Coast Guard Rescues Cuban Immigrants Stranded On Tiny Caribbean Island
By Scott T. Smith / CBS12 News
BAHAMAS -- The U.S. Coast Guard rescued 12 Cuban immigrants stranded on
a tiny island north of Cuba after their boat sank in the Caribbean Thursday.
After the immigrants were found, a helicopter dropped food, water and a
radio to them.
A Coast Guard MH60 helicopter transported the immigrants to Nassau,
Bahamas, Thursday evening.
The group was dehydrated but uninjured. according to the Coast Guard.
It's not clear what will happen to the group, but The Bahamas typically
returns immigrants to their country of origin.
Source: Coast Guard rescues Cuban immigrants stranded on tiny Caribbean
island - WPEC-TV CBS12 News :: News - Top Stories -
http://cbs12.com/news/top-stories/stories/coast-guard-rescues-cuban-immigrants-stranded-tiny-caribbean-island-14460.shtml
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Cuba Mobile Phone User Base Reached 2 Million at End of 2013
Cuba Mobile Phone User Base Reached 2 Million at End of 2013
Published on: 13th Mar 2014
Cuba's state owned monopoly mobile network operator ETECSA ended last
year with just under 2 million mobile phone users according to the Cuban
News Agency.
That equates to around one in five Cubans having access to a mobile phone.
The Communist country first relaxed mobile phone ownership in 2008, when
the subscriber base stood at 330,000. By the end of 2009, the subscriber
base had doubled to 621,000. It reached 1 million around the end of 2010.
ETECSA said that at the end of 2013 the company also had around 1.2
million landline users.
The Company also tested Wi-Fi connections during the recent Summit of
the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, an experience that
suggested the expansion of that service to the hotel network, ETECSA
Marketing director Tania Velazquez stated.
Other actions by the entity this year, include the setting up of 1,500
new public telephone services in the country and replace 1,200 obsolete
equipment, while modernizing another 2,500.
Cuba is probably one of a small number of countries still expanding
public payphone services. In most countries, the rise of the mobile
phone has rendered them largely obsolete.
Source: Cuba Mobile Phone User Base Reached 2 Million at End of 2013 -
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/Statistics/64923.php
Published on: 13th Mar 2014
Cuba's state owned monopoly mobile network operator ETECSA ended last
year with just under 2 million mobile phone users according to the Cuban
News Agency.
That equates to around one in five Cubans having access to a mobile phone.
The Communist country first relaxed mobile phone ownership in 2008, when
the subscriber base stood at 330,000. By the end of 2009, the subscriber
base had doubled to 621,000. It reached 1 million around the end of 2010.
ETECSA said that at the end of 2013 the company also had around 1.2
million landline users.
The Company also tested Wi-Fi connections during the recent Summit of
the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, an experience that
suggested the expansion of that service to the hotel network, ETECSA
Marketing director Tania Velazquez stated.
Other actions by the entity this year, include the setting up of 1,500
new public telephone services in the country and replace 1,200 obsolete
equipment, while modernizing another 2,500.
Cuba is probably one of a small number of countries still expanding
public payphone services. In most countries, the rise of the mobile
phone has rendered them largely obsolete.
Source: Cuba Mobile Phone User Base Reached 2 Million at End of 2013 -
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/Statistics/64923.php
Cuba Finally Opens To Foreign Investment (Sort Of)
Cuba Finally Opens To Foreign Investment (Sort Of)
By Patricia Rey Mallén
on March 28 2014 9:45 AM
Cuba is about to open itself up to foreign investment for the first time
in half a century as part of a slew of reforms promoted by President
Raúl Castro. The legislation, which will be voted on in parliament on
Saturday, touches on all sectors of the economy except for two:
education and health care.
Local media unveiled details of the bill on Wednesday. According to the
website for the newspaper Juventud Rebelde, or "Rebel Youth," the
proposed law says that foreign investment will be tax-free and enjoy
full judicial protection. That means companies that invest in Cuba will
not be expropriated or nationalized by the Cuban government at a later
date. However, the bill makes an exception "for social interest or
public usefulness," in which cases the owners of the affected company
would be properly compensated.
This is the latest step in the slow transformation of the Cuban
communist economic model that Castro began five years ago to fix the
country's troubled finances and integrate the island with the
international economy.
