Cuba is not going to seek foreign investment in Miami, Rodrigo Malmierca , Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment ( MINCEX ) said, Prensa Latina news agency reported.
But the senior Cuban official also said that “the law does not prohibit it , the policy does not promote it ,” when asked about the future presence on the island of Cuban investors living abroad , since Cuba consider foreign investor the natural person or legal established and with capital abroad .
Malmierca made these remarks during a question and answer session with members of the National Assembly a few hours before the discussion and approval of a new legislation that will regulate the entry of foreign capital and entrepreneurs in Cuba.
The explanation was offered to a question by MP and journalist of Cuban Television, Irma Shelton, who requested clarification on the possibility that Cuban-Americans can come and invest.
In response, Malmierca said that everyone has the opportunity, “provided that they are people that do not have adverse positions the revolutionary process and are linked to the Miami terrorist mafia, and on the other hand offer a business of substantial interest to the country as the existing investment portfolio”, according to the Cuban News Agency.
The president of the Cuban National Assembly, Esteban Lazo, joined the discussion and said that both Cuban Americans and other nationals residing abroad may invest only in the areas of interest of the Cuban state.
TAXES AND RENEWABLE ENERGY
Malmierca also justified tax cuts for investors, saying the country needs between two and two and a half billion dollars a year of investment to develop, so it has to be an attractive place for entrepreneurs.
The minister revealed that there will be no investment in sectors such as communications, “as established by the Constitution.” He said that foreign investment will be linked to the change in the national energy matrix through the use of renewable energy sources.
Marino Murillo, head of the commission of updating the economic model, had already stated that Cuba needs foreign capital to develop a new energy sector that relies more on sun and wind and less on Venezuelan oil.
” The Commission is working on the issue of renewable energy, it is clear that the matrix to transform the country’s electricity generation need external financing in all its forms , could it be credit , or foreign investment, or governmental agreements with other countries . It will not be possible to change the electricity generation matrix of the country with the income that the country has ” Murillo said last December, before the same National Assembly that will convene on March 29, 2014 for the first time in extraordinary session to pass a law that will change the Cuban economy as we know it.
Author
Javier Ortiz
