Cuba seeks foreign investment as it shores up increased diplomatic ties

Improving relations with the US has led to business delegations visiting the island nation to explore possibilities of better ties

It may have been hard to imagine in Fidel Castro's heyday, but Cuba's trade minister made a high-profile pitch for foreign capital at a meeting of corporate executives on Thursday as the island nation sought to reap the economic benefits of improved relations with the United States.

Following Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and the bosses of Walmart, CocaCola and Citibank on the podium of the CEO Summit of the Americas in Panama, the Cuban foreign trade and investment minister Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz called on international investors to assist Cuba in the construction of a socialist society.