Cuba's Mariel port sees growing investment

Built by Odebrecht, Cuba's Mariel port is attracting renewed interest from foreign companies, according to the local chamber of commerce.

Valor Econômico cites a chamber official as saying that 400 groups are interested in establishing themselves in the port's special economic zone, known as ZEDM, which was created in 2013 and has received US$650mn in investments so far from Mexican, Spanish, Belgian, Dutch and Brazilian companies.

Brazil's Odebrecht, under investigation in the Lava Jato corruption scandal, built the port with capacity to move 1mn TEUs per year with an investment of US$957mn. The group has a 15-year concession to offer engineering services to companies investing in ZEDM.

US operations will soon start in the zone. Besides an MOU signed in January between Cuba and the Virginia state port authority, President Barack Obama, who visited Cuba this week, has authorized the construction of a tractor factory in Mariel, according to the report.

The port became internationally known in 1980, during a massive exodus of Cubans seeking to reach the United States by boat, in what became known as the Mariel Boatlift.