Cuba and China Explore Opportunities to Expand Business in Tourist Sector

HAVANA, Cuba, Sep 17 sep (AIN) Cuba and China explore in this capital new business opportunities to expand cooperation to key sectors such as tourism, in which the two nations are already boosting projects linked to hotel development and golf courses.

A bi-national forum took place on Wednesday on the occasion of the visit to the island of Li Jinzao, president of the National Tourism Administration of China, in which both countries ratified their interest to work together in this sector, with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding.
Li Jinzao and Manuel Marrero, Cuba's Tourism Minister, signed the document that will speed up exchanges between authorities and businessmen linked to the so-called leisure industry, in order to identify projects that are beneficial for the parties.
According to a communiqué by the Tourism Ministry, the Chinese delegation will visit Varadero, Cuba's main resort, in order to verify the development of the area and the multiple suggestions offered in that territory of Matanzas province.
The visit, which began on September 15, will favor the strengthening of cooperation ties existing between the two nations, reads the note.
The first direct flight between Beijing and Havana, with a stopover in Canada and operated by Air China, is expected to be inaugurated in the coming weeks.
Official sources informed that the company Beijing Enterprises Holdings Limited plans, together with the Cuban Palmares group, to create a large real estate, which will include a five-star hotel and a golf course, in the Bellomonte area, east of Havana.
Another business now assessed by Chinese partners with owners of the island is the construction of a hotel at the Hemingway Marina, west of the capital, the foreign investor of which is the Asian firm Suntime.