HAVANA, Nov 25 (Reuters) – Cuba is considering a raft of measures to attract foreign investment by creating a “simpler, more agile and more transparent” business climate, a minister said on Tuesday, as the island nation faces a severe economic crisis.<\/p>\n
Minister of Foreign Investment Oscar P\u00e9rez-Oliva Fraga said at a forum outside Havana that the communist-run government would allow investors to operate and pay employees in dollars, directly hire them, and buy real estate.<\/p>\n
Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n Foreign businesses would be allowed to import their own fuel when necessary, and red tape and wait times would be slashed on government authorizations, the minister said.<\/p>\n The measures, if written into law and implemented, would mark a continued drift away from the tightly controlled investment regime styled after the Soviet Union’s command economy. Cuba says it has 376 foreign businesses operating on the island from 40 countries.<\/p>\n Heavy and bureaucratic regulation, including requirements to operate in the local peso currency, restrictions on repatriation of earnings and government assignment of workers, has long turned off investors.<\/p>\n Hours of daily blackouts, an epidemic of mosquito-borne viruses and a plunging peso – together with a record-breaking migration of working-age residents off the island – have further dampened the investment climate.<\/p>\n P\u00e9rez-Oliva Fraga said Cuba this year had nonetheless approved 32 new businesses worth $2.1 billion, though it was unclear how much of that capital had been invested.<\/p>\n “Before starting any business relationship, we must be objective in ensuring that the proposal aligns with the country’s development goals,” he said.<\/p>\n Cuba announced similar measures in 2014 to woo foreign businesses as relations with the United States warmed under then-President Barack Obama, prompting an era of increased investment.<\/p>\n The current outlook is less optimistic.<\/p>\n The second Trump administration has intensified sanctions, returning Cuba to a U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, tightening rules on remittances and shutting off Biden-era migration programs.<\/p>\n Under former leader Fidel Castro, foreign investment was viewed as an unfortunate necessity. Today, it is seen as an integral part of the country’s development plans.<\/p>\n Reporting by Nelson Acosta; Writing by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Richard Chang<\/p>\n Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n