The new companies, three of them in the Mariel Special Development Zone, have an investment amount exceeding 437 million dollars, First Deputy Minister of Economy and Planning, Leticia Morales, informed.

Before the Economic Affairs Commission of the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP), the official said that, of the endorsed businesses, four are in the tourism sector and the same amount in food production.

Another three are linked to the wholesale commercialization of food, inputs, machinery and basic needs, while the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, the textile industry, literary production and the provision of services associated with hydraulic infrastructure have one in each case.

According to Morales, Cuba plans to incorporate 22 new businesses in the remainder of this year, which will be mainly related to wholesale and retail trade, the agri-food sector, packaging production, tourism, mining, energy and construction.

In her speech before the parliamentary group, which is meeting today and tomorrow prior to the First Regular Session of the ANPP in its 10th Legislature, the first deputy Prime minister added that businesses with foreign investment, as well as state enterprises and private economic actors face various problems for their operation.

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