Cuba’s economy is largely state-controlled, with the government owning most means of production and employing a majority of the workforce. Key sectors of the island nation’s economy that generate foreign exchange include the export of professional services (largely medical personnel to Venezuela & Brazil); tourism, which has grown significantly since the mid-1990s, with 3.5 million … Read more
Establishing an FDI project in Cuba requires case-by-case government authorization at the highest levels of government. Projects must be authorized by either the Council of State or the Council of Ministers, depending on the circumstances of the particular project, as described below. According to observers, the Cuban government is most likely to approve investment proposals … Read more
Reading Richard Feinberg’s book, Open for Business: Building the New Cuban Economy, reminds me of the phrase, “Sometimes it’s better to be approximately right rather than exactly wrong.” This point was driven home for me in the collapse of LTCM (run by two Nobel Prize-winning economists) – and provides an interesting counterpoint to Feinberg’s use … Read more
The wreckage in the US retail landscape is growing. Virtually every segment of the industry is feeling the impact of being squeezed between two intensely heated plates of steel. On the one side is e-commerce – dominated by Amazon – and on the other side a profound shift in consumer behavior. Research has long suggested … Read more
The Cuba Investment Forum – to be held in Ft. Lauderdale on May 12th – promises to be the most timely and informative Cuba investment conference of the year. US-Cuba relations have improved dramatically in the last 18 months, but the US embargo against Cuba remains in place. Most transactions between the US, or persons … Read more
By Simons Chase Argentina defaulted on more than $80 billion of debt in 2001, the largest sovereign default at the time. For three months in 2012, the three-masted Libertad, an Argentine naval ship and the flagship of her fleet, was detained in Ghana following legal action by US-based hedge fund, Elliot Capital Management, as it … Read more
Today, in a series of high-level meetings, the UK’s Foreign Secretary called on his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodríguez and other government leaders to discuss the recent social and economic changes in Cuba, human rights, trade and investment, and the fight against global health threats such as the Zika virus. During the historic visit, the Foreign … Read more
In the event that U.S. restrictions on trade with Cuba are lifted, Cuban demand for construction and agricultural machinery is likely to provide U.S. producers of such machinery with significant export opportunities in the near term. Cuba is currently upgrading its infrastructure in most areas and is working to increase the country’s agricultural productivity. Cuban … Read more
In Cuba, change is underway in ways that could not have been imaged just last year. The embargo still restricts commercial activity in Cuba by US firms and individuals, but doing business in Cuba has gotten a lot easier. Despite existing restrictions, planning is now a critical aspect for any business that may one day … Read more
The American business community is now permitted in certain areas to work directly with the Cuban private sector, empowering Cuban entrepreneurs on the island. Here is a list of the major US companies presently permitted to do business in Cuba: Airline expansion: The United States and Cuba in December 2015 reached an arrangement to re-establish regular, … Read more
