USA PRESIDENT HISTORIC TRIP TO CUBA FOR INVESTORS

American President Obama & Cuban President Castro in Old Havana

USA PRESIDENT OPEN CUBA FOR AMERICAN BUSINESS

HAVANA CUBA: USA President Barack Obama arrived in Hanana Cuba on Sunday on a historic 88 year old visit that begins a new chapter in U.S.-Cuba Business Investment with the island's Communist government after five long decades of animosity between the two American neighbors. President Obama landed at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport aboard Air Force One, the presidential jet with "United States of America" across the side which is a sight almost a miracle not long ago.  Obama & his family stepped onto the red carpet in the Havana rain. Obama and his family, smiling broadly and with umbrellas in hand, were greeted by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez who is the first Cuban to welcome a USA president in over 88 years. They then stepped into a black armored limousine that was flow in from Washington, with U.S. and Cuban flags on the hood, and headed out in their Cuba-USA motorcade.

Th is is the first trip to Cuba by a U.S. president to Cuba in 88 years, after 18 months of diplomatic openings announced by Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro in December 2014, ending a Cold War-era estrangement that began when the Cuban revolution ousted a pro-American government in 1959.  Obama, who abandoned a longtime U.S. policy of trying to isolate Cuba, wants to make this US-Cuba shift irreversible. But major obstacles remain to full normalization of ties, and the Democratic president's critics at home say the visit is premature.

Traveling with first lady Michelle Obama, her mother and their daughters, Sasha and Malia, the president was to visit the newly reopened U.S. Embassy and then play tourist on his first night on the Caribbean island, taking in the sights of Old Havana. He will hold talks with Raul Castro – but not his brother Fidel, the revolutionary leader - and speak to entrepreneurs on Monday. He meets privately with dissidents, addresses Cubans live on state-run media and attends an exhibition baseball game on Tuesday.  With over five decades of hostility between Washington and Havana president Obama is making World History as the first sitting American president to visit Cuba since Calvin Coolidge arrived on a battleship in 1928.

US BUSINESS OPENS IN CUBA

It is also another major step in chipping away at remaining barriers to U.S.-Cuba trade and travel and developing more normal relations between Washington and Havana.  Obama and his family will have a tour of Havana followed by a
State Dinner and a Cuban All Star baseball game followed by his First TV address directly to teh people of Cuba on Cuban TV tonight at 10pm.

Since last year the two sides have restored diplomatic ties and signed commercial deals on telecommunications and over 100 flights with regular airline service.  CUBA has also announced that it has signed business Joint Ventures with Starwood hotels & Resorts as well as expanded Private room bookings with Air BnB of USA. Soon many other American companies will be opening Cuban investments with the blessing of the American and Cuban governments




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CUBA SEEKS ANOTHER $8.2BILLION CUBAN INVESTMENTS

HAVANA CUBA INVESTMENT IN TOURISM TOPS $2 BILLION

CUBA INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES TODAY!

Havana Cuba- The Cuban government is once again asking Investors for over $8.2 billion in foreign investment in 326 pre-approved projects ranging from the production of Cuban rum to an entirely new venture creating high definition, pay-per-view television.

Cuba's Foreign Trade Minister Rodrigo Malmierca opened the ready-made investment opportunities, officially called the "Cuban Investment Portfolio", at the 33rd annual Havana International Fair (FIHAV).

Forty of the 246 projects advertised on last year's Cuban wish list are in "advanced negotiations" and have been removed from this year's portfolio, Malmierca said.

This year's catalog has 80 more defined Cuban Investment projects than last year's, but the total value is $500 million less.

CUBAN TOURISM $2BILLION IN CASH

The projects form part of Cuba's attempt to bring in another $2 billion in foreign direct investment a year. The Cuban Investment Minister reported Cuba has signed 36 deals since a new foreign investment law was approved last year, including six at the special development zone around the port of Mariel, but did not say how much they were worth.

While most of the newly signed projects are joint ventures with the Cuban state, an unspecified number were financed with 100 percent foreign capital, Malmierca also promoted Communist Cuba's small but growing private sector in an effort to show the country was modernizing.

"We realize, I repeat, that the private sector, cooperatives, and other forms of property and management, have a space within our future development model,"  The portfolio includes new opportunities in healthcare, tourism, transportation, construction, agriculture and renewable energy.

Also added to the list were two projects to make and distribute rum, one of Cuba's signature products.

One is a $27 million joint venture for the obscure Perla del Norte brand for export and national consumption. The other is a similar $44 million joint venture for the more common Cuban brand.

There's also a $6 million project for installing high-definition paid television channels on the national broadcaster.

Five high-end Cuban Travel hotels and Cuban Beach villa construction joint ventures and 59 lodging management contracts are available, as well as the construction or expansion of seven marinas.

Cuba once relied heavily on trade with the Soviet bloc, which later collapsed. Even though Cuba trades with 75 countries and trade has tripled in the last decade, it relies heavily on socialist ally Venezuela, which is struggling with an economic crisis.
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CUBA INVESTMENTS-THE REAL TRUTH

Cuba Investment Nightmare

CUBA INVESTMENTS THE DARK SIDE

Open Letter CUBA INVESTMENTS from Coral Capital Steven Purvis warning investors about his experience as to the nightmare in investing in the Cuba The REAL STORY!

DEAR CUBAN INVESTMENTS

 I enjoyed reading about my misfortunes in the Economist, albeit many months after publication and in the company of fellow inmates in the Cuban high security prison, La Condesa. I would ask you to correct the impression that you give in the May 9th 2012 edition and subsequent articles that I was accused and detained for corruption.

