Havana Chop Suey
I suppose it is appropriate that I am posting from south Florida where I revel in Cuban food. (I was scarfing down arroz con pollo within an hour of getting off the plane.) When I was in Washington last week, I heard a presentation by Dr. Teo Babun, Jr. about trading trends in Cuba – a subject about which I know nothing. Dr. Babun is CEO of Cuba-Caribbean Development and Babun Consulting Group, located in Miami.
Chinese-Owned Property in Havana
What caught my ear was China’s growing presence and the apparent paucity of international firms represented in Cuba. Dr. Babun said that only about 150 foreign companies are operating in Cuba. If true, this is a sad commentary on Cuba’s perceived economic potential, and certainly shows doubts far beyond the impact of the U.S. embargo on doing business in Cuba. Babun commented further that the economic crisis in Cuba has led the Castro government to freeze the foreign exchange accounts of most of these few foreign companies.
I was surprised to learn that China is now Cuba’s #3 trading partner, trailing only Venezuela and Spain. Venezuela ships oil and Spain has historic ties to the island country, but China? Babun says that China’s trade with Cuba is worth about $2.5 billion annually. The Chinese are selling buses, locomotives, refrigerators and other consumer goods. They are investing in nickel production, port development and operations, biotech, hotels and oil refining. Who knew?
