The International Trade Center (CCI) will provide training, technical assistance and fundraising strategies, a look at the competitiveness and sustainability of Cuban MSMEs in priority value chains.
Through an agreement signed with the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Cuba, the institution will focus concrete actions to boost exports, according to a release of the CCI on its official website.
The parties, the text adds, will design joint financing strategies for new projects that develop value chains, in addition to offering training in sustainability, electronic commerce and commercial intelligence.
This cooperation, aligned with the United Nations Cooperation Framework (2026-2030), seeks to improve Cuba’s business and institutional capabilities to integrate into global trade.
The initiatives include digitalization, e-learning and sustainability standards, a reinforcement of key sectors for market diversification.
The agreement resumes the commitment of the World Ministerial Meeting of SMEs in Johannesburg, where Cuba and 59 other countries supported a roadmap for SMEs, notes the CCI.
In a context of losses
Cuba’s business system July closed with 2,737 registered entitiesof which more than half (55.1%) have been founded for more than 20 years. Almost two-thirds (64.8%) classify as large companies, according to data from the National Statistics and Information Office (ONEI).
The report details that 291 companies (10.6% of the total) reported losses in that month, while 62.7% achieved pre-tax profits of up to 50 million pesos.
Havana topped the list with 51 companies in the red. They were followed by Camagüey (35) and Holguín (26). In contrast, Mayabeque, Ciego de Ávila and the Isla de la Juventud only registered 6 each.
Although the report highlights the longevity and weight of large companies in the economic landscape, it also reflects that almost 3 out of 10 entities had reduced profits. This highlights the challenges in terms of efficiency and profitability in the midst of a context marked by the country’s prolonged economic crisis.
The path of MSMEs in Cuba
In the opinion of the Cuban economist Daniel Torralbas, columnist of OnCuba, Currently, the Cuban State’s policy towards MSMEs seems far from a strategic vision of development, closer to a mere exercise of control and sanction.
The specialist considers that these are treated as a residual sector, without effective public policies to boost their competitiveness, innovation or sustainable growth. For Torralbas, this is a direct responsibility of the State, as in charge of designing and implementing comprehensive strategies for economic development at all levels.
The authorization of micro, small and medium-sized businesses in Cuban municipalities faces notable stagnation. In the parliamentary session of July 2025, it was reported that the 44 authorized municipalities only approved 231 new MSMEs in ten months.
For its part, the Institute in charge of regulating these activities has shown action limited to one year after its creation, focusing on control.
Unlike counterpart institutions in other countries, which prioritize the promotion and development of policies to promote MSMEs, in Cuba the approach has been predominantly supervisory, which could be restricting the growth potential of this sector.
In the first half of 2025, private companies imported goods for 1195 million dollars. MSMEs are responsible for 70%. As for exports, although they were barely 21 million dollars, they registered a growth of 30%.
For Torralbas, both private and state companies have not broken the import model because the mechanisms and incentives of the economy have not changed either.
