Viglacera starts $40-million Cuban join venture

The two parties will contribute 50 per cent each. Once the joint venture is established, it will produce ceramics, sanitary wares, and tiles to meet the demand for construction materials in Cuba and Latin America.

Viglacera and Geicon are now working on completing the feasibility study that has to be submitted to both governments for approval.

Geicon will be in charge of building raw material exploitation plans to ensure smooth operations as well as the consumption plan in its domestic market. According to the plan, 70 per cent of the joint venture’s output will be consumed on Cuba and the rest will be exported.

In October 2014, the two sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to set up the joint venture to produce bathroom fixtures and tiles in San Jose and Santa Cruz.

The Cuban market has a high demand for construction materials as the country is encouraging investment in housing and tourism infrastructure. Since early 2014, Viglacera has sent two groups of technology specialists to work with construction material factories in the country.

Geicon, under the Cuban Ministry of Construction, is comprised of 24 companies with a combined workforce of 16,000 people and annual sales revenue of more than 220 million pesos ($8.3 million).

Regarding Viglacera, established in 1974, the company has developed from a traditional brick and ceramics manufacturer to a state-owned conglomerate with a focus on building material production and the development of infrastructure, industrial parks, as well as residential and business properties.

The firm has a total of 40 subsidiaries and affiliated companies nationwide. Viglacera has developed 10 IPs across the country,which attracted over 200 foreign companies from South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, including Samsung, Canon, Orion, and Sumitomo.

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