Cuba approved new foreign investment law
Cuban parliamentary unanimously approved replacing the previous law dating from 1995. The session was chaired by Army General Raúl Castro Ruz
Oscar Sánchez Serra
Granma
The National Assembly of Popular Power in extraordinary session chaired by Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, adopted the new Law on Foreign Investment.
The new law, replaces Law No. 77 of 1995, was approved unanimously and will take effect within 90 days after publication in the Official Gazette. The adoption of this standard is reached after extensive discussions on territorial meetings with Members of the Legislature VIII and the two work sessions during Friday and Saturday.
In debates, Cuban parliamentarians also received the details of the bill, and Saturday, listened as the standard is inserted into updating the economic model we build.
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Cuba approves new foreign investment law
Xinhua
HAVANA- Cuban parliament on Saturday approved a new foreign investment law aimed at attracting badly needed capital to the island country through tax cuts and facilitation measures.
The National Assembly passed the legislation unanimously in an extraordinary session chaired by President Raul Castro and National Assembly chairman Esteban Lazo, local news agency Prensa Latina reported.
The new law will be put into force in 90 days after being published by Official Gazette of the Republic.
The new legislation offers better tax advantages to investors by halving the capital income tax from 30 percent to 15 percent and exempting investors from paying it for eight years in cases of joint ventures with the Cuban state and partnerships linking foreign and Cuban companies.
The new law, which is to replace the current law that came into force since September 1995, also promises a climate of investment security including non-expropriation guarantees, according to official media reports.
Under the new law, all economic sectors will be open to foreign investment, except public healthcare, education and security, excluding the business side of the armed forces, officials said.
Cuba needs about 2 billion U.S. dollars in foreign direct investment annually to revive its economy, Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Rodrigo Malmierca, told local television on Friday night.
“If the economy does not grow at levels of about 7 percent of the gross domestic product … we will not be able to develop,” he said. “For this to happen, we need 2 billion to 2.5 billion U.S. dollars to come in foreign investment every year.”
A week ago, Malmierca said the new investment law was aimed to spur economic development “without abandoning our socialist project,” by offering “guarantees, incentives and better means to attract investment.”
Cuban leader Castro said in February that Cuba has “a compelling need” to attract foreign investment to boost the country’s economic and social development.
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Video: Cuba passes law to attract foreign investors
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Video: Cuba’s new foreign investment law
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