A few days ago New York hosted the Energizing Cuba Conference. While the Big Apple’s weather presented them with a precious day, the debates were being held precisely when Hurricane Matthew was destroying the north of Florida and North and South Carolina, and two of the announced persons who were to give papers were prevented from attending. Finally, the event was concretized and, according to the organizers, was a success when the expectations created with the possibility of showing the U.S. energy sector Cuba’s potentials in that field were met. Carlos Fernández Aballí, chief official of Cuba Strategies Inc., affirmed to OnCuba that the event met all his expectations. “We had a very varied public, which is very good. And it left two important messages: one, the opportunities Cuba offers to do business, two, it showed the wide range of persons interested in doing business with Cuba,” said Fernández Aballí. The Conference had two sessions, a morning one dedicated to showing the investment opportunities in renewable energy in Cuba, and the evening one, focused on the legal implications of dealing with the island. In both, the room was shared by academicians from the two countries, businesspeople and students from the...

Cuba’s favorable natural characteristics offer a different business opportunity for the promotion of the archipelago as a tourist destination: renewable energy generation as a potential investment destination. The Energizing Cuba, Conference on Sustainable Investments in Cuba, organized by the Society of Americas, the Council of Americas and Cuba Strategies Inc., will be held in New York on October 7 with the aim of showing the potentials of the Cuban market. The latter entity’s Official Head of Strategy, Carlos Fernández Aballí, said to OnCuba that it is just the takeoff of an initiative to make known among U.S. companies the investment opportunities in renewable energy in Cuba, and which will include another series of conferences in U.S. universities like Duke, with the closing planned for Havana in 2017. Fernández Aballí highlighted the importance of the energy consortium associated to Duke University, North Carolina, one of the states that have most implemented renewable energy in the United States of America, which is also the second country with the biggest investments in the sector in the last five years after China, according to the U.S. Energy Systems Map. For the October 7 Conference it is expected that Cuban and U.S. panelists will speak...