By Sarah Moran
USA Rice
Last week, USA Rice participated in the U.S.-Cuba Agriculture Business Conference organized by the U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba with the hope of furthering engagement between U.S. rice exporters and Cuban importers.
USA Rice met with private companies, agricultural cooperatives, and Alimport, the government agency that imports agricultural goods (and used to be the only entity authorized to do so). As Cuba is economically transitioning from state socialism to a mixed economy, the private sector is being developed and able to import U.S. goods. Additionally, last month the Cuban government authorized agricultural cooperatives to import and export.