CubaTrade-April2017-FLIPBOOK

“Instead of doing business with Cuba from a location in the
States, companies should find a local partner in Puerto Rico and
export from here,” said Masses, who owns one of Puerto Rico’s
leading office-furniture companies.
Masses’ missions were the island’s first salvos in the nascent
U.S.-Cuba opening. The Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce is
following suit with a mission to Havana in May.
“Our goal, as is the case for every other organization
promoting trade and exports, is for Puerto Rican companies to
position themselves as the Cuban market continues to open and
opportunities emerge,” says Chamber President David Rodríguez.
The Puerto Rican government, for its part, has been aggressively
promoting the island’s uniqueness as a Cuban trade
platform within the U.S.—foreign for taxation, domestic for
everything else—in missions and road shows, as well as through
advertising and publicity.
Starting July 1, the administration of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló,
which took office in January, will transfer the island’s promotion
to the private sector in a recently enacted public-private partnership
called Enterprise Puerto Rico, modeled after the highly
successful Enterprise Florida.
“The policy of this government is to let the private sector
handle all promotion,” Economic Development & Commerce
Secretary Manuel Laboy told Cuba Trade. “Our role will be to
facilitate and provide the resources needed, as well as to reduce
the cost of doing business in Puerto Rico to make it more attractive
for companies to use the island as a bridge for their exports,
including exports to Cuba.”
For the latter, the government is focusing on Puerto Rico’s
strategic advantages in manufacturing, construction and services.
“Those are natural strengths of ours, and we see great potential in
working closely with the new Enterprise Puerto Rico to penetrate
the Cuban market.”
Given the complexities of the embargo and the uncertainties
surrounding the opening with Cuba, the first challenge facing
any company is figuring out what’s allowed. “Aside from the
industries open for trade, Cuban and U.S. authorities have been
fairly flexible in granting licenses to businesses that are related
in some way to this activity,” said Gerardo González, an economist
in Puerto Rico and one of the organizers of PRMA’s next
mission. “That’s how Banco Popular got it done.” Born and raised
in Cuba, González was an analyst at the South American Studies
Center in Havana before migrating to Puerto Rico in 1996.
“Cuba right now is a challenging market. It’s not for
everyone,” he says. “That’s the significance of these missions, of
going and learning and building relationships. It’s a bet for the
future, like so many we make in business. The important thing
is to make your move now, because as the market opens up and
the embargo is later lifted, those companies that put in the time
and effort today will be best positioned to be rewarded—as the
Cubans like to say, the first companies who got in the line.”
From Cordero’s point of view, if you’re going to stand in line,
you might as well stand next to a Puerto Rican. “It’s all part of a
chain, and I can point to a lot of links in the chain that have to improve.
But there is one that has stood the test of time and remains
a big part of building relationships in Cuba, and it comes back to
dos alas,” he says. “When it comes to Cuba and Puerto Rico, that’s
one link in the chain you don’t have to worry about.” H
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