(VELINO) Roma, 15 Jun - Everything is ready for Italy'sbusinesses to begin a mission to Cuba next month. The mission,from July 6 to 8, is for firms in the sectors of AgriculturalMachinery production and Food processing, the Environment andRenewable Energy Sources, Infrastructure and Construction,Biomedical Engineering and Tourism. It was organised by theItalian Trade Agency, the Italian Employers Association,Confindustria, the Italian Banking Association, theConfederation of Chambers of Commerce, Unioncamere, and theConference of Regional Councils, with the support of theItalian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry ofEconomic Development. It will be led by Deputy EconomicDevelopment Minister Carlo Calenda and the Undersecretary tothe Foreign Ministry, Mario Giro. The integration of Cuba intothe global economy continues with the United States normalisingdiplomatic relations. American and European businesses are nowviewing the island as a destination for future investment. Theaim of the mission is to identify and analyse collaborationpotential between Italy and Cuba. The Italian delegationarrives in Havana on July 6, and will attend the BilateralEconomic Forum the following day, with the main localinstitutions. This will be followed by sector-specificworkshops during which representatives of Cuba's EconomicMinistry and businesses will present the island's majorinvestment projects for the next few years. Finally, on July 8,the delegation will visit the Special Economic Area of Mariel,which stretches over 400 km in the periphery of Havana. Thespecial tax and customs benefits in the area are designed toattract foreign investment in the oil and manufacturingsectors. A catalogue will be published in Spanish, with a pageabout each of the Italian companies on the mission. vel.