Cuomo heads to Cuba as first US governor to visit since thaw in relations

New York governor Andrew Cuomo is heading to Havana, as the first US governor to visit Cuba since the recent thaw in relations.

The formal state visit on Monday and Tuesday is meant to foster greater ties between New York and Cuba. Cuomo is expected to take a small group of business leaders for what he has called “a tremendous stepping stone” that will “help open the door to a new market for New York businesses”.

Trade experts say New York could profit. New York farmers could export apples, powdered milk and other dairy products. Businesses could invest in Cuba’s developing information technology infrastructure. Hoteliers could build resorts to prepare for the increase in American tourists. Any significant economic relationship with Cuba will take time, according to Joe Schoonmaker, the chairman of the New York District Export Council who works as a trade risk insurance broker. He predicted that tourism would be the first sector of the Cuban economy to open up.

“It’s not going to be like opening up China,” he said. “As far as hundreds of millions of dollars of products going down to Cuba, I don’t see it at this time. They’re not going to be buying a lot of stuff.”

Critics say Cuomo’s visit legitimises a dictatorship and is more about politics than exports. State Republican chairman Ed Cox dismissed the trade mission as a political stunt “meant to bolster his national profile”. The governor has been talked about as a possible Democratic candidate for president in 2016, although his presence in such discussions has dwindled to near-zero amidst former New York senator and US secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s declaration for the race. Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, a Staten Island Republican whose mother is a Cuban exile, said any efforts to normalise relations with the communist country must be accompanied by significant concessions from the Castro regime.

“I do not understand the purpose of this trade mission or see any concrete benefit for the state of New York,” she said.

The US has been exporting limited amounts of food to Cuba for years. If New York does establish closer economic ties with Cuba, its first ambassadors may be two of its biggest farm products: dairy and apples. The state is one of the nation’s top producers of both.

“There’s potential there,” said Steve Ammerman of the New York State Farm Bureau. “Any time we can create another outlet for our farm products and our farmers to make more money, that’s a good thing for our entire agricultural economy in New York state.”

As a centre of global finance, New York City in particular has even more to gain from Cuba. Columbia University’s Graciela Chichilnisky said Cuomo and other US leaders may want to consider financial arrangements to encourage trade and investment in Cuba. In particular, she identified information technology and biotechnology as two industries that could be ripe for growth. “They [Cuba] have at least the beginnings of some very promising developments,” she said. “But there is nothing wrong with apples. I love apples.”