As part of the restructuring of financial processes in the country, the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cuba, issued on the morning of January 23 by the Ministry of Justice establishes a legal “springboard” in terms of permits and licenses required for the development of the investment work on the island.
The Council of Ministers has undertaken primarily to define the types of investments: construction and installation (building, civil engineering, commemorative buildings and works of art of great magnitude) and not constructive (research and development, software, intellectual property rights and financial). Also, there are explicit forms of contracts, documentation of investors, technical project documentation as well as the roles and functions of the subjects participating in the investment.
Based in Articles 77.2 and 77.3 of Decree No. 327/2014 of the Council of Ministers, Ministries have announced separately in their respective resolutions, the specific licenses investors will require. Application procedures for permits to investments are equally applicable to “state and non-state legal persons, corporations with 100% Cuban capital, joint ventures, parties to international economic association contracts and totally foreign capital companies “.
The differences lie primarily on projects in some way linked to foreign capital, which are subject to the proposal and approval of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, exclusively. However, they will need as well as the rest of the planned works, environmental, health, technology licenses, etc., depending on the area of investment.
Among the requirements are in addition studies of technical and economic feasibility, market research and forecasting earnings and sales for the Domestic Trade, which should also be evaluated by the corresponding instances, a little to account for the relevance and return on investment. Thus, future works will be designed in line with the results of scientific research; for which the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA) established by resolution the relevance of Integral Technology Assessment, an instrument that will measure and select the appropriate technology investments.
All projects involving urban or rural intervention, the most associated case is construction- will undergo assessments and permits by the Institute of Physical Planning, other entity that is responsible for appraising (unlike the rest which is the investor who must do it).
As for telecommunications, one of the authorized for American companies to invest in Cuba, according to the latest provisions of the Treasury of the United States are explained primarily for investment areas among which are: media and communications technologies, direct or exploitation of IT applications, radio spectrum, etc.
The Treasury Department authorized transaction for the establishment of mechanisms that provide commercial telecommunications services on the Island. With it, it made clear what it means by that: Telephony, telegraphy, internet connectivity, radio, and television and satellite transmissions.
Moreover, Article 89 states the penalty, damages and compensation for all those responsible for violations regarding increases in the initial budget and extensions of time provided, provided they are “caused by deficiencies or variations introduced by any of subjects in the investment process, “which urges making flexible the planned economy model if SOEs are part of the investment process.
Thus, the new Gazette is an updated guide for anyone interested in investing in Cuba, with the provision of forms, and the corresponding steps for each stage of the investment process.
