Cuban Vice President Says the Island Needs Foreign Investment for Development

[FrodosPet]

http://www.rhc.cu/en/noticias/nacionales/18894-cuban-vice-president-says-the-island-needs-foreign-investment-for-development

Havana, March 29 (RHC)-- Cuban Government Vice President Marino Murillo said that the new Foreign Investment Law is necessary for the island's development and not only for economic growth, adding that its appropriate implementation would not mean selling off the country.

Speaking at the First Extraordinary Session of the Cuban Parliament, Murillo, who heads the Permanent Commission for the Implementation and Development of the Economic and Social Guidelines approved by the Communist Party said that in order to achieve larger economic growth, the country needs to increase its Gross Domestic Product by seven percent and investment rates of up to 20 percent and this demands foreign financing.

Murillo said that Cuba currently dedicates most of its created wealth to local consumption and a smaller portion to investment. This reality confirms the need for a new foreign investment law, which is in tune with the economic guidelines, he noted.

The government vice president said that as the bill states, the participation of foreign capital constitutes a complement to the country’s investment efforts and it will continue to be so in global terms, though for some sectors foreign investment will be crucial.

[FrodosPet]

1. Cuba Overcomes Important Challenges in 2014

The faithful may disagree, may try to nuance this, but the reality is, Castroist Communism is crumbling in Cuba at the same time it is expanding in their colony Venezuela.

Or maybe it is a trick to get money and stuff, and then they will go all 1959 and say "Eff You Suckers! It's OURS now!"

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http://www.rhc.cu/en/noticias/economy/15949-cuba-overcomes-important-challenges-in-2014

Cuba will face very complex problems in 2014 and 2015 which cannot be solved in the short run, though they aim at a socialist economic development model, said vice-president Marino Murillo.
Murillo addressed 1 200 delegates attending the 20th Congress of the Cuban Workers’ Confederation in the presence of the second secretary of the Communist Party, Jose Ramon Machado Ventura.
In his update of the implementation of the social and economic guidelines adopted by the Party, Murillo said that generating wealth in an efficient manner continues to be the main challenge of Cuban economy, which is still facing the problem of having one million laborers in the agricultural sector, 20 percent of five million Cuban workers, and they only contribute 3.6 percent to the Gross Domestic Product.

Due to low productivity, the country continues to import high volumes of food, 50 percent of which can be produced on the island, Murillo said and went on to criticize those who say that since salaries are not enough, working is not worth the while till they are raised. He said this is a vicious circle that has to be eliminated.

Murillo said that the government has drawn up a strategy to be implemented year by year with its necessary update. He mentioned the elimination of the double currency as one of the most complex tasks to undertake this year and in 2015.

He noted that the socialist Cuban economic and social model is in tune with the doctrine defined by President Raul Castro about building a socialist society, which is prosperous and sustainable.
This idea takes on the relationship between the ownership over major production means, “of which we are all co-owners—he noted—and this justifies the fact that based on the state budget everyone has access to free healthcare and education.”

However, Murillo said that not every one is equal so the standard of living and the satisfaction of each one will depend on his or her contribution to society.

The member of the political bureau of Cuba’s Communist Party said that the socialist companies must be transformed through a process to which the union movement must adapt itself.