HAVANA: Cuba has received more than 300 investment requests for the Mariel Special Development Zone, or ZEDM, the first project of its kind on the island, state media reported.
“The requests received are in the process of having their respective documentation prepared,” ZEDM Office director Ana Teresa Igarza told the Prensa Latina news agency.
The development agency did not provide any additional information about the organizations or corporations that submitted applications to invest in the ZEDM, located in the town of Mariel some 45 kilometers (28 miles) west of Havana.
“The approved projects are in the process of mercantile registration and will be revealed once they are established at the site,” Igarza said.
The Mexican Foreign Relations Secretariat said earlier this year that Mexico’s Richmeat had become the first foreign company to get approval for an investment project in the ZEDM, which officially started operating more than a year ago.
Cuba said in November that companies from about 30 countries, including Spain, Italy, China, Russia, France, Vietnam, Brazil, Mexico, the Netherlands and Canada, had submitted investment proposals for the Mariel development zone.
Cuba envisions Mariel and other special development zones planned for the future as growth engines and means of increasing exports, attracting foreign investment and creating new jobs.
