From dried fruit to bike repair, Cuban entrepreneurs prepare for a more open economy
Record ID:
1634011
From dried fruit to bike repair, Cuban entrepreneurs prepare for a more open economy
- Title: From dried fruit to bike repair, Cuban entrepreneurs prepare for a more open economy
- Date: 26th August 2021
- Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (AUGUST 24, 2021) (REUTERS) PEOPLE WALKING ON A STREET WITH SHOPS CAFETERIA EMPLOYEES HANDING CUSTOMER HIS ORDER ICE CREAM SHOP SIGN KIOSK EMPLOYEE HANDING CUSTOMERS THEIR FOOD HAVANA, CUBA (AUGUST 25, 2021) (REUTERS) PEOPLE RIDING BICYCLES ON THE STREET PEOPLE RETURNING BICYCLES AT A RENTAL SPOT PERSON COMING OUT OF BICYCLE RENTAL AND REPAIR SHOP WITH BICYCLE 'VELO CUBA' BICYCLE RENTAL AND REPAIR SHOP OWNER, NAYVIS DIAZ, TALKING TO CUSTOMER AND EMPLOYEE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) 'VELO CUBA' BICYCLE RENTAL AND REPAIR SHOP OWNER, NAYVIS DIAZ, SAYING: "It's a moment we've been waiting a long time for, to really have a non-state sector, in this case, a private sector. To be part of a global analysis of the country's economy so we could help in every way we could." VELO CUBA EMPLOYEES INSPECTING A BICYCLE TIRE BICYCLE REPAIR SHOP EMPLOYEES REPAIRING BICYCLE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) 'VELO CUBA' BICYCLE RENTAL AND REPAIR SHOP OWNER, NAYVIS DIAZ, SAYING: "There is openness right now between both sectors (referring to state and private) which I hadn't seen in seven years (when she opened her business). I think this will allow us to keep on growing but mainly, it will allow us to apply our creativity, all of our ideas because we were a little limited, because the famous listing (of allowed jobs) limited us. Now it is a matter of the private sector being more and more creative, but we have to analyse the economic context closely because we will have an increasing responsibility with all the people that we are going to hire in our companies" HAVANA, CUBA (AUGUST 24, 2021) (REUTERS) DOWNTOWN STREET CLIENTS OUTSIDE A CAFETERIA PIZZA PARLOUR SIGN PEOPLE WALKING NEXT TO PIZZA PARLOUR HAVANA, CUBA (AUGUST 23, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ECONOMIST, OMAR EVERLENY, SAYING: "It is a very positive step that many, including in academia, have demanded for years. But we shouldn't create big expectations that this will save the country. I believe it is a combination of factors. I don't agree with people using the word gradually, since 2016 we've been talking about small and medium businesses, and today they are talking about gradually in the country when what we need is speed, not gradually. The bureaucracy needs to align with the country's interests." HAVANA, CUBA (AUGUST 24, 2021) (REUTERS) COSTUMERS BUYING FOOD AT STORE EMPLOYEE PLACING DRIED FRUIT PRODUCTS ON A SHELF EMPLOYEE ARRANGING FRUIT BAGS FOUNDERS OF 'DESHIDRATADOS HABANA' DRIED FRUIT BUSINESS, RICARDO, AND OSCAR FERNANDEZ, PLACING DRIED COCONUT ON A SCALE DRIED COCONUT BEING PACKED (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FOUNDER OF 'DESHIDRATADOS HABANA' DRY FRUIT BUSINESS, OSCAR FERNANDEZ, SAYING: "It would've been very helpful for (the law) to have come out before but if it came out now, now is the moment to take advantage. Apparently, it is a very complicated moment because there are very few products, very little on offer, a big logistics crisis. But at the same time that is a big opportunity, any undertaking created now that provides new services and goods will find space because the economy is practically new." OSCAR FERNANDEZ SEPARATING COCONUT CUBES IN HIS WORKSHOP VARIOUS OF FERNANDEZ BROTHERS PREPARING DRIED COCONUT IN THEIR WORKSHOP (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FOUNDER OF 'DESHIDRATADOS HABANA' DRIED FRUIT BUSINESS, RICARDO FERNANDEZ, SAYING: "Everything we see written down sounds wonderful, it gives us hope but in time we would like to see how real this regulation is in practice and how sustainable it is over time, how regular is its application." CAFETERIA EMPLOYEES SERVING A CUSTOMER BICYCLE TAXIS ON THE STREET VARIOUS OF CARS ON THE STREET
- Embargoed: 9th September 2021 23:35
- Keywords: Cuba business economy entrepreneur local business
- Location: HAVANA, CUBA
- City: HAVANA, CUBA
- Country: Cuba
- Topics: South America / Central America,Lawmaking,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001ES21NPJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Cuban entrepreneurs are scampering to understand the opportunities and challenges ahead after the Communist-run government decreed this month that private small and medium-sized businesses could incorporate, ending decades of classifying them as merely "self-employed".
The measure is one of the most important structural reforms undertaken since all businesses down to shoe-shine boys were nationalized in 1968 by former leader Fidel Castro, analysts said.
At the same time a continued ban on professionals going private, foreign partners, and direct foreign trade, among other issues, reveals there is still resistance to fully opening up the private sector, they cautioned.
"There is openness right now between both sectors (referring to state and private)," Nayvis Diaz, founder of Velo Cuba, a bicycle repair and rental company with 17 employees in Havana, said.
Omar Everleny, one of Cuba's best-known economists, said "it is a very positive step that many, including in academia, have demanded for years. But we shouldn't create big expectations that this will save the country."
The measure is a key part of the market-oriented reforms undertaken by new Cuban leader Miguel Diaz-Canel over the last year, as the coronavirus pandemic and tougher U.S. sanctions pushed the shaky economy into a tailspin and shortages of food, medicine, and other basic goods reached alarming proportions.
Cuba's economy contracted by 10.9% in 2020 and declined another 2% this year through June, compared with the same period in 2020. The economy remains heavily reliant on tourism and imports.
The Fernandez brothers, who own Deshidratados Habana, the only company in the country processing and selling dried fruits, from limes and oranges to mangos and bananas, were nevertheless enthusiastic.
"Now is the moment to take advantage," Oscar Fernandez explained amid makeshift ovens and other equipment in his basement that the company began when the pandemic, currently surging on the Caribbean island, forced their cafeteria to close.
Diaz, in her workshop crowded with bicycles, agreed, stating "it's a moment we've been waiting for a long time, to really have a non-state sector, in this case, a private sector. ."
Hundreds of small businesses have found similar niches in a state-dominated economy short on imagination and initiative, from gourmet restaurants and 3D parts manufacture to software development, home delivery, landscaping, and construction contracting.
The private sector, excluding farmers, has gradually expanded since the 1990s to encompass more than 600,000 self-employed license holders in many areas and includes small business owners, non-agriculture cooperatives and their employees and members, tradespeople, and taxi drivers.
Now the Fernandez family business sells dried fruit online and has placed their product at three upscale private locals in Havana.
Oscar they were looking to establish relations with state and private supply chains.
Diaz said much the same but added she would be cautious and consult her lawyer and accountant every step of the way.
The Fernandez brothers said they did have one worry, shared by others on social media.
Time will tell, as the brothers have already drawn up plans for a small factory that would process a ton of fruit daily, including for export, and dream of owning a store that sells their products.
(Production: Anett Rios, Mario Fuentes, Nelson Gonzalez, Nina Lopez) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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