HAVANA (Reuters) - The head of the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce on Thursday urged Cuba to speed up and extend
market-style economic reforms, saying world investors would respond and
that it might be the best path toward better relations with the United
States.
Chamber President Thomas Donohue extolled the virtues of
capitalism and free markets in the communist-ruled country, once
taboo subjects here, and told Cubans that reducing excessive
government control of the economy was the best assurance of
prosperity.
"The more Cuba can do to demonstrate its commitment to reform, and
the more it can do to address and resolve disputes in our relations,
the better the prospects will be for changes in U.S. policy,"
Donohue said in a speech before Foreign Investment Minister Rodrigo
Malmierca, a host of other Cuban officials and university students.
Donohue also met with Cuban President Raul Castro, state television
said, without reporting details of their conversation. It was a late
addition to Donohue's agenda before departing for the United States
at the end of a three-day visit.
Donohue, an influential voice in U.S. politics, led a delegation
including representatives of commodities giant Cargill [CARG.UL] and
direct-selling pioneer Amway on a trip that drew protests from
supporters of the U.S. economic embargo back in Washington.
The chamber has long opposed the embargo as harmful to U.S. business
interests; the embargo remains a pillar of the strong Cuban exile
lobby that supports maintaining Cold War-era punitive sanctions.
Since taking over as president for his ailing brother Fidel in 2008,
Castro has ushered in reforms that have allowed nearly 500,000 small
private businesses to operate and hundreds of thousands of private
farmers to grow food on their own land.
Cuba is also seeking badly needed foreign investment with a new law
it hopes will attract $2 billion to $2.5 billion a year in foreign
direct investment, an estimated 10-fold increase from current
levels, which it does not report.
Donohue praised those reforms, but he said Cuba had more to do and
cited China and Vietnam as examples where communist countries have
raised living standards by turning toward more market-oriented
policies.
"We hope these changes continue and urge that they be expanded.
Businesses throughout the global economy will respond," Donohue
said.
He cited the protection of intellectual property rights and the lack
of an independent arbitration system for business disputes as areas
where Cuba must improve to attract foreign investment.
"I believe that Cuba ... has the potential to develop as a very good
investment," Donohue said.
When asked in a question-and-answer session how much of his own
money he would invest, Donohue said, "It depends on what I could
buy.
"There are some pretty good deals here, you know. There's some great
real estate on the waterfront," he said. "I'm not going any further
than that."
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by G Crosse and Leslie Adler)
