Japan's largest trading houses are positioning themselves in Cuba before any easing of U.S. sanctions, seeking opportunities in infrastructure, resources and automobiles as Havana emerges from near-isolation.

Mitsubishi Corp., the nation's largest trader, opened an office this month in Havana and is currently researching potential business deals, a spokesman said. Mitsui & Co. will open an office as soon as September and is considering exporting Cuban nickel, according to a spokesman. Marubeni Corp. expects the removal of sanctions to unleash pent-up demand for cars and industrial machines, and the company also plans to open an office, it said earlier this year.

Last year U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro normalized diplomatic relations, an event which signaled an end to five decades of sanctions that left the country starved of cash and little changed since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution. Moody's Investor Services expects Cuba's economy to grow 3 percent in 2016. That will be a bright spot in Latin America, which is forecast to contract 1.4 percent this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.