Cuba’s top leader met Friday with representatives of U.S. companies and Cuban Americans from Miami who have been doing business with private entrepreneurs on the island, signaling the importance the government is giving to the growing private sector.

“On the sides of the United Nations General Assembly, we begin today with a meeting with American businessmen, whom we update on new business opportunities in Cuba and transformations in our economy,” Miguel Díaz-Canel said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We appreciate the interest in expanding ties and improving relations between both countries.”

Representatives of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Western Union, shipping firm Crowley and Paul Johnson, chair of the United States Agriculture Coalition for Cuba, which has 100 member companies, were among those invited to the closed-door meeting at the Cuban mission to the United Nations on Friday morning.

Also in attendance were Cuban American business leaders from Miami, including healthcare mogul Mike Fernandez; lawyer Ralph Patiño; Ariel Pereda, the owner of a company that ships supplies to Cuba, and Hugo Cancio, owner of Katapulk, the largest online marketplace for the small and medium private companies in Cuba known as pymes.

Carlos Saladrigas, the president of the Miami-based Cuba Study Group, which has helped train dozens of Cuban entrepreneurs over the years, was also invited to the meeting.

During the event the business leaders called on the Cuban government to remove obstacles to foreign investment and aid the growth of the private sector, said sources familiar with the discussion who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to comment publicly on the gathering.

But Díaz-Canel was not prepared to discuss in detail the regulations the Cuban government would need to approve to allow privately owned companies in Cuba to receive financing from U.S. companies, said John Kavulich, the president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, who was briefed about the discussions.

“While useful for President Díaz-Canel to create time in his schedule to meet with private sector representatives, the gathering was a lost opportunity to make progress,” he said. “It was a repeat of voicing grievances rather than discussing in detail how to make more of what is currently authorized by” U.S. government agencies.

Despite tight government controls, small and medium private companies, first allowed in Cuba in 2021, have become a major importer of food and basic supplies to the island and a key source of employment.

The Biden administration has made assisting Cuba’s private sector a priority, and new regulations to allow private business owners to open and operate bank accounts in the United States are expected to be officially announced soon.

A group of about 50 small business owners from Cuba are expected to be in Miami next week to discuss opportunities for trade and to understand U.S. regulations affecting their businesses.

The meeting Friday took place at the end of Díaz-Canel’s trip to New York to attend the annual U.N. General Assembly week.

On Thursday, he first met with a group of U.S. scientists and environmentalists and later with artists and activists who have supported the Cuban government over the years, including actor Danny Glover, Bridges of Love founder Carlos Lazo, People’s Forum coordinator Manolo de los Santos and Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin.

He was scheduled to end his visit with a reception Friday evening at the Cuban mission to the U.N., to which Cuban Americans and American activists supporting better relations with Cuba were invited.

This story was originally published September 22, 2023, 5:06 PM.