay ahead.
Remittances are a very important source of capital for the island but estimates of remittances sent to Cuban families vary widely. Remittance expert Manuel Orozco, from the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington estimates that about 550,000 people send an average $1,250 a year to the island, or about $770 million annually. The UN Economic Commission for Latin America estimated that $1.8 billion made it to the island in 2015. But when noncash contributions of merchandise, airtime minutes and other sources are added up, the total value could be 2 or 3 times higher.
Hugo Cuevas-Mohr, Director at IMTC, states: “We want to witness the transformation first hand, from the role of the banking sector, the emerging non-bank financial sector, the present and the future importance of remittances, the foreign exchange market to the card and mobile financial services developments in the island. We need to understand and be respectful of the internal processes and changes taking place to be part of the future.”
IMTC will be conducting meetings with Cuban Institutions in Havana in the last week of April to further develop the agenda of local and international speakers to make sure we include everyone that has a stake in the provision of remittance services (and related financial services) inside and outside Cuba. IMTC welcomes the contribution of institutions and individuals.
IMTC has partnered with Cuba Educational Travel in organizing the event, from the speakers & panelists that will converge in Havana to the Trade Fair where international companies will be able to promote their brand and services.