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Area Companies See Opportunities In Cuba

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By MICHAEL SASSO and TED JACKOVICS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 20, 2008

TAMPA - No one is predicting a wave of cruises or nonstop flights to Havana just yet. But news Tuesday that Fidel Castro is stepping aside at least has some in the construction and tourism industries thinking about the possibilities of Cuban trade.

Florida business leaders and academics on Tuesday said Cuba's infrastructure - including roads, telecommunications lines and ports - is woefully in need of updating. Florida construction and engineering companies could stand to win millions, or even billions, of dollars in contracts in Cuba if and when the United States lifts or relaxes a long-standing trade embargo.

"In order for there to be any change, there must be change in U.S. trade policy," said Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio.

Iorio said she foresaw no near-term impact on any Tampa area business functions from Tuesday's announcement. The directors of Tampa International Airport and the Port of Tampa agreed.

"My understanding is people won't see any change until travel and trade restrictions beyond humanitarian reasons are changed," said airport director Louis Miller.

But long-term, in a post-embargo environment, business leaders say the Tampa Bay area is well-positioned for leisure and business travel and trade with Cuba. Cuba could become a top destination for cruise ships, including those departing from Tampa, and Tampa International Airport would be an attractive jumping-off point for Cuba-bound planes.

Michael Zuccato manages a Los Angeles-based company, Cuba Travel Services, which arranges trips for Cuban-Americans with family in the Caribbean nation. Zuccato used to operate an office in Tampa, but had to close it in 2004 after the Bush administration further restricted travel to Cuba. He hopes to reopen it someday.

"Being in this business, we just get killed with telephone calls by people who are dying to go, and who call us crying," Zuccato said.

At the moment, the embargo limits trade except for some food and medical shipments to the Caribbean nation, said Olga Pina, a lawyer at the Fowler White Boggs Banker firm who handles international trade issues. Congress first allowed for these exceptions in 2000, and Cuba began buying some food shipments after being pummeled by Hurricane Michelle in 2001.

Last year, food worth about $438 million was exported to Cuba, according to data from the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, which monitors trade between the two nations.

If and when the U.S policies are changed, trade with Cuba likely will start with exports from the United States involving machinery for construction and infrastructure improvements in Cuba, said Tampa port director Richard Wainio.

Construction and engineering firms, too, could be called upon to improve Cuba's roads, ports and electric systems.

Robert Paulsen, vice chairman of Tampa-based PBSJ Corp., a large engineering and construction firm, issued a statement Tuesday saying, "The PBSJ Corporation, which has an international subsidiary company, is well-positioned to do work in Cuba with expertise in infrastructure and a large group of employees located in Miami - many of which have family ties to that country. We certainly look forward to any opportunities that might present themselves now."

After infrastructure improvements, the next growth phase would involve the cruise industry, which should find Tampa a favorable port of departure for Cuba on the customary four- to seven-day cruises that are a good fit for Tampa sailings, Wainio said.

Once Cuba improved its economic and trade prospects, Tampa could serve as a port for imports from several small Cuban seaports, which basically are limited to smaller ships, Wainio said.

"Cuba has lots of little ports," Wainio said. "We have the room for facilities at Port Ybor to handle those kinds of ships with their roll-on, roll-off cargo.

Airlines could find Tampa a good destination for Cuban travel, Miller said. "We have a sizable Cuban population in Tampa Bay," he said. "We might be able to get nonstop service between Tampa and Cuba like there was before the restrictions imposed in the late 1950s."

A big question, though, is who will pay for all the increased trade and infrastructure improvements.

Antonio Jorge, a professor emeritus from Florida International University in Miami and an expert on the Cuban economy, estimates that the country needs $15 billion in infrastructure improvements. Cuba doesn't have the money to fund those improvements, and even if it could get financing from the private sector or foreign countries, it doesn't have the capacity to repay it, Jorge said.

A consultant to the Tampa Port Authority this week issued a report saying China is rising as a supplier and investor in the Cuban economy, but Jorge said it's a "myth" that China is a big force in Cuba. Jorge estimates that foreign investment in Cuba from all sources has totaled no more than $2.5 billion since at least the mid-1990s. Among investors have been Canadians and the Spanish.

Some foreign oil companies are negotiating with Cuba to explore off the northeast coast, he said.

Reporter Michael Sasso can be reached at (813) 259-7865 or msasso@tampatrib.com. Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (813) 259-7817 or tjackovics@tampatrib.com.

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