Members of The Caribbean Council recently met with the British Ambassador to Cuba for a roundtable event ‘Opportunities and Current Business Environment’ on 3rd of July. We were pleased to be joined by HE James Hooley OBE from the British Embassy Havana to discuss the current climate in Cuba. The presentation included an overview of the foreign trade and investment market in Cuba.
This event was followed by a tourism sector presentation by MINTUR including the Minister of Tourism, José Pérez Lazo. MINTUR discussed the current investment policies in Cuba including business tourism groups, business potential in both the hotel and non-hotel sectors.
We sincerely thank the British Embassy Havana for your support and to our attending members.
Learn more about James Hooley
James Hooley joined HM Diplomatic Service in 2007 and took up his role as British Ambassador to Cuba in March 2025.
In 2009, after two years in London at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, James took up his first overseas posting in Nairobi, Kenya, working on Somalia and spending his final year regularly travelling to Mogadishu as the UK prepared to reopen its embassy there.
In 2012, he returned to London to head the Sanctions Section in the former International Organisations Department, before serving as Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary (first William Hague, then Philip Hammond). In 2017, he was posted to Washington DC as Head of the Political Section, a role he held for five years.
On return to London, he became Deputy Director of Protocol, leading on the Royal Family’s international work. This included leading the FCDO’s work on the State Funeral of Her Late Majesty and the Coronation.
Photo Reference: Official Photo James Hooley – Gov.uk
