Business & Economy

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.

Cuba launched its first biodiesel plant in the province of Guantanamo, built with Swiss support, reported the director of the Center for Technology Applications for Sustainable Development in the province, speaking on national television on Monday.

A Regular Session of the National Assembly of People’s Power (Cuban Parliament) will debate new tax system from July 20 to 22.

Mexico and Cuba on Thursday launched a new direct air route between Mexico City and the central Cuban city of Santa Clara, reads a statement from the island’s Ministry of Tourism.

The “Ana Cecilia”, the first cargo ship that travels directly from Miami to Cuba in half a century, arrived Friday morning with its cargo of humanitarian aid a day late at the Port of Havana, reported DPA news.