FIHAV 2018 Gets Going in Havana
With a turnout of over 60 companies from around the globe, the 36th edition of the Havana International Fair (FIHAV 2018) kicked off Monday morning on its traditional venue of choice at the ExpoCuba fairgrounds in the outskirts of the Cuban capital.
The five-day tradeshow, the largest annual multi-sectoral trade fair in Latin America, will come to a close on November 2. Last year’s edition attracted over 1,500 companies from 80 countries.
Cuba’s Foreign Trade and Investment Minister Rodrigo Malmierca delivered the keynote speech as he hailed some 20 high-level official delegations, 30 chambers of commerce and over 2,500 foreign representatives attending this year’s FIHAV.
As many as 16 U.S. companies are also in attendance, including the newly created U.S.-Cuba biotechnology joint venture, Innovative Immunotherapy Alliance S.A., which is based in Cuba's Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM) and targets the production of therapeutic anti-cancer vaccines.
Mr. Malmierca said that the fair shows year after year that “the world supports Cuba despite the U.S. economic, trade and financial blockade.”
Two of the highlights of this year’s edition will be the Russia-Latin American and the Caribbean Business Forum, slated to be held within the framework of FIHAV, the updated 2018 portfolio of investment opportunities for foreign entrepreneurs.
A keynote presentation by the ZEDM director will update participants on the development of the area and provide foreign companies with useful information in order to increase investments in the zone.
A delegation of South African business people in search of trade opportunities will attend the Havana International Fair (FIHAV) in Cuba under the auspices of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies says the fair will give South African exporters access for a range of their products and services including in electrical and mechanical engineering, construction, drilling and exploration, as well as chemicals and agro-processing.
Davies also says that South Africa has given Cuba a grant and a credit line to assist with its import of South African goods such as pneumatic tires, plastic resin and vegetable seeds.
Aside from international companies, Cuban companies are also set to have a large presence at this year's trade event. According to president of the Cuban Chamber of Commerce, Orlando Hernandez, some 350 national companies have leased approximately 5,000 square meters in floor space for their exhibition.
This edition will see a special stand, right by the fairgrounds entrance, dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the founding of Havana, a city that will be honored throughout the Fair. Luis Carlos Gongora, president of the Provincial Administration Council, explained that the event will serve as an opportunity to announce the strategy to celebrate the capital’s half millennium.
