Cuba liberalizes and allows private labor in more than 2,000 activities

The Cuban government announced this Saturday a new list of more than 2,000 activities in which private work (self-employment) will be allowed, compared to the 127 that have existed to date, in what represents the biggest social reform undertaken by the government in the communist regime. system that has governed the island since 1959.

The measure, which was announced in August by the Minister of Labor, Marta Elena Feito, was approved by the Council of Ministers on Friday, said the daily Granma, of the ruling Communist Party (PCC, the only one).

According to Feito, as part of “the improvement of self-employment (private), the previous list containing the 127 activities” that Cubans could legally exercise until now has been deleted and increased to “more than 2,000”.

The official said only 124 activities are limited, fully or partially, but did not detail them.

As on previous occasions, sectors such as the press, health and defense, deemed strategic by the government, will be closed to the private sector, which has been severely affected by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The aim of this reform is to facilitate that “self-employment continues to develop,” Feito said, noting that it will remove links with the productive forces and allow Cubans to create businesses with a broader profile.

Economy Minister Alejandro Gil said Cuba was taking an “important step towards increasing employment, in accordance with the country’s monetary order”, referring to the complex economic reform that has taken effect January 1 after a difficult year 2020 which recorded a drop in GDP of 11%.

This is “a very positive step, even if it seems to us to be delayed” because “so far, self-employment has worked in a very limited way,” economist Ricardo Torres, of the AFP, told AFP news agency. ‘University of Havana.

“It was necessary to accompany an approach such as regulation (financial reform) with measures that make job creation more flexible” and in the private sector “there may be an important source of work”, added the expert.

In this way, the government expands the activities that Cubans can carry out on their own, which focus on gastronomy services, transport, rental of rooms for tourism and hairdressing, among others.

Cuba, with 11.2 million inhabitants, currently has more than 600,000 self-employed workers, or 13% of the country’s active population. On the island, public enterprises are present in 85% of the economy.

According to official figures, last June, more than 247,000 private workers, or nearly 40% of the total, had requested the suspension of their licenses, forced by the economic situation.

Oniel Díaz, an entrepreneur who has a private consulting firm, drew attention to the fact that, for years, Cubans have “been able to build businesses through the thickets”, facing “the shortage of raw materials and deficient regulations “.

“The new scenario, where the possibilities of doing have multiplied exponentially, opens a way in which there will be no setbacks for us to play an increasingly important role in the national economy”, a- he declared.

To speed up the procedures for applying for a private work permit, the government has also announced the creation of a one-stop shop. “It is important that this is born well,” Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said.

Torres agreed that “the next step would be to approve SMEs”, but stressed that “it should also be seen how the banking sector will support this growth, with advice and especially with loans.

Cuban economists and the private sector have for years called for the elimination of the fateful “list of permitted activities”, seen as a stick in the wheel of the island economy, which has been practically paralyzed since 1959.

The government’s move comes a month after Cuba began executing currency and exchange rate unification, as part of a large-scale economic reform that included the elimination of the CUC convertible peso, increased prices and wages and the general abolition of subsidies.