CUBA BUSINESS SECTION - Havana Journal
By Circles Robinson
Cuba’s economy is not easy to understand, especially for those that have never lived under a similar system where government plays a lead role. To begin with, it doesn’t go by the usual market codes of supply and demand and corporate profit isn’t its driving force.
Coming from North America or Europe to a typical Cuban urban neighborhood, the visitor’s first impression might be one of poverty: crumbling or poorly maintained buildings, pot-holed streets, ancient cars, homes where there are few “extras” etc.
On the other hand, if you arrive from…
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Press Release
H.E. Mrs. Marta Lomas Morales, Minister of Foreign Investment & Economic Cooperation of the Republic of Cuba and Ahmed Al-Mazroei, Deputy Chief Executive of Qatari Diar.
Qatari Diar have signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Republic of Cuba for a $70million investment to develop an exclusive 5 star resort in Cuba.
The Memorandum of Agreement was signed by Ahmed Al-Mazroei, Deputy Chief Executive of Qatari Diar and Marta Lomas, Minister for International Investment, Republic of Cuba at Qatari Diar’s Lusail headquarters.
The…
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By Konrad Yakabuski | Globe and Mail
If Communist Cuba is open for business - as its seems like never before to be under new president Raul Castro - then Canadian companies should be the first through the door, right?
After all, Pierre Trudeau became the first leader of a NATO country to visit the communist island in 1976. Jean Chrétien paid a follow-up visit to Fidel Castro a decade ago, just after passing legislation to protect Toronto-based Cuba booster Sherritt International Corp. from any nasty spillover in this country from the anti-Cuba U.S. Helms-Burton…
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DTCuba.com
The renovation of elevators in the residential sector in Havana is part of authorities’ programs to solve structural housing problems.
Executives from the Empresa de Montaje y Mantenimiento de Elevadores pointed out that 83 elevators were imported at a total cost of 4.4 million dollars.
They added that 32 elevators are being installed and eight are ready for operation.
According to the experts, that action improves the situation in the residential sector, where nearly 400 elevators need to be replaced due to deterioration.
Russian specialists are providing technical assistance…
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AFP
Cubans snapped up some 7,400 new contracts for mobile phone service in 10 days after President Raul Castro eased restrictions on mobile phone ownership, a telecoms executive said.
State telecoms company Etecsa is predicting 1.4 million new mobile service contracts in the next five years, Maximo Lafuente, its vice president for mobile services, said Wednesday.
Cubans flooded Etecsa offices to sign up for service starting April 14, when government restrictions on personal mobile phones were officially lifted.
Before then, mobile phone service was reserved for people working for foreign firms and…
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Radionetherlands.nl | by Saskia van Reenen
On Wednesday, the Lower House is debating with Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen on whether the Netherlands should resume a political dialogue with Cuba. Raul Castro, who recently took over power from his brother Fidel, has introduced a number of economic reforms. This has given rise to cautious optimism. The European Union is considering lifting diplomatic sanctions, which were introduced in 2003 after the arrest of 75 dissidents.
In a letter to the House, Minister Verhagen writes “The human rights situation in Cuba is still poor and there is still…
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On Tuesday April 8th, the Cuba Business Roundtable at the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, University of Miami will begin a quarterly series of live public telephone conference calls hosted by some of the top ICCAS Cuba experts and special guests.
This special series will begin exploring the challenges and opportunities that businesses will encounter in a post-Castro, post-embargo Cuba. The series is designed to help business executives, attorneys, and other professionals to keep up-to-date on Cuban events relevant to business opportunities in a post-Castro, post-Embargo Cuba.
The live conference call will begin promptly at…
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AFP
Cubans who learned last week that they will be allowed to own cell phones got a bonus Wednesday, with news that the mobile connections will allow them to reach overseas friends and relatives in the U.S. and beyond.
Havana announced last week that it was lifting a prohibition on ordinary Cubans owning mobile phones - one of several recent signs that daily life will be somewhat more relaxed under the regime of its new president, Raul Castro, who in February succeeded his brother, revolutionary icon Fidel Castro.
A list of phone rates released…
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Reuters
CEIBA Investments, a closed-end fund that invests only in Cuba, plans to list on the London Stock Exchange in June, a sign of growing interest in the socialist state since Fidel Castro was sidelined by illness.
The fund, registered in the Channel Islands, announced this week it raised its capital by 18 million euros ($28 million) to 88 million euros ($137.3 million) in a share placing that was 70 percent oversubscribed.
CEIBA is the only fund dedicated exclusively to investing in Cuba, focusing on real estate development and tourism. It is the foreign…
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DPA
Cuba’s government has begun doling out unused agricultural land to farmers with the aim of increasing production of staple foods, tobacco and coffee, state television reported. The land is being made available to farmers only through cooperatives, Orlando Lugo Fonte, chairman of Cuba’s national farmers organization, said in the TV report Monday night.
Despite a shortage of foreign currency, the Communist Caribbean island must import a large portion of its food. The government has raised prices of agricultural produces with the aim of boosting production.
About half the cultivable land in Cuba lies…
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