One of the challenges of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment ( MINCEX by its Spanish acronym) is to continue unblocking all obstacles to the opening or development of businesses with foreign capital, especially now that new economic actors such as MSMEs can participate in these activities.
Precisely for this and other purposes, the Foreign Investment One-Stop Shop (Vuinex) is responsible for providing advice on the matter and accompanying domestic and foreign investors from the moment the business interest is identified and throughout its validity.
After the actions carried out to give greater promotion and visibility to Vuinex, it has become a positive mechanism to respond to investors in relation to the cumbersome procedures and formalities.
This project has as a precedent the One-Stop Shop of the Office of the Mariel Special Development Zone, which in January 2020 became operational in a provisional headquarters and currently operates at the same MINCEX.
The Ministries of Construction ( MICONS), Justice (MINJUS) and Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA by its Spanish acronym) are permanently represented there, as well as the National Institute of Territorial and Urban Planning (INOTU by its Sanish acronym), the National Office of Tax Administration (ONAT by its Spanish acronym) and the Central Bank of Cuba (BCC by its Spanish acronym).
Vuinex has signed cooperation agreements with more than 15 national agencies and entities, where most of the procedures are located, managing permits, licenses and authorizations in a single place.
In turn, it interrelates with the provincial governments, in line with the decision to encourage foreign investment to contribute to the development strategies of the territories.
For example, for projects in the establishment stage, various agencies have carried out different procedures at Vuinex, and for businesses in the investment process, environmental and technological licenses have been granted there to CITMA, and the National Institute of Territorial and Urban Planning has issued its certificates of Micro-localization and Act of Acceptance of Basic Engineering.
According to Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz, head of MINCEX, the Vuinex reflects the Cuban government’s determination to eliminate the obstacles that hinder the nation’s economic development.
“That is the spirit of Decree No. 15 of 2020 Regulations of the One-Stop Foreign Investment Shop, which sets out the functions of all agencies, bodies and entities that have an impact on the processes associated with foreign capital in the nation, mandated in this norm to act with efficiency and agility,” he said.
Consulted by the Cuban News Agency, Anabel Reloba Perez, director of the One-Stop Foreign Investment Office, said that the tightening of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States and the global crisis caused by the COVID-19 have a negative impact on the levels of attraction of foreign capital, still below the country’s needs and potential in that area.
She specified that by the end of the 2021, 284 procedures had been managed for projects in the negotiation, establishment, investment process and operations phase, providing a differentiated treatment to those in the advanced stage and to businesses that are just starting.
The directive stressed that, in the period, 89 potential investors contacted or were contacted by Vuinex, of which 33 presented concrete proposals, which were channeled with the eventual Cuban partners or parties in business.
These interests are mainly related to the sectors of food production, energy, tourism, industry, transport and logistics, trade and construction, explained Reloba Perez.
Increasing the visibility of its digital platform, increasing efficiency in the execution of procedures, improving links with national agencies and entities that are part of the Vuinex and establishing mechanisms to make procedures more flexible and dynamic in order to ensure that all procedures are carried out virtually, are the challenges of this system that facilitates foreign investment in Cuba.