He Ministry of Economy and Planning of Cuba (Mep) announced this Thursday the approval of 100 micro, small and medium-sized companies (MSMEs) to operate in the island’s economy.
The new authorizations bring this type of business organization in the country to 7,341 since the government gave the green light to its implementation in September 2021, according to the list published on the Mep website.
Of the new MSMEs, three are state-owned and cover the cultivation of agricultural products and their marketing, support services for agriculture and gastronomy, according to data managed by the Efe agency.
The rest are private and operate mainly in gastronomic services, the marketing of food, beverages and tobacco, the production of construction materials and passenger transport.
MSMEs are part of a plan to update the Cuban economic model with a private sector that is growing again, but still with limitations.
This type of company was prohibited in Cuba since 1968 and now they return to develop initiatives in activities related to accommodation, beauty services and local development projects, among others.
However, they are not authorized to operate in sectors considered strategic by the Cuban government, such as health, telecommunications, energy, defense and the media.
In accordance with current legislation, MSMEs can be state, private or mixed. They are recognized as an economic unit with legal personality and its own characteristics.
These new actors of the national economy share space with the socialist state company, the main one for the Cuban State; also with non-agricultural cooperatives and self-employment.
