Business & Economy

Aimed at strengthening trade between El Salvador and Cuba, the “Partial Scope Agreement” went into effect on Wednesday, announced El Salvador’s Ministry of the Economy. 71 percent of Salvadoran products can now be imported into Cuba without paying duties.

The International Court of Arbitration in Paris accepted the arguments of Chilean businessperson Max Marambio, who is suing the Cuban government for assets of the Rio Zaza company, reported La Tercera newspaper.

The bi-annual meeting of Cuba’s National Assembly of Popular Power (parliament) concluded on Sunday without the body taking up the issue of immigration reform, despite Cuban President Raul Castro having announced such an action on two separate occasions.

The vice president of the Cuba’s Council of Ministers, Marino Murillo, advocated before parliament on Monday the creation of new non-agricultural cooperatives as part of the process of “updating” the country’s economic system.

Cuba’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 2.1 percent in the first half of 2012, reported Adel Yzquiero, the Minister of Economy and Planning, when speaking before parliament at the Havana Convention Center on Monday.

In the past six months, Cuban banks have extended loans amounting to more than 251 million pesos ($12.5 million USD) to individuals and self-employed workers, reported the National Bank of Cuba before the country’s National Assembly.

Thousands of people remain without power since a Wednesday night fire and at least two explosions in the underground electrical system in Old Havana, reported the AP news agency.

Two major projects that will positively impact the water supply system on the island were reported to the Cuban parliament on Thursday by Agnes Maria Chapman, the head of the National Institute of Water Resources.

The International Port Corporation, the company that is offering the brand new weekly service of shipping goods directly from Miami to Cuba, suspended shipments this week but will resume next Wednesday.

The Office of the Historian of Havana, directed by Eusebio Leal, has leased premises in Old Havana to the self-employed. The rental spaces in Old Havana could turn out to be very valuable to entrepreneurs, given the area’s location as a major center of tourism on the island.