Cuba libre: Could port herald new economic age for communist island?
In the sleepy seaside town of Mariel, northwest Cuba, a hulking
monument to the communist islands' evolving economy is rapidly taking
shape.
It is here, under the
intense glare of the Caribbean sun, that a giant free-trade zone (FTZ)
and container port are in the latter stages of construction.
The deep-water facility
will have an annual capacity of up to one million containers when
finished (three times that of Havana's existing port roughly 30 miles
away) and 700 meters of berth that it is hoped will host some of the
world's largest cargo ships.
Partially financed by
loans from Brazil and built by Brazilian construction firm, Odebrecht,
the port will be operated by Singapore's PSA. The FTZ, meanwhile, aims
to attract international companies to Cuba by offering them a low-tax,
low-regulation environment in which to manufacture goods.
"What the zone is
intended for is to create a special climate where foreign capital is
going to have better conditions than in the rest of the country," said
Cuba's foreign trade and investment minister, Rodrigo Malmierca, during a
September visit to Beijing.
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