VENTURE CAPITAL POST

New York City-based software company Infor has identified a Cuban partner and reached an agreement to resell software in Cuba, Chief Executive Officer Charles Phillips said on Tuesday.

U.S. companies can expect the same treatment as those from the rest of the world, receiving neither special benefits nor punishment, if there is a further commercial opening between Cuba and the United States, Cuba's foreign trade minister said.

The United States on Friday eased restrictions on imports of goods and services from private Cuban entrepreneurs as part of Washington's rapprochement with Havana after more than half a century of enmity.

Argentines have been complaining for a while now about the country's product shortages. And, until recently, the government has managed to brush aside such protests, which have centered around Argentina's import restrictions.

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged on Thursday $250 billion in investment in Latin America over the next 10 years as part of a drive to boost resource-hungry China's influence in a region long dominated by the United States.

Milagros Diaz has been rolling cigars for 48 years, so long she cannot even smell tobacco anymore, and she is thrilled that the U.S. market is finally opening up for her handmade Cuban "habanos".

U.S. banks will be able to do more business in Cuba after the United States and the island nation agreed to restore diplomatic ties, but trade groups said their members will be slow to ramp up operations, fearing big penalties for mistakes.

BNP Paribas has asked at least three banks to help it clear certain energy transactions in U.S. dollars next year to make sure it can keep its energy trade finance division operating after a ban imposed for violating U.S. sanctions, sources said.

The National Assembly of Cuba has approved a new foreign investment law via a unanimous vote held through a special session, Reuters reported citing the country's official media.

Cuba's reform plans to attract more overseas investment are off to a slow start as the government focuses more on regulating existing foreign joint ventures than encouraging new ones, businessmen and diplomats say.