Business & Economy

Clinical trials of a Cuban vaccine against pneumococcus will begin this year, said the director of the Finlay Institute, Concepcion Campa, during the 16th International Seminar of the Caribbean Medical Association.

The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development on Monday signed several agreements with the Cuban government to finance a project for the rehabilitation of the Havana water and sewer system.

The Cuban government will not increase wages until “labor adjustments” are completed across the country and unnecessary subsidies are eliminated, said union head Salvador Valdes on Monday when speaking to the Trabajadores (Workers) newspaper.

On Tuesday in Miami, Florida governor Rick Scott signed a law that prohibits state agencies from contracting with any companies that trade with Cuba, reported the Lainformacion.com website.

Executives and academics from the Brookings Institution conducted an exploratory visit to Cuba to verify the changes promoted by President Raul Castro.

The Cuban government projects to lay off 170,000 workers this year as part of a reorganization plan aimed at “updating” the island’s socio-economic system. Large scale layoffs are a keystone of the government’s attempt to rescue the depressed economy. The only labor union federation, the CTC, fully supports the layoff program.

The transfers of ownership of motor vehicles and housing continues to rise after its legalization last year. Emerging from decades of prohibition of sales and transfers, the tendency is for such an increase in transactions to continue.

The Cuban state-run oil company Cupet began repairing its deteriorated Cardenas-Matanzas pipeline as part of gradual improvements being made in that industry on the island.

The chief operating officer of the Coral Capital Group Ltd., Stephen Purvis, was arrested in Havana as part of an investigation of bribery activities directed at governments officials by their foreign partners.

The Eighth International Conference on Agricultural Law begins today in Havana and is dedicated to “cooperatives as an engine of social development.”