Members of the Vietnamese delegation participating in the exchange on business opportunities between Cuba and Vietnam. Photo: Enrique González.

By Roberto Morejón

As in other countries, the COVID-19 pandemic occupied Cuba's attention and momentarily reduced its projection for the Mariel Special Development Zone, but Vietnam's interest confirms the enclave's prominence.

During the recent visit of Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, executives of the economic platform located west of Havana explained to him its ample business opportunities.

Vietnam, precisely, is the second country with more investments in Mariel and according to the wishes of the Cuban side, it is expected to occupy the top step.

Thai Bing Global was the first Vietnamese company to establish itself in the Special Zone and it has done so well that it has decided to reinvest 14 million dollars in order to supply the Cuban market with sanitary and hygiene articles.

The Vietnamese entity Viglacera is promoting the ViMariel industrial park in the area, for an amount of 37 million dollars, with a view to attracting plans from the Indochinese country and the rest of Asia, while Suchel TBV dedicated 17 million dollars to the manufacture of detergent.

The Vietnamese head of state praised other ventures between his country and Cuba still under study for the Special Development Zone.

Certainly, that territory hosts a wide range of potentialities, some of which have already been used, as 59 businesses have been approved, 34 of them in operation, sponsored by 21 countries, including six from Vietnam.   

The productive and logistic settlement has among its attractions the construction there of an important biotechnological complex, the largest of its kind in the region, aimed at the production of medicines.

IncuBIO, a joint venture with the Mexican company, was recently set up to develop and commercialize innovative biotechnological products.

Although much remains to be built in terms of infrastructure, the region located in the western province of Artemisa already has a mega-port capable of receiving large container ships coming from the Panama Canal.

Mariel is an essential source of income and foreign currency attraction for Cuba and insists on developing and attracting foreign capital, under preferential financial and tax circumstances, as Vietnamese business people have already noted.