Above: a rendering of the Carbonera Club project

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Cuba’s government says it is looking to push the development of golf courses and related real estate developments.

According to Jose Reinaldo Daniel Alonso, director of business at Cuba’s Ministry of Tourism, his office is looking to promote joint ventures for these kinds of developments.

Several such projects are already on the way, including the five-star Carbonera Club project, which was announced earlier this year.

That project, worth an estimated $350 million, is a partnership between the Palmares company and UK-based Esencia Hotels and Resorts.

Its golf course component is being led by PGA Design Consulting, based in the United Kingdom, according to the project’s Web site.

As Cuba begins a slow push toward what President Raul Castro called a “less egalitarian but more fair” economic model, it has been on a stated push to promote foreign investment.

In March, the country’s National Assembly approved its new Law on Foreign Investment, which includes a mix of tax incentives for foreign partnerships.