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Brazil to finance plan to upgrade Cuba's airports

Agencia EFEMay 7, 2013 19:42

Havana, May 7 (EFE).- Brazil will finance a project to expand and modernize Cuba's airports, state media on the Communist-ruled island said Tuesday. Brazil's development, industry and foreign trade minister, Fernando Pimentel, and Cuba's head of foreign trade and foreign investment, Rodrigo Malmierca, signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the project. They also reviewed "the positive progress of bilateral economic relations," in particular the progress of work at the port of Mariel, near Havana, the Prensa Latina news agency said.

Cuba: More than 2,000 state firms shifted to private sector

Agencia EFEApril 29, 2013 17:31

Havana, Apr 29 (EFE).- The Cuban government has leased more than 2,000 small businesses to their old employees, who have increased the firms' income and the quality of the services provided. This new form of non-state management, included in the economic reform plan of President Raul Castro, was begun on an experimental basis in 2009 in barber shops and hair styling salons, but it was later expanded to 47 economic activities. To date, 2,041 businesses have been leased to a total of 5,479 employees, according to figures compiled by the Domestic Commerce Ministry.

Havana's classic taxis get a taste of competition

Agencia EFEApril 29, 2013 11:30

Havana, Apr 29 (EFE).- Havana's taxis, most of them vintage American cars that have traditionally shared the service they offer, for the first time in decades face the unusual situation of having to compete for passengers, following a boom in licenses for private cab drivers. In a city where problems of public transport are chronic, it is strange to see cabs looking for passengers and not the other way around, but the sudden appearance of hundreds of new taxis over the past two years has changed everything.

Cuba to open state-run wholesaler for private companies

Thomson ReutersMarch 7, 2013 14:15

* Step toward meeting new entrepreneurs' demand * Signals support for strong private sector * More than 200,000 small businesses added since 2010 By Marc Frank HAVANA, March 7 (Reuters) - Cuba established on Thursday a state-run wholesale company to sell food products, industrial and other consumer goods to private companies and the state sector, a step aimed at meeting a key demand of local entrepreneurs.

Cuba holds military exercises against possible US aggression

Agence France-PresseFebruary 2, 2013 13:15

Cuba's armed forces on Saturday began holding military exercises aimed at preparing the Communist-ruled island to defend itself against any possible attack from the United States, local media reported. Military units from across the island "began this weekend to prepare for Cuba's defense... which would combine the participation of the armed forces and the people," the government-run Prensa Latina reported. It wrote that taking part in the exercises are military units from Camaguey in eastern Cuba, the central city of Matanzas and the town of Artemisa outside Havana.