A Portugal-Cuba trade group is born in Lisbon

Agencia Lusa

Cuba could represent an opportunity for Portuguese businessmen, who created a chamber of commerce to promote economic and cultural relations between the two countries. The announcement was made Monday (June 2) in Lisbon.

The Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Services and Tourism Portugal-Cuba (CCISTPC), whose creation was formalized at the Cuban Embassy in the Portuguese capital, would bring together about a hundred Portuguese business firms by the end of the year, said the Chamber’s president, Américo Ferreira Castro.

The purpose of the chamber is “to present investment opportunities in Cuba, both at the level of business and from the fiscal [tax] perspective,” said Ferreira, who recalled that the Cuban government recently passed a law designed to promote foreign investment that “benefits companies and managers.”

“Cuba is an extremely rich country” in terms of tourism, culture, climate and prices — factors that the CCISTPC also intends to publicize, in addition to the commercial aspects,” the official said.

According to Ferreira, the chamber will organize “small events” for entrepreneurs in Portugal “to promote the opportunities and benefits of business in that market” and also prepare a Portuguese presence at Havana’s International Trade Fair next November, in conjunction with the Portuguese Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade (AICEP).

“It’s a huge show,” Ferreira said. “Several Portuguese companies have already been there, but not in a coordinated manner.”

Cuba’s ambassador to Portugal, Johana Tablada de la Torre, stressed that this is “the right moment to boost relations between the two countries, which are already good but that can improve.” She said that trade between the two nations currently stands at about 90 million euros per year [122.5 million dollars].

Cuban priorities coincide with areas “where Portugal is a leader and has international recognition,” such as agribusiness, textiles and energy, the Cuban diplomat said.

“Portugal is the only country in Europe with a special relationship with Africa, and Cuba is one of the few Latin American countries that have a historical relationship with that region,” a reality that allows the opportunities to multiply, she said.

[Editor’s Note: This initiative comes less than two months after the trip to Cuba of Portugal’s Secretary of State for Foreign Trade and Cooperation, Luis Campos Ferreira, who called his three-day visit “an important political signal.”

In Havana, Campos signed a memorandum of understanding on political consultations. Marcelino Medina, Deputy Foreign Minister, signed for Cuba. (Photo of signing ceremony shown above.)

At the time, Campos said that Portugal “will resume its relationship with Cuba, joining the opening that the Cuban regime is undertaking, as an example to other European countries.”

With this “very important step,” Campos said, the Portuguese government intends to develop “a more solid political relationship” with Cuba and later “create a space for a deepening of economic relations.”]