Foreign investment will be authorized in so-called mixed companies,
formed through associations of Cuban companies and businesses that are
either fully foreign-owned or funded exclusively with foreign capital.
The sectors that will be most affected by the reform are expected to be
natural resources, hotels, agriculture and construction.
These new partnerships will enjoy a special fiscal policy, which exempts
foreign partners from paying income taxes. Mixed companies will also be
exempt from paying taxes for eight years after their inception.
However, it is still unclear how effective the bill will be in enticing
foreign investors. Jason Poblete, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney and
partner in law firm Poblete Tamargo who works with U.S. clients on
claims against Cuba, told CNBC the country still lacks two key factors
to investing: the rule of law, and protection of property rights.
"You need a stable legal system that protects investor rights and has a
path to resolve disputes," he said.
Another provision that may undermine the law's effectiveness is the
provision saying that Cuban exiles may invest, but Cubans living in Cuba
cannot. "This clause creates second-class economic citizenship compared
to the 'evil exiles'," said Ted Henken, professor of Latin American
studies at Baruch College.
Henken said the clause could have been designed with an ulterior motive:
While Cuba may allow exiles to invest, U.S. law prohibits its citizens
from doing any business in Cuba. "The provision could incentivize Cuban
exiles to lobby the U.S. for an end to the embargo," he said.
Source: Cuba Finally Opens To Foreign Investment (Sort Of) -
http://www.ibtimes.com/cuba-finally-opens-foreign-investment-sort-1564119
By Patricia Rey Mallén
on March 28 2014 9:45 AM
Cuba is about to open itself up to foreign investment for the first time
in half a century as part of a slew of reforms promoted by President
Raúl Castro. The legislation, which will be voted on in parliament on
Saturday, touches on all sectors of the economy except for two:
education and health care.
Local media unveiled details of the bill on Wednesday. According to the
website for the newspaper Juventud Rebelde, or "Rebel Youth," the
proposed law says that foreign investment will be tax-free and enjoy
full judicial protection. That means companies that invest in Cuba will
not be expropriated or nationalized by the Cuban government at a later
date. However, the bill makes an exception "for social interest or
public usefulness," in which cases the owners of the affected company
would be properly compensated.
This is the latest step in the slow transformation of the Cuban
communist economic model that Castro began five years ago to fix the
country's troubled finances and integrate the island with the
international economy.
Foreign investment will be authorized in so-called mixed companies,
formed through associations of Cuban companies and businesses that are
either fully foreign-owned or funded exclusively with foreign capital.
The sectors that will be most affected by the reform are expected to be
natural resources, hotels, agriculture and construction.
These new partnerships will enjoy a special fiscal policy, which exempts
foreign partners from paying income taxes. Mixed companies will also be
exempt from paying taxes for eight years after their inception.
However, it is still unclear how effective the bill will be in enticing
foreign investors. Jason Poblete, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney and
partner in law firm Poblete Tamargo who works with U.S. clients on
claims against Cuba, told CNBC the country still lacks two key factors
to investing: the rule of law, and protection of property rights.
"You need a stable legal system that protects investor rights and has a
path to resolve disputes," he said.
Another provision that may undermine the law's effectiveness is the
provision saying that Cuban exiles may invest, but Cubans living in Cuba
cannot. "This clause creates second-class economic citizenship compared
to the 'evil exiles'," said Ted Henken, professor of Latin American
studies at Baruch College.
Henken said the clause could have been designed with an ulterior motive:
While Cuba may allow exiles to invest, U.S. law prohibits its citizens
from doing any business in Cuba. "The provision could incentivize Cuban
exiles to lobby the U.S. for an end to the embargo," he said.
Source: Cuba Finally Opens To Foreign Investment (Sort Of) -
http://www.ibtimes.com/cuba-finally-opens-foreign-investment-sort-1564119
Cuba parliament meets to consider foreign investment law seen as crucial to economic growth
Cuba parliament meets to consider foreign investment law seen as crucial
to economic growth
Published March 29, 2014 Associated Press
HAVANA – Cuban lawmakers meet in Havana on Saturday for an extraordinary
session on a proposed law that seeks to make it more attractive for
foreign investors to do business in and with the country.
Expected to be approved by the more than 600 deputies, the bill would
replace Cuba's 1995 foreign investment law which has lured less overseas
capital than the island's Communist leaders had hoped, contributing to
sluggish economic growth.
