Cuba opens door to most fields for small business initiatives

In a major reform of the state-dominated economy, the Cuban government will allow small private businesses to operate in most fields, eliminating its limited list of activities, state-run media reported on Saturday.

The measure, coming as the Caribbean island seeks to recover from an economic slump, will expand the field from 127 activities to more than 2,000 Labor Minister Marta Elena Feito Cabrera was quoted as saying. She spoke at a council of ministers meeting that approved the policy.

She said there would be 124 exceptions, but the media reports provided no details.

Reform-minded Cuban economists have long called for the role of small business to be expanded to help jump-start the economy and to create jobs.

The economy has stagnated for years and contracted by 11 per cent last year, due to a combination of the coronavirus pandemic that devastated tourism and tough US sanctions. Cubans have been dealing with a scarcity of basic goods and endless lines to obtain them.

The crisis has forced a series of long promised but stalled reforms, from devaluation of the peso and reorganization of the monetary system to some deregulation of state businesses and foreign investment.

President Miguel Diaz-Canel said last year the country faced an international and local crisis and would implement a series of reforms to increase exports, cut imports and stimulate domestic demand.