EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 12 May 2023 — Spain announced this Friday that it will support private Cuban micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) interested in doing business on the Island and will facilitate the pathways for potential investors.
The three pilot sectors will be food, technology and cultural industries, said the economic and commercial advisor of Spain in Cuba, Manuel Casuso, during a meeting with 50 private entrepreneurs in Havana.
The initiative, which starts this May, includes information services through the Economic and Commercial Office of Spain and the establishment of a fast track for the issuance of business visas, Casuso said.
The goal is that “they can buy and sell in Spain and invest with Spanish companies,” Casuso told EFE at the end of the meeting.
“Our expectation is that these measures will improve and strengthen the new business sector that begins on this path,” he added, emphasizing the “potential” of Cuban entrepreneurs, especially in sectors such as technology.
He also recalled the traditional presence of Spanish companies in Cuba, which support the Iberian country as Europe’s first commercial partner on the Island, and the third in the world, behind only China and Venezuela.
Meanwhile, Spain’s ambassador to Cuba, Ángel Martín, stressed at this meeting the importance of the MSMEs in the economy and showed his “support” for the initiative.
The Cuban government authorized the creation of MSMEs in 2021 after banning them in 1968, under the ’Revolutionary Offensive.’ These businesses currently exceed 7,000, according to official figures, and work in activities related to food, accommodation, beauty services and local development projects, among others.
These companies do not have access to areas considered strategic by the Cuban State such as health, telecommunications, energy, defense and the media.
The MSMEs can be state, private or mixed, and are recognized as an economic unit with legal personality with their own characteristics.
This type of economic actor coexists with the socialist state company — the main one for the State in the Cuban system — non-agricultural cooperatives, and self-employment.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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