Some details of the legislation emerged in official media in recent
days. Among other things, it would cut taxes on profits by about half,
to 15 percent, and make companies exempt from paying taxes for the first
eight years of operation.
An exception for companies that work in the exploitation of natural
resources, such as nickel or fossil fuels, would establish taxation
rates in such cases as high as 50 percent.
Meanwhile, many foreigners doing business with the island would be
exempt from paying personal income tax.
Wholly foreign-owned investment projects would be explicitly allowed,
something that in practice is essentially unheard of here.
Foreign investment will reportedly be allowed in all sectors except
health care and education.
The investment law is a fundamental part of President Raul Castro's
package of reforms, begun in 2008 with the stated goal of "updating"
Cuba's economic model.
Hundreds of thousands of Cubans are now legally working independently of
the state in a nascent private sector, though authorities say they are
not abandoning socialism.
The body usually meets twice a year, in July and December. Castro
announced Saturday's extraordinary session late last year.
Foreign media were not invited to attend the closed-door gathering.
Source: Cuba parliament meets to consider foreign investment law seen as
crucial to economic growth | Fox News -
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/03/29/cuba-parliament-meets-to-consider-foreign-investment-law-seen-as-crucial-to/
to economic growth
Published March 29, 2014 Associated Press
HAVANA – Cuban lawmakers meet in Havana on Saturday for an extraordinary
session on a proposed law that seeks to make it more attractive for
foreign investors to do business in and with the country.
Expected to be approved by the more than 600 deputies, the bill would
replace Cuba's 1995 foreign investment law which has lured less overseas
capital than the island's Communist leaders had hoped, contributing to
sluggish economic growth.
Some details of the legislation emerged in official media in recent
days. Among other things, it would cut taxes on profits by about half,
to 15 percent, and make companies exempt from paying taxes for the first
eight years of operation.
An exception for companies that work in the exploitation of natural
resources, such as nickel or fossil fuels, would establish taxation
rates in such cases as high as 50 percent.
Meanwhile, many foreigners doing business with the island would be
exempt from paying personal income tax.
Wholly foreign-owned investment projects would be explicitly allowed,
something that in practice is essentially unheard of here.
Foreign investment will reportedly be allowed in all sectors except
health care and education.
The investment law is a fundamental part of President Raul Castro's
package of reforms, begun in 2008 with the stated goal of "updating"
Cuba's economic model.
Hundreds of thousands of Cubans are now legally working independently of
the state in a nascent private sector, though authorities say they are
not abandoning socialism.
The body usually meets twice a year, in July and December. Castro
announced Saturday's extraordinary session late last year.
Foreign media were not invited to attend the closed-door gathering.
Source: Cuba parliament meets to consider foreign investment law seen as
crucial to economic growth | Fox News -
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/03/29/cuba-parliament-meets-to-consider-foreign-investment-law-seen-as-crucial-to/
Tread carefully in Cuba's 'open' economy - Experts
Tread carefully in Cuba's 'open' economy: Experts
By Adam Molon
The Cuban government said this week that it will open most of the
nation's economic sectors to international investment and allow the
existence of wholly owned foreign firms in Cuba, as part of a new
foreign investment law that is expected to pass on Saturday.
The Cuban government is also expected to cut the profit tax it charges
foreign enterprises operating on the island to 15 percent from the
current 30 percent.
But experts like John Kavulich, a senior policy advisor at the U.S.-Cuba
Trade and Economic Council, said that while these proposed initiatives
have the potential to bring positive, liberalizing reform to Cuba's
economy, international firms should still approach with cautious skepticism.
"What they've announced they'd do, does it sound progressive? Yes. Does
it have the potential to be progressive? Yes," Kavulich said,
referencing the Cuban government and the newly proposed foreign
investment legislation.
"But Cuba's had a foreign investment law since the 1980s. And one of the
problems has been that when the government feels that they've made
enough progress, they reverse course and try to take back or eliminate
the opportunities that they've presented to companies. Any changes
announced now have to be looked at in that historical context."
Currently, international firms are allowed to operate in Cuba only as
minority stakeholders in so-called mixed companies that are
majority-controlled by the government.
