It has been a profitable day, according to the exchanges held with participants of local development projects, entrepreneurs, MSMEs, state companies, cooperatives, creators, as well as those of the tourism system, said Luis Carlos Góngora, coordinator of programs that attends Relations Internationals and Foreign Investment in the government of Havana.

According to Góngora, the First Deputy Minister of Tourism, María del Carmen Orellana, who toured the exhibitions on the opening day, was able to appreciate diversity, potential and opportunities to achieve real linkages and agreements that truly allow this business community to grow in its productive and commercial capacity. and that it finds in tourism the recipient of that production, of those autochthonous products that tourism needs so much for its services and many of which today import from distant places and at a significant cost.

Of the 190 entities that participated, 181 reported that they had made some link with a tourism entity, showed 2,463 business intentions and entered into contracts, with the signing of some initial document, a total of 484, the government coordinator announced. .

In turn, Góngora highlighted the convenience of having a greater representation of the agricultural production sector participate, which, although it already has direct contracts with hotels, has a much higher potential, having more than thirty mini-industries for the processing of agricultural products. .

María del Pilar Macías Rutes, general director of Operations and Quality of the Ministry of Tourism, thanked the initiative and support of the Government of the capital for the organization of the round and pointed out that it is the first step to achieve then specify, make contracts and take In fact, what was discussed with the more than 90 tourism entities that participated.

As he expressed, there are many productions of the new forms of management that substitute imports and “we want to accompany them to sign contracts because in addition to substituting an import, the money generated by tourism then spills over to the national economy and does not leave the country. and that is one of the objectives of the tourism sector, to develop the industry”.

The General Director of Operations and Quality launched the invitation to participate in the Tourism Fair, which in 2023 will be held in Havana.

A few years ago, she said, to the actions in favor of her commercialization, she added a session of suppliers and finding national productions because they put us in better conditions to compete.

(Taken from Tribune of Havana)

Located in the Güines municipality, in the Mayabeque province, the company markets products derived from buffalo milk, such as ice cream, yogurt and cheese.

In addition to these derivatives, it intends to incorporate a new production of probiotic yogurt, aimed especially at vulnerable people and children and the elderly in the community, for which it is linking the Institute of Animal Science (ICA) and the National Center for Agricultural Health (Census).

Roberto Rojas Fernández, sole partner of the mipyme, explains that part of the products that are made are sold directly to the Mincin and another percent is marketed directly to the town, which has given a very good reception to the derivatives.

Productive linkages provide entrepreneurs with the availability of technologies, as well as the acquisition of buffalo milk and natural and tropical fruit pulp, for the preparation of assortments.

“Based on the availability of the fruit harvest, we take advantage of it to keep it in a chain with a mini-industry, so that we can also have it depending on the development at a time when the fruit does not grow,” explains Rojas Fernández.

Producing from within is the motto of his family. In less than a year as private entrepreneurs, they have achieved part of their purposes, among them, having a favorable impact on the lives of the inhabitants of Güines.

(With information from Cubavision International)

The platform has among its novelties the unique national classifier for all forms of economic management, something that did not exist in Cuba and that allows searching for institutions in a simpler and more homogenized way, the president of Dofleini S.R.L., Miguel Pérez, explained to the Granma newspaper. Kings.

For this, he added, the Guide has a classification of 18 categories that in turn have subcategories, with easy and useful concepts translated into the natural language of people.

In addition, this tool contains a space for pure local development projects, which includes those that do not have any economic source behind them, that is, that are not associated with companies or other forms of management with established legal personality. The Deputy Minister of Communications, Grisel Reyes León, also highlights among the main functionalities of this platform that provides job offer options and opportunities such as tenders, collaboration offers and investments.

Of the total number of economic actors that appear in the Guide, only 1,600 are active, which have had good results of work in this way, but a large number are not aware of the importance of this endeavor and another large percentage do not even know that it exists, commented the owner of Dofleini S.R.L.

The businessman pointed out that among the aspirations is to establish a correlation between the tax identification code and the state registration code of companies and budgeted units, so that a single Cuban business directory can be created, in which each business can be clearly identified. .

Pérez Reyes stressed that the business opportunities enabled on the platform are the option that will guide towards the much-needed productive chain, because in this way companies can publicize their productive and association needs.

Work is also being done, together with the Cuban Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, to materialize the specialized guide of importing and exporting companies, already present on the platform, with their space identified to build the exportable offer. Cuban, said the businessman.

He commented that until now, the most important thing about the Cuban Business Guide is the business directory, whose intention is to make it the place where all forms of management in the country have their space for natural promotion, not only to be chained among them. , but also to give visibility of your business to Cuban citizens.

He added that business models are currently being studied, and in this way offer values ​​above those that the Guide already has: better promote brands, do better searches, have a specialized website and a Cuba business subdomain, among other ideas that They will materialize over time.

(With information from ACN)

With this decision, a total of 4,955 economic actors have been approved since the process began in September 2021. Of these, 4,846 are private MSMEs, 51 state MSMEs, and 58 non-agricultural cooperatives.

By origin, 53% are reconversions of pre-existing businesses and 47% correspond to new ventures.

