Cuba on the 3rd issued measures to ease restrictions on foreign investment,
foreign trade and tourism. Key changes: remove requirement that foreign and
joint-venture employers hire Cuban staff via intermediaries authorized by the
Ministry of Labor and Social Security and permit direct hiring; replace prior
Cuban central bank approval for joint ventures and domestic investors to open
overseas bank accounts with post-facto reporting to the central bank; update
import-export procedures to allow private firms to engage directly in foreign
trade; relax limits on foreign capital participation in wholesale and retail and
in priority and historical-cultural investment zones; introduce tax incentives
for eco‑tourism projects; and allow foreign firms, foreign capital and non‑state
operators to participate in tourist transport and travel agency businesses.
