At the headquarters of the Cuban Chamber of Commerce, directors of that institution, the Ministry of Foreign Trade (Mincex) and the Government of Havana shared with representatives of local development projects (PDL) and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). ).

The Vice President of the Government of Havana, Luis Carlos Góngora, commented that in the capital the local development work began later than in other provinces, but it has already started and is progressing well.

All the municipalities developed and implemented their strategies, the corresponding structures were designed and actions were articulated with the global directions for the chaining of actors, he listed.

As a result of this work, 22 PDLs were approved in the city, which are linked with state entities and other structures of the economic framework of each municipality.

In addition, training actions were carried out, "but it is pending to establish a better methodological orientation and train decision-makers, who often cannot attend these sessions," he acknowledged.

Góngora referred to the holding of the First Local Development Fair of Havana in Expocuba as a milestone for the work on the subject, "because it was useful for its participants who met, made contacts and established businesses."

In his opinion, however, it is necessary to update municipal development strategies, empower management teams and collect proposals from the population to articulate a comprehensive analysis of what is best for the country.

He also urges the creation of structures at all levels to address local development, including at the national level, to define in time how these new actors should act and open paths for their exports to materialize, he added.

The Havana vice president insisted on the importance of the PDL as independent actors: "Let's put them in the place and conditions they deserve, that the new wording of the corresponding decree serves to promote them."

Regarding the challenges of these specific forms of production, the director of PDL Álamo Producciones, Elena Leal, insisted on the limitations implied by not constituting legal persons.

"We cannot open bank accounts in MLC, register our brand, or have social security, not operate with magnetic cards and the solution cannot be that we become MSMEs," she listed.

For his part, the director of Territorial Attention of the Mincex, Daniel Urrutia, called for promoting local development from the management of external resources.

We must export from the base, be linked to foreign investment and continue looking for mechanisms such as international cooperation funds that can contribute to territorial development, he argued.

The Productive Economic Conference, which will run until June 14, includes multiple spaces for discussion and analysis that allow progress in the implementation of Cuba's Economic and Social Development Plan.

Taken from Latin Press