Cuba's Chamber of Commerce to support private workers

HAVANA, Cuba, Aug 4 (ACN) In line with the Cuban State's policy that non-state management forms (FGNE) have an active role in the country's development, the Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of Cuba (CCRC) is preparing to offer them promotion, information, training and advisory services.

Through its five delegations, the institution carries out by province a survey of products, local development projects and FGNE with exportable capacity, in order to promote the linkage with exporting entities towards internationalization, said its vice president, Rubén Ramos Arrieta, to the Cuban News Agency.

He clarified that even though this is a task that is analyzed with the Departments of Foreign Trade, Foreign Investment and Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Trade (Mincex), these are important universes for the Chamber of Commerce, hence it prepares and evaluates with special care the services to be offered in the aforementioned areas of work.

He emphasized that the country promotes the relations between all the actors of the economy, encouraging the FGNEs to have a role and hierarchy similar to that of state-owned companies, and that they can channel their import demands and export possibilities.

We are already working in the territories in training processes and in supporting the necessary interrelation between the different actors, in the facilitation and orientation in some services that they require for the export of their products, such as the granting of bar codes or procedures related to certificates of origin, said Ramos Arrieta.

In his opinion, the promotion through the CCRC mechanisms will be one of the most important benefits that will be offered to the non-state management forms, due to the visuality and reach that the Chambers of Commerce have.

We can also provide them, he said, with advice and training, given the link that the institution now has with prestigious national and international experts on important issues such as quality, global standards and bar code assignment, negotiation, contracting and internationalization.

The official pointed out that trademark registrations, regional agreements, certificates of origin and the definition of prices, among others, are matters already dealt with by the FGNE in sectors such as food, textiles, industry and construction.

In view of the demand of self-employed workers and non-agricultural cooperatives to become members of the CCRC, its vice-president told ACN that the procedures for their affiliation are being carefully evaluated once the conditions allow it; the legal norms for the creation of micro, small and medium enterprises, which are being prepared, will undoubtedly contribute to this effort, he added.

According to recent reports, non-state management forms have exported more than 10 million pesos in items such as charcoal, agricultural products and other services, and more than 3,500 import contracts have been made to produce in the country, the Mincex recently tweeted.

This strategy to increase the management of all economic actors was promoted since the middle of last year, when a group of state entities were authorized to provide contract management services between private workers and foreign clients.