CUBA STANDARD — Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker will visit Cuba Oct. 6 and 7 to discuss with officials recent embargo-easing steps by the Obama administration and gauge openings for U.S. business in the island.
The talks are “intended to facilitate more effective implementation of new U.S. policies toward Cuba,” the Department of Commerce said in a statement.
According to the statement, Pritzker will co-chair a “regulatory dialogue” between U.S. Commerce and Treasury officials and Cuban officials. The U.S. officials will describe the recent changes to U.S. sanctions, and “hear from Cuban leaders on the structure and status of the Cuban economy, including the nongovernmental sector.”
She will be the second Obama administration cabinet member to visit Cuba, after Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit in August.
Pritzker has been overseeing a shift of her agency from an enforcer of U.S. sanctions to a facilitator of trade and investment with Cuba.
