Texas Business Mission to Cuba

A business mission from the US state of Texas is visiting Cuba this week to meet with local companies, including Alimport, Cuba´s food import enterprise.

According to Cubadebate website, which cites Dallas Morning News daily, the trade mission includes companies in the field of agriculture, air transportation, oil, technology and tourism.

Cynthia Thomas, president of Dallas-based TriDimension Strategies, a consulting firm that helps clients interested in doing business in Cuba, will lead the delegation, according to the Dallas Morning News.

The current Texas delegation hopes to sell everything from rice, livestock, beans and cotton to powdered milk, Thomas said.

Texas´ business people have made efforts for years to pave the way for trade relations with Cuba, which has been banned by the US economic, commercial and financial blockade of the island.

In 2008, a 24-member agriculture mission from Texas visited the island during four days; by that time the US state would sell Cuba nearly 25 million dollars in agricultural products annually under a food and pharmaceuticals license.

But a larger scale trade would have to wait till the US blockade is lifted and this is a decision to be taken by the US Congress. "We see light at the end of the tunnel, but we just don't know how long the tunnel is," said Dwight Roberts, president of the US Rice Producers Association.