Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment (Cuba)
Cuban ministry responsible for foreign trade and investment.
From 2 October 2026, MINCEX rules have allowed branches of foreign trading firms to sell wholesale in Cuba and hire Cuban staff directly, while initial uptake remains undisclosed.
Last refreshed: 22 October 2026
Will foreign firms use Cuba's new direct-hiring and wholesale rules?
Timeline for Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment (Cuba)
Opened wholesale trade and direct hiring to foreign branches
Cuba Dispatch: Cuba lets foreign branches hire CubansBackground
Cuba's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, known as MINCEX, directs The Administration of foreign trade and the state's policy towards foreign capital. It oversees the rules through which overseas businesses register, invest, import and export. That remit places it between Cuba's central economic policy and the foreign firms seeking access to the domestic market.
MINCEX also operates Cuba's Single Window for Foreign Trade, or VUCE, for registrations and authorisations tied to import and export operations. Its regulatory role covers foreign commercial representations as well as foreign-invested companies. The ministry can widen permitted activity through implementing rules, but those permissions still sit within Cuba's licensing and approval system. The direct-hiring and wholesale rules illustrate that function by changing what registered foreign branches may do inside Cuba.
MINCEX widens foreign branch powers
From 2 October 2026, rules overseen by MINCEX allowed branches of foreign trading firms to sell goods wholesale in Cuba and hire Cuban workers directly. The change removed the former need for a state importer to receive their goods at the dock and widened employment options already available to foreign-invested firms.
On 2 October 2026, Vice-minister Déborah Rivas Saavedra said all eight foreign-investment measures approved in June had implementing rules. Several projects were still under evaluation, and she named no company already using the direct-hiring route. For MINCEX, the live test is whether foreign branches turn the new permissions into trade and jobs.
Reference
How can foreign branches hire Cuban workers under the new rules?
What can foreign commercial branches sell in Cuba?
What does MINCEX do in Cuba?
Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Updated 22 October 2026. Editorial standards.