• Submitted by: Camila
• Business and Economy
• 03 / 06 / 2015

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A group of US agricultural entrepreneurs visited a sugar mill near Havana to learn about Cuba's agricultural sector, which has in machining one of its main challenges.

Entrepreneurs are part of a group of nearly a hundred who came to the island on Monday to seek opportunities in the agricultural sector. This Tuesday were divided to visit different farms.

All are part of the Agricultural Coalition of America to Cuba (USACC, for its acronym in English), thirty food business that promotes the lifting of the embargo, seeking to freely sell their products in Cuba.

"It is still early to talk about business opportunities, so far this has been a first approximation, to learn more about Cuba. And sugar is one of its major industries," said Doug Keesling, representing the Wheat Producers Commission of Kansas.

Considered that there is potential for the sector it represents, since in Cuba does not produce any wheat, "although it is not only to sell product but to seek benefits for both parties," he said.

The agricultural sector in the United States, a powerful lobby in Washington and the first large-scale landed on the island to find businesses, sees naturally building strong trade relations with Cuba, which does not produce enough to feed themselves and each year 2,000 million spent on importing food.

The business opportunities for entrepreneurs to create glimpse also cover the field of renewable energies.

"It's a learning journey to understand how we can get to know, because for years we had no possibility of communication. We hope to see from now on a lot of opportunities," said Nancy Heimann, owner of Enginuity Worlwide a Missouri small company that produces biomass from waste agricultural activity.

Rivacoba Rafael, director of International Relations AZCUBA's state company that controls the production and marketing of the sugar industry in the island-, was responsible for guiding visitors.

He said the intention of the Cuban authorities not to export sugar to the United States, "a very saturated market" but expect the eventual end to the embargo allow "access to cheaper inputs, technology and machinery" that the island needs and now buys at high prices in distant markets.

Source: Diario de Cuba