Cuban Vice President Says the Island Needs Foreign Investment for Development

Editado por Alberto Chirino
2014-03-29 11:32:22

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Havana, March 29 (RHC)-- Cuban Government Vice President Marino Murillo said that the new Foreign Investment Law is necessary for the island's development and not only for economic growth, adding that its appropriate implementation would not mean selling off the country.

Speaking at the First Extraordinary Session of the Cuban Parliament, Murillo, who heads the Permanent Commission for the Implementation and Development of the Economic and Social Guidelines approved by the Communist Party said that in order to achieve larger economic growth, the country needs to increase its Gross Domestic Product by seven percent and investment rates of up to 20 percent and this demands foreign financing.

Murillo said that Cuba currently dedicates most of its created wealth to local consumption and a smaller portion to investment. This reality confirms the need for a new foreign investment law, which is in tune with the economic guidelines, he noted.

The government vice president said that as the bill states, the participation of foreign capital constitutes a complement to the country’s investment efforts and it will continue to be so in global terms, though for some sectors foreign investment will be crucial.

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Comentários

Wayne Hawthorne
13/04/2014 06:37 pm

Yes, Cuba needs foreign investment but first it needs to modernize the banking system. In order to cash a cheque in Cuba, you must go to Havana, pay a $40 fee and then wait 4 to 6 weeks for the money to come back to your account. You must stand in line at a bank for much wasted time, I think maybe a little competition would work wonders. The Royal Bank of Canada is probably the best choice. The teller hand prints many paper transactions to receive cash from your credit card because she does not have an electronic terminal. Why is there much manual labour in the bank when there is an electronic cash machine outside that takes the credit card information and dispenses cash <IF> there is cash in the machine which is not working much of the time. There is an unreasonable amount of difficulty to get credit in Cuba. A competitive bank would introduce some efficiency to the current system.