During my 8 month interrogation in the Vila Marista I was accused of many things, starting with revelations of state secrets, but never of corruption. After a further 7 months held with a host of convicted serious criminals and a handful of confused businessmen, most of whom were in a parallel predicament to mine, I was finally charged and sentenced for participating in various supposed breaches of financial regulations. The fact that the Central bank had specifically approved the transactions in question for 12 years, and that by their sentencing the court has in effect potentially criminalized every foreign business investing or trading in Cuba was considered irrelevant by the judges. I am thankful however that the judges finally determined that my sentence should not only have with a conditional release date a few days before the trail thus conveniently justifying my 15 months in prison, but, bizarrely was to be non-custodial. So my Kafkaesque experience at the sharp end of Cuban justice ended as abruptly as it began.

I spent time with a number of foreign businessmen arrested during 2011 and 2012 from a variety of countries, although representatives from Brazil, Venezuela and China were conspicuous in the absence. Very few of my fellow sufferers have been reported in the press and there are many more in the system than is widely known. As they are all still either waiting for charges, trial or sentencing they will certainly not be talking to the press. Whilst a few of them are being charged with corruption many are not and the accusations range from sabotage, damage to the economy, tax avoidance and illegal economic activity. It is absolutely clear that the war against corruption may be a convenient political banner to hide behind and one that foreign governments and press will support. But the reasons for actively and aggressively pursuing foreign business are far more complicated.  Why for example is the representative of Ericsson in jail for exactly the same activities as their Chinese competitor who is not? Why for example was one senior European engineer invited back to discuss a potential new project only to be arrested for paying technical workers five years ago when he was a temporary resident in Cuba?

You interpret the economic liberalization evident at street level as an indication of a desire for fundamental change. It is true that these reforms are welcomed, especially the dramatic increase in remittance flows that have injected fresh hard currency into the bottom strata of a perennially cash strapped economy. But until the law relating to foreign investment and commerce is revised and the security service changes its modus operandi for enforcing these laws, Cuba will remain extremely risky for non-bilateral foreign business and foreign executives should be under no illusion about the great personal risks they run if they chose to do business there.  As businessmen emerge from their awful experience and tell their individual stories perhaps the real reasons for this concerted attack against business’s and individuals that have historically been friends of Cuba will become a bit clearer. In the meantime your intrepid reporters could usefully investigate the individuals and cliques who are benefiting from the market reorganization and newly nationalized assets resulting from this “ war on corruption”.

Yours faithfully,

Stephen Purvis

CUBA REAL ESTATE INVESTOR 

INVEST IN CUBA IS HIGH RISK!

Invest in Cuba Havana Hotels

  FOREIGN INVESTORS FRUSTRATED BY CUBA INVESTMENTS

Cuba's Foreign investment Strategy announced in 2012 spoke positively of attracting more international investors and Cuba wanted to increase foreign investment from international mutual funds and stock market pension fund investors. The Cuban's did a strategic review of the long Cuban investment approval process and came to the conclusion that special economic free trade and Investment zones like joint venture golf courses, Cuba Insurance, real estate, marinas and new manufacturing investments are being  planned all over Cuba.

Cuba may want more foreign investment dollars but there have been more promises to change rather than actual investment changes that have many barriers to true foreign investment in Cuba.

Many other countries and their international insurance investment and mutual fund companies, America, Europe, China, Russia and Brazil to Singapore and various European Union members, have expressed desire to invest in Cuba despite the silly American U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.

Unfortunately the Cuban government is demanding at least a 51% majority interest in all joint ventures and is dragging its heels or obfuscating in negotiations. The main obstacle is that Cuba wants to maintaining its independence and sovereignty without any risk on their part without consideration to the Investors risk of loss of their investment which Cuba will eventually control.

Cubans have an historical problem with Communism, free enterprise and Cuban nationalism. Cuban investment organizations are simply not interested in minority shares so Cubans can say that no foreign company owns a piece of their island of Cuba. Many foreign investors complain the Cubans insisting on 51 percent ownership of all new Cuban Joint ventures so that Cuba keeps effective control of the entire business.

CUBA INVESTMENT RISK

CUBA HAVANA INVESTMENTS With President Castro of the Council of State and Council of Ministers of Cuba Raul Castro. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Cuban investments have been signed in important agreements many years ago with poor results blaming the Mutual fund investment delay on critical issues such as Cuba's two parallel currency exchange rates.

 When international investors drill down into the fine details the Cuban investment funds become cloudier and hazier the deeper you dig. In the end one investor said it clearly " the Cubans are very nice people but when it comes to foreign investment, Mutual funds, Insurance, home mortgages and financial investments in Cuba the control of 100% of your money is in their hands with absolutely no possibility of recouping even one penny if your Cuban business investment runs into problems. The risk of Investing in Cuba is 100% against you from the start because the Cubans make some of the rules in your favor today only to change all the rules against you in the future when its time to start making a profit on your initial high risk Cuban investment.

Another Investor from America stated the slow Cuban government is decades away from turning its Cuban Investment plans into reality.  Cubans have been trying to invest in new businesses in the promised special economic zones, only to be told to come back next year after the Cuban Investment law that was introduced by the best Cuban Lawyers was approved.

In short if you want high risk low reward investments then Cuba is your best bet today. However everything can change in an instant as soon as American president lifts the economic sanctions against Cuba. This would send Cuba investments in Home mortgages, Health care, Insurance, and real estate into the hottest investment market on the planet.  Investing in Cuba should be done with a long term capital appreciation horizon like an retirement pension fund.

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