Maria Contreras-Sweet visited Cuba this week. Her agenda included a visit to the Special zone of Development Mariel and different meetings with the Ministries of Foreign Investment and Employment, among others. She is hosting the 7th  annual global entrepreneurship summit

Maria Contreras-Sweet was sworn in as the 24th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and as a member of President Obama’s cabinet on April 7, 2014.  She was part of the delegation joining President Obama in his historical visit to Cuba in March 2016.

The United States is now hosting the 7th annual global entrepreneurship summit and a first-quality Cuban representation gets to join the commitment to building bridges between nations.

This Summit will be the 7th, in a series previously hosted in the United States and the governments of Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Morocco, and Kenya and it is a clear occasion to the Caribbean Island to show that there is a strong and eager private sector ready to take seize business opportunities.

Cuba Emprende Foundation, Cuba Now, and Startup Angels, are partnering on a startup competition where 10 selected Cuban participants will have the opportunity to win 10,000 USD each in products and services. The applicants have the possibility to submit their applications through July 15th, 2016.

Pompano Beach-based Stonegate Bank announced they will issue the first U.S. credit card intended for use in Cuba. The card's utility will be limited for the moment but it will be a huge step into enabling U.S visitors to avoid bringing cash all the time. The Cuban government is exempting the cards from the 10 percent government penalty on dollar transactions, so this is a the cheapest way for travelers to use the dollars in the island.

The delegation will be comprised of a group of high-profile tech leaders, experts, academics, innovators and business leaders. Confirming that there is a drastic change in terms of relationships towards the technology and enterpenurial approaches on both sides, the U.S. Department of State and Cuban Government officials, Girls in Tech are gathering this select group of people in the technology industry and U.S. entrepreneur community with the aim of sharing knowledge, sharing learnings and creating critical connections so Cuban people become more independent.

The U.S. Department of Transportation approved six domestic airlines to begin scheduled flights between Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Minneapolis and Cuba from this fall on.  

The chosen ones to start their operations are American Airlines, Sun Country Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Silver Airways and Southwest Airlines.  The nine Cuban destinations are Camagüey, Cayo Coco, Cayo Largo, Cienfuegos, Holguín, Manzanillo, Matanzas, Santa Clara, and Santiago de Cuba.

Western Union keeps on performing as a pioneer in money transfers to Cuba. This time through mobile and online transferences to Cuba via their application and wu.com in the U.S., driving its way to a current generation of customers with knowledge and willingness towards technology.

Using wu.com or Western Union mobile app in the U.S. allows to select the “Send to Cuba” option. Now it is possible to send and track money transfers and have them delivered directly in CUC within minutes.  

According to a CNBC comment, Cuba and the United States of America should be focusing on "...the technological future, as they examine possible investment opportunities and partnerships..." better than looking back to the past. There are certin signs showing that this is  indeed the direction that many entrepreneurs are taking. For the moment some events have taken place in the tropical island and more than a few importnat visitors related to the IT field have visited the country.

In the coming days UCI will be settling the last details before launching their migration to the new version of Nova 5.0. Final touches to different tools and procedures that will support the whole process are being reviewed by their Committee of Migration to Free Software.

Cuba announced Tuesday that it will legalize small- and medium-sized private businesses in a move that could significantly expand private enterprise in one of the world's last communist countries.

Cuban business owners and economic experts said they were hopeful the reform would allow private firms to import wholesale supplies and export products to other countries for the first time, removing a major obstacle to private business growth.