Cuban MSMEs discuss their current situation

 HAVANA, Cuba, Nov 9 (ACN) Officials from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) learned this Tuesday in Havana about the main challenges and strengths of Cuban small and medium-sized enterprises to promote their inclusion in local and export value chains, as well as the competitive advantages they can have in a globalized market.

As part of the workshop "Opportunities to support MSMEs in Cuba", which is being held this Tuesday and Wednesday at the Meliá Habana Hotel, such valuable information was provided by representatives of these private companies, local development projects, territorial governments, national organizations and institutions and universities, divided into seven working groups.

The meeting was held online and also from the website of the Articulated Platform for Integral Territorial Development (Padit), co-sponsor of the meeting, private entrepreneurs' opinions enriched the debates and presentations.

Among the challenges they identified difficulties in accessing financing and raw materials or inputs, the lack of knowledge of the established regulations, which causes inertia when promoting public-private partnerships, the lack of alignment of MSMEs with the Municipal Development Strategies and insufficient environmental management by entrepreneurs in their businesses.

With regard to the strengths for the inclusion of new economic actors in value chains, Cuban participants pointed to the existence of qualified and prepared human capital, the political will and legal framework that accompany the approval process for new MSMEs, and the self-responsibility of all partners, among other challenges.

When asked what competitive advantages Cuban MSMEs can have in a globalized market, they mentioned the quality of certain Cuban products to export and bring income to the country, the creativity of many entrepreneurs, access to foreign currency, and having experience in self-employment and local development projects.

The exchange of experiences between the new economic actors, Cuban organizations and institutions and the UNDP experts will enable the latter, in their capacity as international consultants, to present the good practices and lessons learned from the work carried out in several countries of the region.

Also. during the workshop, they will present the methodologies of this United Nations agency to promote MSMEs, in order to adapt them to the Cuban context.

The meeting was presided by Ivan Zverzhanovski, UNDP deputy resident representative, and Mildrey Granadillo, first deputy minister of the Ministry of Economy and Planning.