Kavulich pointed to a lack of legal and procedural transparency as a key
issue affecting Cuba's business environment, noting that some of the key
challenges foreign firms face in Cuba include repatriation of profits,
arbitration of conflicts and disputes, and regulations requiring that
Cuban personnel be hired through a state-run employment agency.
"On a plate of appetizers, it's not going to be the first appetizer that
you select," said Kavulich of Cuba's international investment
environment. "There are many countries throughout the world that are far
more transparent and have a less hostage-like relationship with
cooperating partners."
John McAuliff, executive director of the Fund for Reconciliation and
Development, a nonprofit organization advocating warmer relations
between the U.S. and Cuba, said that a new foreign investment law
enacted within an opaque and evolving system like Cuba's could lead to
misunderstandings for international investors, and, in some instances,
even something potentially as bad as jail time.
"In a transitional situation where not all the rules are clear or not
all the laws are clear, people could, through overreach, or greed, or
ignorance, get themselves into trouble with local laws," said McAuliff.
"There have been serious issues with people cutting corners and getting
into trouble with the law, and facing criminal charges in Cuba."
Robert L. Muse, an attorney who specializes in U.S. laws relating to
Cuba, said that in order for new Cuban foreign investment policies to be
effective, specificity of terms and clarity of process are key.
"I would encourage Cuba to go very quickly from the general to the
highly specific. What are the timelines? What are the approval
processes? How are they going to be enforced? Then, move on to
specificity of rule-making and regulations," said Muse. "It's not going
to be good enough to make broad pronouncements that Cuba is now seeking
foreign investment. Some questions are going to have to be pre-emptively
answered."
Muse cautioned that international companies considering investment in
Cuba should do so with their eyes wide open to the opportunities and
risks present in the island's economy and politics.
"This is a country that is opening up after 60 years of dormancy in the
investment sectors," said Muse. "You're almost pioneering your way in,
but there are risks associated with it."
Andrew MacDonald, director and chief executive of Esencia Group, said he
finds those risks worth taking. His company plans to build biomass power
plants in Cuba through a joint venture formed with a state-owned company
in Cuba's Ministry of Sugar.
"There are some unique factors," said MacDonald of international
investment in Cuba. "It can be a tad bureaucratic at times, but the
country is developing economically in the right direction."
"One of the issues in Cuba is that it is a little bit chicken-and-egg.
You've got to do a lot of prework and invest a lot of resources before
you get the joint venture approved, and then you can actually do the
real work," said MacDonald. "From a foreign investment point of view,
it's an attractive proposition to be able to own 100 percent of your
company and not have to form a joint venture."
Whether working in joint venture arrangements or as a wholly owned
entity, MacDonald said his company has no plans to exit Cuba.
"The opportunity side is enormous, because Cuba is a country rich in
natural resources," he said. "We believe in the Cubans, and we respect
them for their technical abilities and the resources they have."
Source: Tread carefully in Cuba's 'open' economy: Experts - Yahoo
Finance -
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/tread-carefully-cubas-open-economy-experts-184610126.html;_ylt=AwrBJSDSiDZTcg8APtPQtDMD
By Adam Molon
The Cuban government said this week that it will open most of the
nation's economic sectors to international investment and allow the
existence of wholly owned foreign firms in Cuba, as part of a new
foreign investment law that is expected to pass on Saturday.
The Cuban government is also expected to cut the profit tax it charges
foreign enterprises operating on the island to 15 percent from the
current 30 percent.
But experts like John Kavulich, a senior policy advisor at the U.S.-Cuba
Trade and Economic Council, said that while these proposed initiatives
have the potential to bring positive, liberalizing reform to Cuba's
economy, international firms should still approach with cautious skepticism.
"What they've announced they'd do, does it sound progressive? Yes. Does
it have the potential to be progressive? Yes," Kavulich said,
referencing the Cuban government and the newly proposed foreign
investment legislation.
"But Cuba's had a foreign investment law since the 1980s. And one of the
problems has been that when the government feels that they've made
enough progress, they reverse course and try to take back or eliminate
the opportunities that they've presented to companies. Any changes
announced now have to be looked at in that historical context."
Currently, international firms are allowed to operate in Cuba only as
minority stakeholders in so-called mixed companies that are
majority-controlled by the government.
Kavulich pointed to a lack of legal and procedural transparency as a key
issue affecting Cuba's business environment, noting that some of the key
challenges foreign firms face in Cuba include repatriation of profits,
arbitration of conflicts and disputes, and regulations requiring that
Cuban personnel be hired through a state-run employment agency.
