RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SCM/Q2/CUB/2
31 October 2001
(01-5352)
Committee on Subsidies
and Countervailing MeasuresOriginal:  Spanish
SUBSIDIES
Replies to the Questions Posed by the UNITED STATES1
Regarding the New and Full Notification of CUBA2
The following communication, dated 29 October 2001, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of the United States.
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Questions
1. Can you please provide information on the Centre for Export Promotion of Cuba
(CEPEC), which, according to its website3:  "offers specialized services to exporters of
goods and services, particularly to small and medium enterprises, in order to create a
space for them in the international market …?"  Are the services of CEPEC offered free
of charge?
2. According to the CEPEC website, the "Cuban bank" has been reorganized and the
"New Bank Group" has been formed.  The website further clarifies that "National
Financing" or "FINSA", which offers export financing, has been created as part of the
New Bank Group.  Can you please explain on what terms FINSA offers export
financing?
Replies
The Government of Cuba wishes to provide the following information on the Centre for
Export Promotion of Cuba (CEPEC) and the National Financing company (FINSA).
The Centre for Export Promotion of Cuba (CEP EC) set up in 1995 as part of the process of
restructuring Cuba's foreign trade, has its origins in the Economic Environment Institute and the
Export Promotion Directorate of the Ministry of Fore ign Trade of the Republic of Cuba.  Its main task
is to provide support for the promotion, encouragement, development and diversification of Cuba's
export offer.  One of its main objectives is to provide exporters of goods and services, especially small
and medium enterprises, with specialized services so that they can themselves identify opportunities
in international markets.
In accordance with its statutes, the CEPEC offers a wide range of services and these are
available without discrimination to all enterprises located in Cuba, whether they are State enterprises,
                                                     
1 G/SCM/Q2/CUB/1.
2 G/SCM/N/71/CUB.
3 Centro para la Promoción de las Exportaciones de Cuba website available at:
http://www.infocex.cu/cepec/ing/fr_ofert.htm.G/SCM/Q2/CUB/2
Page 2
commercial companies, joint enterprises, international economic association partnerships wholly
foreign enterprises, agricultural cooperatives or any other form of business organization currently
operating; the services are also available to accredited trade bureaux and embassies in Cuba and to
Cuban and foreign natural persons.
The information available to the CEPEC and the experience of its personnel also allow it to
provide services to foreign companies planning to conduct trade with and invest in the Cuban market;
this is one of the ways in which potential foreign trade and investment partners can now identify
market opportunities.
The services provided by the CEPEC, classified according to Cuban practice as general
infrastructure services, are free of charge for those companies which request them.  The servicesinclude access to specialized information through the CEPEC's Commercial Information Department
and, in the light of its needs, each interested party may consult and obtain information from trade
directories, yellow pages, product catalogues, country profiles, market research, specialized reference
books, statistical yearbooks, specialized periodicals and other specialized reference material.  The
Marketing Department of the CEPEC also offers free general infrastructure services related tovocational training and advice on subjects such as market research, foreign trade techniques,
identification of business opportunities, promotion of products and services at trade fairs, the
development of new products and services for export.
Services requested from the CEPEC that cannot be classified as general infrastructure
services because their purpose is not access to commercial information or vocational training or
marketing advice are provided to those requesting th em subject to fees that are agreed between the
parties, taking into account the specific nature of each request.  These special services include the
conduct of special market surveys, the preparation of special programmes for the development of new
products and services for export, the implementation of specific marketing strategies and businessplans, inter alia .
The CEPEC gives support to business persons interested in exporting goods and services for
other types of activity whose costs are met by the participating companies; this is the case for the
promotion of Cuban companies' export offer at inte rnational fairs and exhibitions and participation in
Cuban trade missions abroad.
Regarding the Cuban banking system, in 1997 an indispensable reform and decentralization
process was initiated and its first task was to dissociate central bank and commercial bank functions,
which were being carried out by the Cuban National Bank without distinction, and the Cuban Central
Bank was thus set up.
In the course of restructuring the national banking system, the Cuban Central Bank has
granted the necessary licences for the operation of various financial institutions that have developed
and strengthened the Cuban commercial banking system in recent years.  Today, Cuba's commercial
banking system includes not only the Cuban Ce ntral Bank but eight commercial banks, 16 non-
banking financial institutions and 16 agencies of foreign banks and financial institutions in Cuba.
As part of this process, the New Bank Group emerged and it is currently composed of several
entities:  the Investment Bank, CADECA (exchange offices), the Metropolitan Bank, the Trusteeship
Company, and the National Financing Company (FINSA).
The National Financing Company S.A. has been set up in accordance with Cuban legislation
and is listed in the Commercial Register and the Central Register of Corporations.G/SCM/Q2/CUB/2
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The purpose of FINSA is to finance production for export and domestic consumption in freely
convertible currency and to play a role in the export and import of equipment, goods and services.  In
order to do so, it grants credits and uses other forms of financing that are best adapted to the
characteristics of each operation, including financial leasing, forfaiting, factoring, debt refinancing,
covering interest and foreign exchange rates.  FINSA also provides financial engineering services,business management and advice on various matters, so it covers all the financial needs of its clients.
The company helps to finance production for e xport with a short-term maturity date and
guaranteed markets;  it also finances imbalances in clients' cash flows, assuring them of revenue in the
short term.  The procedures used depend on the type of financing and are in accordance with practices
at the international level.
Financing is provided according to supply and demand, subject to the rates of interest
applicable at any particular time in the Cuban market and on the basis of an exhaustive analysis of the
characteristics and risk inherent in each operation.
Any company based in Cuba may have access to the financial services offered by FINSA,
subject to presentation of general information concer ning the company, its activities and its financial
situation.  At present, FINSA has a wide -ranging customer base throughout Cuba.
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