Andrew Murray-Watson In Havana.
The Scotsman. UK, June 20, 2001.
TWO entrepreneurial Scottish firms are set to sign lucrative deals in Cuba
which could eventually be worth millions of pounds.
Fraserburgh-based Scotnet (UK), the commercial fishing net supplier, said it
had had a successful meeting with Cuban fishing authorities and was close to
signing an agreement which could see the company establish a permanent presence
on the Caribbean island. The firm, which employs nine people, is looking to
exploit new markets as the domestic gloom surrounding the Scottish fishing
industry deepens.
Managing director of Scotnet, Calvin Morrice, said: "The domestic
situation is going to get worse before it gets better. We have got to seek
alternative markets so when the fishing industry back home picks up again we
will be at the heart of the revival."
Scotnet already exports to Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Chile as well to
mainland Europe.
"There is huge potential for us to trade in Cuba," Morrice added.
Jo Nelis, the owner of Lindores Manor Hotel in Greenock, who is also part of
the UK trade mission to the Caribbean country, met with the minister for tourism
yesterday.
He is planning to launch an internet company selling Cuban holidays. The
website (www.cubanvacations.co.uk) will be officially launched in October. It is
being built by Paisley University’s e-business unit.
He said: "Cuba is the fastest growing tourist destination in the
Caribbean. Over 100,000 people from the UK visited the country last year, and
that figure is growing rapidly."
The online holiday venture is being partly funded by Scottish Enterprise
Renfrewshire.
More than 20 UK companies are taking part in the UK trade mission, which is
headed by Baroness Young, the Conservative peer and UK chairwoman of the
government’s Cuba Initiative. | 
