Agri-food sector takes centre stage in latest Portfolio of Foreign Investment projects in Cuba
Each year the Cuban Government publishes a portfolio of investment projects for which it welcomes foreign investment. In the latest portfolio, the agri-food sector is the sector with most investment projects.
In the face of Cuba’s high dependency on food imports, its declining agricultural production and the worsened food security situation in the country, boosting the island’s agri-food production is an important priority for Cuba’s authorities. Cuba increasingly aims at attracting foreign investment in its efforts to develop its agri-food sector.
As part of this effort, the Cuban Government published a Portfolio of Foreign Investment projects at the end of 2021. The portfolio contains a total of 678 projects including 192 new ones. For the first time, the agri-food sector is the sector with most investment projects, a total of 166, ranging from the agricultural and industrial production of all kinds of food items to the production of tropical flowers (for exports), charcoal and animal feed. Another novelty in the investment portfolio is that not only Cuban state actors but also non-state actors are taken into account. This is in line with the recent changes in policy, which makes it possible for foreign investors to interact directly with Cuban private companies and cooperatives as partners in joint ventures. To this end, a special section in the investment portfolio is dedicated to three investment projects with Cuban agricultural cooperatives: a 6.3 mln USD project for milk production and marketing, a 480 mln USD specialty coffee production project, and a 901.381 USD project in pork, poultry, rabbit and beef production, processing and packaging.
Dutch companies interested in exploring these opportunities further are encouraged to contact the Netherlands Embassy in Havana.
