Business & Economy

The Cuban authorities hope to generalize the use of hand-made fired clay devices to increase the efficiency of electric rings and in this way reduce energy consumption in the residential sector, reported the local press. It is estimated that 20 percent of the power spent in the island’s homes is for cooking food.

Cuba’s National Scientific Research Centre (CNIC) is developing a vaccine against whooping cough and another against cholera, affirmed Rafael Fando, director of biotechnology of that institution, when speaking at the 10th CNIC 2010 International Scientific Congress being held in the island’s capital.

The arrival of summer has led to an increase in power consumption and the noncompliance of the saving plan established by the Cuban government, announced Tatiana Amarán Bogachova, director of the National Electricity Union’s department of rational use of energy. According to the official, since late May the country has exceeded the plan by more than 3,000 tons of oil.

The governments of Cuba and Syria signed several cooperation agreements as part of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s visit to the island, where he met yesterday with his counterpart Raul Castro. The two countries leaders signed documents on the struggle against drug trafficking and in the area of agriculture and communications.

The first International Convention on Tourism Studies will be held at the Havana Convention Center on July 12-16, announced Ramon Martin, dean of the Faculty of Tourism of the University of Havana. The meeting will discuss papers on tourism related to events, incentive trips, organization and management, marketing and technological innovation.

A Cuban-Venezuelan joint venture began the construction of a nickeliferous plant, a fundamental component of stainless steel, valued at 700 million dollars. The plant, which will be built in three years in Moa, in the island’s eastern region, will have a capacity of 68,000 tons a year.

“Cuban scientists are very advanced in the production of vaccines and that is why we are interested in increasing mutual collaboration,” affirmed Sergio Machado Rezende, Brazilian minister of science, technology and innovation, who headed his country’s delegation to a working meeting with counterparts on the island.

The tobacco harvest in Pinar del Río, the region in Cuba with the greatest tradition in that crop, fell 14 per cent this year due to the reduced resources for that sector caused by the economic crisis, reported IPS citing the local press. The island’s cigar production for export has decreased significantly in the last three years, from 217 million units in 2006 to barely 73 million in 2009.

With the help of Venezuelan specialists Cuba is preparing to deal with the possible arrival of the BP oil spill to its pristine coasts. The government has also begun to prepare the population in the most vulnerable zones to confront such a possibility.