"On a plate of appetizers, it's not going to be the first appetizer that
you select," said Kavulich of Cuba's international investment
environment. "There are many countries throughout the world that are far
more transparent and have a less hostage-like relationship with
cooperating partners."
John McAuliff, executive director of the Fund for Reconciliation and
Development, a nonprofit organization advocating warmer relations
between the U.S. and Cuba, said that a new foreign investment law
enacted within an opaque and evolving system like Cuba's could lead to
misunderstandings for international investors, and, in some instances,
even something potentially as bad as jail time.
"In a transitional situation where not all the rules are clear or not
all the laws are clear, people could, through overreach, or greed, or
ignorance, get themselves into trouble with local laws," said McAuliff.
"There have been serious issues with people cutting corners and getting
into trouble with the law, and facing criminal charges in Cuba."
Robert L. Muse, an attorney who specializes in U.S. laws relating to
Cuba, said that in order for new Cuban foreign investment policies to be
effective, specificity of terms and clarity of process are key.
"I would encourage Cuba to go very quickly from the general to the
highly specific. What are the timelines? What are the approval
processes? How are they going to be enforced? Then, move on to
specificity of rule-making and regulations," said Muse. "It's not going
to be good enough to make broad pronouncements that Cuba is now seeking
foreign investment. Some questions are going to have to be pre-emptively
answered."
Muse cautioned that international companies considering investment in
Cuba should do so with their eyes wide open to the opportunities and
risks present in the island's economy and politics.
"This is a country that is opening up after 60 years of dormancy in the
investment sectors," said Muse. "You're almost pioneering your way in,
but there are risks associated with it."
Andrew MacDonald, director and chief executive of Esencia Group, said he
finds those risks worth taking. His company plans to build biomass power
plants in Cuba through a joint venture formed with a state-owned company
in Cuba's Ministry of Sugar.
"There are some unique factors," said MacDonald of international
investment in Cuba. "It can be a tad bureaucratic at times, but the
country is developing economically in the right direction."
"One of the issues in Cuba is that it is a little bit chicken-and-egg.
You've got to do a lot of prework and invest a lot of resources before
you get the joint venture approved, and then you can actually do the
real work," said MacDonald. "From a foreign investment point of view,
it's an attractive proposition to be able to own 100 percent of your
company and not have to form a joint venture."
Whether working in joint venture arrangements or as a wholly owned
entity, MacDonald said his company has no plans to exit Cuba.
"The opportunity side is enormous, because Cuba is a country rich in
natural resources," he said. "We believe in the Cubans, and we respect
them for their technical abilities and the resources they have."
Source: Tread carefully in Cuba's 'open' economy: Experts - Yahoo
Finance -
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/tread-carefully-cubas-open-economy-experts-184610126.html;_ylt=AwrBJSDSiDZTcg8APtPQtDMD
It turns out Cuba actually needs the rest of the world
It turns out Cuba actually needs the rest of the world
By Roberto A. Ferdman @robferdman March 28, 2014
The country's National Assembly is set to approve a piece of landmark
legislation over the weekend that will slash the country's tax on
foreign companies' corporate profits in half, to 15%, and allow them to
withhold those tax payments for as long as eight years, local news
outlet Juventud Rebelde first reported on Wednesday (link in Spanish).
The new corporate profits tax will actually be a good deal lower than
that of most every other industrialized country in the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development, including the US, where the
corporate income tax rate is 39%. The law will span every sector, aside
from health care and education, which is prohibited from privatization
by the country's constitution. The foreign investment law, as it has
become known, doesn't change Cuban laws that limit foreign ownership of
property to 49%, requiring that the other 51% remain controlled by the
state. But it is specifically designed to help lure private foreign
businesses to participate in the Cuban economy.
"This is the first time in decades that the Cuban government has opened
its doors," Christopher Sabatini, senior director at the Americas
Society and Council of the Americas, told Quartz. "In many ways, it's a
very direct philosophical challenge to the very foundations of the
revolution." Cuba last pivoted in the direction of capitalism when it
lowered the corporate profits tax for foreign firms to 30% in 1995.
