MONTEGO BAY, St James — The Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBBCI) is now exploring possible trade opportunities with its counterparts in Cuba.

A meeting on Wednesday between the directorship of the chamber and the Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba to Jamaica Fermin Quiñones Sánchez sought to establish the groundwork for this to become a reality.

Quiñones Sánchez welcomed the move, indicating that there are many business opportunities in Cuba that members of the chamber can explore.

“We think that there are a lot of possibilities to expand and to improve trade and investment relations between Cuba and Jamaica. Today, in Cuba, there are a lot of opportunities that should not be missed by Montego Bay entrepreneurs,” he told the Jamaica Observer after the meeting.

“I think the food industry, steel industry, construction industry, mechanical industry are areas they can look into,” he added.

Quiñones Sánchez noted that Cuban entrepreneurs would also be looking to Montego Bay as a source of raw material needed to run their economy.

At the country-to-country level, Cuba is renowned for providing teachers to Jamaica and offering scholarships (mainly medical) to Jamaican students. There is also the popular Jamaica/Cuba Eye Care Programme which has benefited many Jamaicans.

Chamber president, Omar Heaven, is excited at the opportunities possible from the budding relationship at the local level.

“We are right there, right next door to Cuba, and so the opportunities are there to really see our members making the connection and benefiting from import and export,” said Heaven.

“It’s about making connections, it’s about cultural exchange,” he added.

Quiñones Sánchez has extended an invitation to members of the chamber to attend a trade fair in Havana in November, where more connections can be made.

“We are inviting them to go to Cuba to participate not only in FIHAV 2024 but to participate in different trade fairs that are organised in Cuba, such as Expo Caribe,” he disclosed.

“I think that would be the beginning or the resumption of very good relations we had in the past with Montego Bay entrepreneurs,” the diplomat added.

Intent on seizing this opportunity, Heaven said the chamber is strongly considering sending a delegation.

“We are waiting on the official invitation from the Cuban Embassy, following which we will reach out to our membership to determine how this could happen,” he told the Observer.

The chamber has, in turn, extended an invitation to their Cuban counterparts to attend the next staging of their annual expo, which will be held March 21-23, 2024. It is an offer that Heaven hopes they will take up.

“It’s not difficult to make this arrangement to have a connection with Havana and Santiago as it relates to Montego Bay and the business prospects. We see what is happening November 6-11 with their trade expo there in Cuba and invitations from Cuba for members of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry to be a part of that so that they can make the connections,” he stated.

Talks with the Cuban delegation come on the heels of discussion, a week earlier, with a group from Spain.

“We also discussed connections between Spain and Montego Bay, looking at hotels and other businesses. We are also looking at forming some partnerships to exchange workers and students so they can learn the Spanish language and culture. We also spoke about our nationals getting top jobs here in the hotels instead of expats,” Heaven revealed.