The Cuban Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP) approved 89 new applications for the creation of private micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the country, according to official media.
Through its social networks, the MEP reported that with this decision there are 4,376 new economic actors approved since the beginning of the process, in September 2021, a report of the Cuban News Agency (ACN).
The Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP) today approved 89 new applications from micro, small and medium-sized private companies.
— Ministry of Economy and Planning of Cuba (@MEP_CUBA) July 22, 2022
The entity details that of the MSMEs that have already received the green light to operate, 4,269 belong to the private sector and 51 are state-owned and, in addition, the integration of 56 non-agricultural cooperatives has been authorized so far.
The governing body of the economy on the Island recalls that 53% of new ventures correspond to conversions of businesses that already existed, and the rest are newly created.
In addition, the MEP sets at 74,306 the jobs that these new actors would generate, from which a boost is expected to dynamize the hit country’s economywhich is experiencing a deep crisis exacerbated by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, US sanctions and the ineffectiveness of some measures designed to reverse this situation.
In the disclosed information it also transcends that of all the MSMEs approved so far, 126 are part of local development projects and 11 are incubated in the Science and Technology Park of Havana, details the ACN.
MSMEs, whether private or state-owned, are part of the current economic scenario on the Island, and coexist with non-agricultural cooperatives, self-employment, and socialist state enterpriseconsidered by the government as the main actor in the Cuban economy.
The legislation allows them to have one or more partners, to be constituted as commercial companies and to be classified depending on the number of employed persons as: micro-enterprise, whose range of employed persons is from one to 10 persons; small business, from 11 to 35; and medium-sized company, from 36 to 100 people.
These new enterprises have been endowed with their own legal personality, can export and import through state entities, and have been authorized for activities related to accommodation, beauty services, food production, manufacturing, information technology, logistics and transportation, among others.
However, they cannot access spheres considered strategic for the State, such as health, telecommunications, defense and the press.