The current shift signals something we've known for quite a while now:
Cuba is broke, and the 30% rate wasn't enough to attract the foreign
cash it desperately needs. The Cuban Revolution, which ended in 1959,
led to Fidel Castro's decades-long reign over the Cuban socialist state,
but a spiraling economy and impoverished population has forced the
country's hand. Since Fidel's brother, Raul, assumed power in 2008, he
has hinted at the need for reform. But that reform has been slow, and
the Cuban populous is growing impatient. Not only is the country
suffering from a severe housing shortage, but the poverty rate now
stands at approximately 26%.
Until now, that is. The new law will not, at least immediately, affect
the US—since its embargo on economic ties with Cuba still persists,
prohibiting American companies from doing business there. But it's a big
deal for virtually every other country—especially those interested in
expanding their foothold in the Cuban economy ahead of its slow but sure
exit from insularity. It's a longer-term bet, but there's an expectation
among foreign companies that even the US embargo is likely to be lifted
sooner or later, according to Sabatini.
Still, some obstacles persist. For one, there remains a hefty 20% labor
tax for foreign firms, which will make it difficult to efficiently hire
workers in the country. And there remains the possibility that Cuba's
government isn't as serious about opening up its economy as the
legislation suggests. The law, after all, will only apply to what are
called mixed companies—that is, firms either Cuban but foreign-owned, or
Cuban but funded entirely with foreign capital. And there's plenty of
skepticism about how much the new legislation will actually change
structurally. The devil will be in the details—that is, the law's actual
implementation.
But change is at least becoming more than just a talking point, and
that's pretty encouraging news for the 11-plus million people living on
the island. "There are people in the bureaucracy who find it
threatening, because it makes it more difficult for them to keep
control," Sarah Stephens, the executive director of the Center for
Democracy in the Americas, said. "But Cubans on the street are happy to
see these restrictions lifted. Instead of planning for their eventual
escape, they're now starting to envision a successful life at home, in
Cuba."
Source: It turns out Cuba actually needs the rest of the world - Quartz
-
http://qz.com/193082/it-turns-out-cuba-actually-needs-the-rest-of-the-world/
By Roberto A. Ferdman @robferdman March 28, 2014
The country's National Assembly is set to approve a piece of landmark
legislation over the weekend that will slash the country's tax on
foreign companies' corporate profits in half, to 15%, and allow them to
withhold those tax payments for as long as eight years, local news
outlet Juventud Rebelde first reported on Wednesday (link in Spanish).
The new corporate profits tax will actually be a good deal lower than
that of most every other industrialized country in the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development, including the US, where the
corporate income tax rate is 39%. The law will span every sector, aside
from health care and education, which is prohibited from privatization
by the country's constitution. The foreign investment law, as it has
become known, doesn't change Cuban laws that limit foreign ownership of
property to 49%, requiring that the other 51% remain controlled by the
state. But it is specifically designed to help lure private foreign
businesses to participate in the Cuban economy.
"This is the first time in decades that the Cuban government has opened
its doors," Christopher Sabatini, senior director at the Americas
Society and Council of the Americas, told Quartz. "In many ways, it's a
very direct philosophical challenge to the very foundations of the
revolution." Cuba last pivoted in the direction of capitalism when it
lowered the corporate profits tax for foreign firms to 30% in 1995.
The current shift signals something we've known for quite a while now:
Cuba is broke, and the 30% rate wasn't enough to attract the foreign
cash it desperately needs. The Cuban Revolution, which ended in 1959,
led to Fidel Castro's decades-long reign over the Cuban socialist state,
but a spiraling economy and impoverished population has forced the
country's hand. Since Fidel's brother, Raul, assumed power in 2008, he
has hinted at the need for reform. But that reform has been slow, and
the Cuban populous is growing impatient. Not only is the country
suffering from a severe housing shortage, but the poverty rate now
stands at approximately 26%.
Until now, that is. The new law will not, at least immediately, affect
the US—since its embargo on economic ties with Cuba still persists,
prohibiting American companies from doing business there. But it's a big
deal for virtually every other country—especially those interested in
expanding their foothold in the Cuban economy ahead of its slow but sure
exit from insularity. It's a longer-term bet, but there's an expectation
among foreign companies that even the US embargo is likely to be lifted
sooner or later, according to Sabatini.
