Seminar on business collaboration with the Republic of Cuba

There are many possibilities for improvement and development in the field of doing business with Cuban firms. That was the main stress of the seminar held in Vienna on the 29^th of May. The seminar was organized by Croatian Chamber of Economy together with the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba.

The aim was to inform the Croatian business community about the possibilities of investments and conditions of doing business with Cuban firms.

The manager of the International Relations Department Suncanica Skupnjak-Kapic pointed out that the seminar was the chance to recognize the possibilities for business relations. Cuba is the land of great natural beauty, developed tourism and many products like sugar, nickel, tobacco, fish etc. Skupnjak-Kapic also talked about mutual cooperation in oil industry, energetics, tourism, shipbuilding industry, biotechnology and pharmaceutics, transport, science and culture.

Talking about the possibilities of investments in the Republic of Cuba, the councilor for economy Salvador Cabeiro Quintana mentioned all possible forms of investing like common investments, partnership agreements and management contracts. The advantages of Cuba are qualified work force, infrastructure, political and social stability and location plus Latin American background.

There is no cooperation in the field of tourism although tourism has been the important field of economy for the Republic of Cuba. The country had 2.7 million of tourists last year. The majority of tourists come from the EU, Canada and the USA.

The Croatian partners were interested in the conditions of doing business and the conditions of investing. They also wanted to learn about administration barriers, cooperation in the field of tourism and the conditions of distributing Cuban products in the region through Croatian ports.