In total, it is estimated that these economic actors will generate 84,405 new jobs in the economy.

Of all those approved, 129 are part of local development projects and 12 are incubated in the Science and Technology Park of Havana.

Download here: List of new MSMEs
(With information from the Ministry of Economy and Planning)

When in 2021 Dofleini Software became the first official Cuban MSME, its managers had the expectation of increasing the exports that they began under the umbrella of self-employment. Today, although every month they report sales and have accessed the Canadian, English, Spanish markets and “sometimes someone else joins in”, the aim is to make the process “as agile as possible”, without unnecessary mediators.

This project, which offers the “specialized software development service in different areas”, was one of the first within the new technology sector to export, after this possibility was approved in 2020 for private forms of management, through state entities.

Always with Desoft as mediator, since that year Dofleini Software has been exporting “consecutively every month”. Its leader, Carlos Miguel Pérez Reyes, tells how this experience has been in an activity considered essential for the recovery of the country’s economy.

Sitting in his office, the young computer scientist explains that until now they have only agreed with Desoft, even though the MSME is incubated in the Havana Scientific and Technological Park, which also has facilities to carry out foreign trade activities, and that there are other authorized companies. , including Softel, Solintel and Citmatel.

“Dofleini has brought all of his clients to the table. Desoft does not put the market. We manage 100% of our clients, we know who they are and what they want. Once everything is well matured, we present it to Desoft”, comments Carlos and regrets that in this process of formalities they have lost potential clients.

The paperwork “sometimes takes between two and three months”, because “the company that intends to hire your services must show if it has the money to pay, if its bank can transfer the money to Cuba and if it is of Cuban origin, meet other special characteristics. ”.

The leader of this MSME of six partners and 51 workers considers that Desoft certainly allowed them to “engage” with the existing mechanisms in the country for foreign trade, in which they had no experience.

“For example, when you are a new client, you must register with Mincex, and you also work with international courts for conflict resolution, in accounts receivable… Desoft has more experience in this, but we think that the processes could be more efficient. , using technology. So that the contracting is 100% digital and takes place in one day, without mediating the classic signatures on a page”.

Above all, Carlos insists, because in programming and computer activities there is a very competitive market at an international level, and “if there is a slight obstacle that prevents either payment – ​​one of our big problems due to the blockade – or efficient contracting , the client leaves and looks for another company”.

ely to foreign trade activity. Its corporate purpose is not to make our path to foreign trade easier. They have to make software for Cuba and export their own products and services, and also deal with all their contracts.

“The fact that they have to take over a piece of someone’s work, I see it badly in several directions. The first, they are our competitors; the second, we are putting the socialist state company at risk, which is showing its face to the world to represent a form of management that it could not even know; and the third is that it is playing the role of judge and party, making decisions based on its own interests, and not based on the interests of the exporter”.

In addition, he adds, these large state-owned companies have complex work mechanisms: thousands of contracts, hiring committees, business groups… “This slows down the processes, unlike small companies, whether private or state-owned.”

The Government announced that state microenterprises specialized in providing import and export services to non-state management forms would be approved. Carlos points out that up to now there is no MSME dedicated to foreign trade, at least in programming and computing activities, and considers that, although this route can improve the current situation, in the case of software development, direct export would be more convenient.

In his opinion, other barriers to exports are built from the standards themselves. “The regulations are designed to export tangible goods, things that can be assembled in a box. But there are other activities, like ours (computer specialists, designers, social networks) that move away from these traditional rules. For example, the procedures are not intended to export short-term IT services”.

For each service that Dofleini exports, 20% of the payment is received in Cuban pesos, at the official rate of 1 USD x 24 CUP. Of the remaining 80%, Desoft charges a 3% commission.

In the Round Table this Monday it was announced that certain non-state economic actors will be authorized to directly carry out foreign trade activities under the control of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment. “We are evaluating starting with the entities that export computer services,” said the first deputy minister of that body.

If this state mediation were eliminated, how would they develop the foreign trade activity? “The first thing would be the export of our products and services through digital platforms. A completely online service, as agile as possible, at the level of the first world. In fact, this platform is already prepared.

“We would do it with total transparency, in terms of taxes, income and number of clients, and always in accordance with what is established in the country,” says Carlos.

However, he considers it valid to maintain the option that a specialized state company can represent the interests of non-state forms, which exists in other countries. “We understand that certain self-employed workers or small companies, who have not had much experience in exporting services, may see these mediating companies as an important alliance.”

Obtaining and increasing foreign currency is an urgency for the country; remove obstacles and streamline processes, a necessity, even more so when entering the international market from Cuba is not an easy task. “Our infrastructure does not have the same level of development as that of other companies in the world and accessing certain financing is complex.

“But it can be achieved, we have shown it,” says the leader of Dofleini, whose efforts are also dedicated to the digital transformation of Cuban society, with total certainty. They work in more than 30 companies on the creation of systems that are disruptive, that is, that change the way technology is used in order to be more efficient.

(By: Lissett Izquierdo Ferrer, Abel Padrón Padilla, Ana Álvarez Guerrero, Cubadebate)