General Secretary and President To Lam visits Mariel Special Development Zone, Cuba

First Secretary and President of Cuba Miguel Diaz Canel Bermudez joined this activity with General Secretary and President To Lam.

Introducing the two leaders of Vietnam and Cuba, General Director of ZEDM, Ms. Ana Teresa Igarza Martínez, said that the zone is located in the port of Mariel in Artemisa province with an area of ​​about 465 km2. Established in November 2013, ZEDM is a long-term vision project and is part of the process of updating Cuba's economic model. This is the first and only special economic zone on the island nation to date.

The initial investment for the ZEDM Special Zone was mainly from Cuba and Brazil, with an estimated $900 million, of which $640 million was a Brazilian loan. With its naturally deep waters and the ability to accommodate the largest ships visiting the Caribbean, the Mariel Container Port has an annual throughput of approximately 300,000 TEU (a unit of measurement equivalent to a 20ft container).

By 2022, the ZEDM Special Zone had granted investment licenses to 62 enterprises with a total registered capital of more than 3 billion USD, of which 56 projects with a total capital of more than 1 billion USD had actually come into operation, creating more than 15,000 jobs. Along with existing policies, the Special Zone is building more attractive mechanisms for foreign investors; at the same time, there are solutions to remove difficulties in raw materials, fuel, production materials, transportation, payment, etc.

This strategic economic zone currently has the presence of enterprises from 21 countries, notably Mexico, Spain, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Vietnam. Vietnam is the second country in terms of the number of investment projects in the ZEDM Special Zone, including the ViMariel Industrial Park, the first and only economic zone invested by Vietnamese enterprises in the Caribbean island nation.

Appreciating the activities of Vietnamese enterprises in the ZEDM Special Zone, First Secretary and President of Cuba Miguel Diaz Canel Bermudez affirmed that this is a testament to the special traditional friendship between the two countries, as well as expectations for development in the cooperation process between businesses of the two countries.

Emphasizing that Cuba is going through an extremely difficult period due to the impact of the US's prolonged embargo policy, the First Secretary and President of Cuba expressed gratitude to the Party, State and people of Vietnam for always standing side by side with Cuba and hoped that both sides will achieve many successes in the coming time.

Sharing the assessment of the Cuban leader, General Secretary and President To Lam expressed his pleasure to visit the ZEDM Special Economic Zone; believing that this is a potential economic model, testing new and unique policies before expanding, thereby creating stronger momentum for the Cuban economy to overcome current difficulties and challenges.

Pointing out that Vietnam will never forget the sentiments and affection that Cuba has given to Vietnam in the past, General Secretary and President To Lam affirmed the policy of the Party and State and that Vietnamese investors want to contribute their efforts to help Cuba in the current period of national construction and development.

The encouraged investment sectors in the ZEDM Special Zone include biotechnology, pharmaceutical research and production; packaging industry; renewable energy; agriculture; food industry; general industry, information technology, communications; tourism, real estate and infrastructure investment. Products of investment projects can be supplied to the domestic market and exported to countries in the region.

With a synchronous, modern and highly connected infrastructure, ZEDM promises to bring many opportunities for foreign investors in general and Vietnamese investors in particular in Cuba. This is also a bridge to help investors and businesses connect with the Latin American, Caribbean and South American markets with great potential for growth in the future.

Next, General Secretary and President To Lam, together with First Secretary and President of Cuba Miguel Diaz Canel Bermudez, directly visited a number of projects in the ZEDM area, including the ViMariel industrial park.

On this occasion, the two leaders of Vietnam and Cuba witnessed the ceremony announcing the granting of investment licenses to two Vietnamese enterprises, Thai Binh Global Investment Joint Stock Company and ATG Fertilizer Company.