South African companies have been urged to explore investment opportunities in Cuba following the visit of a Cuban delegation to the country.
“Today, South Africa and Cuba continue to enjoy strong and cordial bilateral political relations,” ambassador of Cuba to South Africa, De Cossio Dominguez, said at a South Africa-Cuba economic seminar in Pretoria this week.
“However, our strong political relations are not underpinned by robust trade and investment relations. The two-way trade between South Africa and Cuba increased from R55.6 million in 1994, when the two countries formalised diplomatic relations, to R73.5 million in 2010, but declined to R49 million in 2014,” he said.
According to Dominguez, Cuba is engaged in a process of updating its economic model. “Just as South Africa is currently developing Special Economic Zones to encourage spatial industrial development in the country, Cuba is creating a special economic zone in the port of Mariel, which provides unlimited opportunities for South African companies to invest,” he added.
“A portfolio of opportunities exists in 246 projects worth US$8.7 billion in 11 strategic sectors of the Cuban economy, including agribusiness, biotech and pharmaceutical, tourism, renewable energy, construction, oil exploration, mining and industrial production."
