Business & Economy

“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.

The Council of State, the highest body of power in Cuba, agreed to appoint Gustavo Rodríguez as minister of agriculture with the aim that the current minister, Ulises Rosales del Toro, “dedicate himself full time to the strategic task of the sustainable increase of agricultural production.”

The National Assembly of People’s Power (parliament) will discuss during its next regular session a bill for the division of Havana province, bordering on the Cuban capital, into two new territories: Mayabeque and Artemisa, reported IPS. The measure would attempt to make more efficient the administration of that area, one of the Caribbean country’s key agricultural regions.

Last year Cuba received 81,000 tourists more than in 2008 but revenues from the tourist industry decreased by 10 per cent, according to a report released by the National Office of Statistics (ONE). Canada continues at the head of the issuing markets, with 914,000 visitors, while the number of U.S. tourists increased 25 per cent, to surpass the figure of 52,000, including many Cuban-Americans visiting family.

Cuba reduced by close to half its commercial exchange with Canada in 2009 and to more than a third with Spain, Italy and Venezuela, revealed a report by the National Office of Statistics (ONE). According to the source, last year imports fell to eight billion dollars as compared to 14 billion in 2008.

Cuba and China will build a new luxury hotel in the tourist area of the Hemingway Marina, in the island’s capital, reported IPS. The new installation, which will have 650 rooms, will form part of the joint ventures in areas such as the machine and light industry, communications, agricultural production and tourism.

The Cuban Vegas Robaina Famoso cigar won the Best of the Best of 2009 Prize, awarded by Moscow’s Cigar Clan organization, which also sponsored an exhibition of 50 works by 15 of the island’s visual artists, reported IPS. The competition, in which several countries participated, also recognized brands from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.

The Ridley Thomas ship docked in the port of Santiago de Cuba, in the island’s eastern region, where it will continue the exploration of the underwater seabed for the optic fibre cable that will come from Venezuela in early 2011 and will greatly increase the Caribbean country’s communication possibilities, announced Anthony Pyne, manager of China’s Geological Projects Company.