Cuban ministry of agriculture applies new sales modality for agricultural inputs

HAVANA, Cuba, Apr 18 (ACN) A new modality in the commercialization of agricultural inputs is being developed by the Logistics Business Group of the Ministry of Agriculture (GELMA), by incorporating the sale in freely convertible currency in twenty of the stores that operate throughout the country.

The measure is adopted given the conditions of the world and Cuban economies, which lead to the search for sources of financing, Maria del Carmen Fages Placencia, director of Development and International Affairs of the Group, explained to the Cuban News Agency.

Due to the complex situation the country is going through, we cannot have the 400 million convertible pesos allocated annually by the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP) to support sales in local currency to farmers, she said.

Gelma has a network of more than 300 commercial centers in all the municipalities of the country, which are known by the producers, and in about twenty of them they took advantage of the facilities to place the inputs and give access to those who have foreign currency from the sale of their products, Fages pointed out.

The experience arose in 2020 and to date we have sold around 18 million dollars; in recent times this trade has been depressed, but we keep it alive from other openings and the link with the importing companies of the Foreign Trade Business Group (GECOMEX).

In addition, the directive added, we took the first steps to create our own importing company, we removed an intermediary to lower the costs of inputs, since foreign investment in wholesale and retail trade was recently approved as one of the modalities.

Gelma is the only wholesale trader of agricultural inputs that the country has and gives the possibility that anyone who has a link as a producer can make a contract and access these resources, said Maria del Carmen.