Chilean business leaders keen to invest in Cuba's special economic zone

Chilean business leaders Friday expressed an interest in investing in Cuba's special economic zone (SEZ) of Mariel, a deep-water port being developed near the capital Havana.

Some 30 business leaders accompanying Chilean Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz on his visit to the island nation toured the partially inaugurated SEZ, located about 45 km west of the capital.

Munoz told reporters that the visit showed Chile's "interest in participating in the current transformations in Cuba," Cuba's Prensa Latina news agency reported.

Economic reforms spearheaded by Cuban President Raul Castro will allow Chile's business sector "to invest, and generate jobs and prosperity" in the Caribbean country, said Munoz.

The delegation showed interest in investing in a variety of sectors, from aerial transport to food, sports, mining, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, the news agency reported, adding the Chileans' initial goal for investment is to produce for the Cuban domestic market and they aim to eventually export to third countries.

The SEZ is designed to become a major manufacturing and shipping hub in the Caribbean, with a capacity to handle 800,000 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers a year, and post-Panamax cargo ships, ships that are too large to fit through the Panama Canal.

During Munoz's two-day visit that ended Friday, the two countries signed, among other accords, a bilateral cooperation agreement between Cuba's international trade bank and Chile's central bank.

In 2014, Chilean exports to Cuba, mainly foodstuffs, amounted to 36 million U.S. dollars, while it imported 6 million dollars worth of Cuban cigars and rum. Endi