Confederation’s business mission to Cuba

Czech entrepreneurs see large possibilities to do business on the island.

The possibilities that the Czech companies have on Cuba have been mapped by the business mission that the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic had organized at the occasion of the vice-minister of Trade and Industry Vladimír Bärtl’s official visit to the island in the first week of November 2015. The participants in the mission headed by the Confederation’s president Jaroslav Hanák visited the International fair FIHAV in Havana as well.

In the business mission, the representatives of twelve Czech companies took part, especially those from the aviation industry, environment protection, energetics, railroad infrastructure and banking field.

At the official Czech booth at the FIHAV fair, ten other Czech companies present their products with the support of the Czech ministry of Trade and Industry, other producers were demonstrating them individually.

The participants in the mission have met the representatives of the Cuban entreprises that have made them acquainted with the possibilities of the local legal and economic environment.

„We see large possibilities for the Czech companies in Cuba,“ the Confederation’s president Hanák said. „A large potential has especially the modernization of the infrastructure. We are negotiating the possibilities of the cooperation with local companies, Cuban Chamber of Trade and representatives of the government.“

The trade turnover between Cuba and the Czech republic amounted to 37,7 million USD in 2014, the Czech export represented two thirds of this sum. Cuba imports to the Czech Republic especially rum, tabacco products, pharmaceuticals and coffee and cocoa beans while its counterpart delivers cereals, electric devices and appliances, motorcycles and industrial equipment.