The Canadian firm Roma Caribbean Hotel & Restaurant Supply SA plans to provide equipment and technical assistance to the golf courses to be built in Cuba in the near future, said its president Pat Pontiero.
Rome Caribbean will open a permanent office in Havana in January 2013 to meet the growing demand for its main products, which include securing equipment for bars, restaurants and hotels.
After 18 years of partnership with the Cubanacan SA hotel group, through an international economic association contract, Rome Caribbean intends to expand its range of businesses in other sectors, such as the public health.
The Canadian company is one of the leading distributors in Cuba of kitchens, ovens, toasters, meat grinders and mixers, with emphasis on the supply of spare parts to extend the useful life of those items, said Pontiero.
It also has a network of workshops in Santa Clara (in the province of Villa Clara), Varadero, (Matanzas) and Havana.
According to the 206 law decree approved by the Council of Ministers of Cuba in 1996, individual companies or foreign entrepreneurs may establish offices in Cuba, to directly address their business relationships with companies and agencies.
In January 2012 the Minister of Tourism, Manuel Marrero, announced that Cuba was negotiating in those moments with foreign companies to build four of the 16 golf courses that it projects to raise as part of its strategy to diversify tourism.
These golf courses will be built with attached housing complexes, including marinas, hotels and other properties. Rome Caribbean would provide its products to an increasing number of potential customers, which justifies the establishment of this office in Havana.
Tourism is Cuba’s second source of hard currency, after the sale of professional services, primarily physicians. In 2011 Cuba broke its record in foreign tourist arrivals in a year with 2.7 million people visiting the island and so far, during 2012 it has been a growth of 5.1 percent from the previous year.
