'. industries that have shown the strongest growth over the past decade (such as oil, electricity generation, telecommunications, citrus, tobacco, nickel and tourism) have had a strong presence of foreign investment, and five of the ten enterprises that account for almost 80% of total exports are either joint ventures or contracts for cooperative production.
During 2006 Cuba's exploration activity in the Gulf of Mexico attracted significant attention in the US. At its closest point drilling activity could take place within 50 miles of Key West raising commercial concerns from the US oil industry at being shut out of potentially lucrative contracts and raised the possibility of an oil exemption to the embargo. A large recent find on the American side by Chevron and Devon Energy highlights the potential rewards. .
Nickel and cobalt reserves in the north-east of the island are among the worlds largest. Cuba has about one-third of the world's nickel resources (proven reserves of 800 million tones and 2 ban of probable reserves), and is the fourth largest nickel producer. Cuba's cobalt production is about 10 percent of the world total and the nation has the world's second largest reserves. .
Tourism - they keep on coming Extract from Ernst and Young's 2007 Economic and Business Review of Cuba Text by Matthew Pickles (Nov 2006)
Cuba was originally marketed as a relatively cheap sun and sea destination and proved especially attractive to Canadian snowbirds. All-inclusive hotels both fit this model and ensure that the tourists do not overly disrupt the local economy.
As the sector has grown and matured attempts have been made to move the sector up-market. The current emphasis is on increasing profitability per tourist through both cost cutting and improvements to the quality and range of services offered. .
