Cuban lawmakers convened for a last parliamentary debate on Monday to agree on new socioeconomic measures in line with freshly renewed trade relations with the United States
Parliamentary groups have already agreed on 40 new projects that welcome foreign investment, though Cuban officials insist that the island’s socialist model will remain intact, Prensa Latina reported.
"Foreign investment neither sells the country nor is it a return to the past, as some have judged,” said Rodrigo Malmierca, Minister of Foreign Trade. “Rather it is a way of strengthening it economically which, when subject to the conditions established by the law, does not threaten the socialist system."
The foreign investment reforms come after the United States issued new regulations earlier this year on travel, telecommunications, internet-based services, business operations, banking and remittances. The measures also allow U.S. companies to establish a presence in Cuba.
The two countries announced last year that they would restore diplomatic relations, and reopened their embassies in Havana and Washington in July.