Still, some obstacles persist. For one, there remains a hefty 20% labor
tax for foreign firms, which will make it difficult to efficiently hire
workers in the country. And there remains the possibility that Cuba's
government isn't as serious about opening up its economy as the
legislation suggests. The law, after all, will only apply to what are
called mixed companies—that is, firms either Cuban but foreign-owned, or
Cuban but funded entirely with foreign capital. And there's plenty of
skepticism about how much the new legislation will actually change
structurally. The devil will be in the details—that is, the law's actual
implementation.
But change is at least becoming more than just a talking point, and
that's pretty encouraging news for the 11-plus million people living on
the island. "There are people in the bureaucracy who find it
threatening, because it makes it more difficult for them to keep
control," Sarah Stephens, the executive director of the Center for
Democracy in the Americas, said. "But Cubans on the street are happy to
see these restrictions lifted. Instead of planning for their eventual
escape, they're now starting to envision a successful life at home, in
Cuba."
Source: It turns out Cuba actually needs the rest of the world - Quartz
-
http://qz.com/193082/it-turns-out-cuba-actually-needs-the-rest-of-the-world/
Cuban lawmakers weigh key foreign investment law
Posted on Saturday, 03.29.14
Cuban lawmakers weigh key foreign investment law
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HAVANA -- Cuban lawmakers meet in Havana on Saturday for an
extraordinary session on a proposed law that seeks to make it more
attractive for foreign investors to do business in and with the country.
Expected to be approved by the more than 600 deputies, the bill would
replace Cuba's 1995 foreign investment law which has lured less overseas
capital than the island's Communist leaders had hoped, contributing to
sluggish economic growth.
Some details of the legislation emerged in official media in recent
days. Among other things, it would cut taxes on profits by about half,
to 15 percent, and make companies exempt from paying taxes for the first
eight years of operation.
An exception for companies that work in the exploitation of natural
resources, such as nickel or fossil fuels, would establish taxation
rates in such cases as high as 50 percent.
Meanwhile, many foreigners doing business with the island would be
exempt from paying personal income tax.
Wholly foreign-owned investment projects would be explicitly allowed,
something that in practice is essentially unheard of here.
Foreign investment will reportedly be allowed in all sectors except
health care and education.
The investment law is a fundamental part of President Raul Castro's
package of reforms, begun in 2008 with the stated goal of "updating"
Cuba's economic model.
Hundreds of thousands of Cubans are now legally working independently of
the state in a nascent private sector, though authorities say they are
not abandoning socialism.
The body usually meets twice a year, in July and December. Castro
announced Saturday's extraordinary session late last year.
Foreign media were not invited to attend the closed-door gathering.
Source: HAVANA: Cuban lawmakers weigh key foreign investment law -
Latest News - MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/03/29/4026230/cuban-lawmakers-weigh-key-foreign.html
Cuban lawmakers weigh key foreign investment law
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HAVANA -- Cuban lawmakers meet in Havana on Saturday for an
extraordinary session on a proposed law that seeks to make it more
attractive for foreign investors to do business in and with the country.
Expected to be approved by the more than 600 deputies, the bill would
replace Cuba's 1995 foreign investment law which has lured less overseas
capital than the island's Communist leaders had hoped, contributing to
sluggish economic growth.
Some details of the legislation emerged in official media in recent
days. Among other things, it would cut taxes on profits by about half,
to 15 percent, and make companies exempt from paying taxes for the first
eight years of operation.
An exception for companies that work in the exploitation of natural
resources, such as nickel or fossil fuels, would establish taxation
rates in such cases as high as 50 percent.
Meanwhile, many foreigners doing business with the island would be
exempt from paying personal income tax.
Wholly foreign-owned investment projects would be explicitly allowed,
something that in practice is essentially unheard of here.
Foreign investment will reportedly be allowed in all sectors except
health care and education.
The investment law is a fundamental part of President Raul Castro's
package of reforms, begun in 2008 with the stated goal of "updating"
Cuba's economic model.
Hundreds of thousands of Cubans are now legally working independently of
the state in a nascent private sector, though authorities say they are
not abandoning socialism.
The body usually meets twice a year, in July and December. Castro
announced Saturday's extraordinary session late last year.
Foreign media were not invited to attend the closed-door gathering.
Source: HAVANA: Cuban lawmakers weigh key foreign investment law -
Latest News - MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/03/29/4026230/cuban-lawmakers-weigh-key-foreign.html
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