Cuba Accelerates Economic Reforms: Gas Stations and Pharmacies Open to Private Sector

The Cuban government has announced plans to open gas stations, pharmacies, and various sectors to private enterprise as part of a 176-point reform package approved in June. The government stated that most of the reforms have begun to be implemented.Cuba is preparing to open gas stations, pharmacies, and non-strategic sectors to private investment as part of one of the most comprehensive economic reforms in recent years.According to the reform package, the energy and pharmaceutical sectors, as well as nursing homes, passenger and cargo terminals, port facilities, vehicle imports, renewable energy, and oil and mining activities under certain conditions, will be open to private sector investment.The parliament is also expected to discuss new bills related to agriculture, housing, administrative restructuring, and labor law.Under the reform, agricultural land will remain state-owned, but domestic and foreign farmers, cooperatives, and private companies will be granted expanded usage rights. Cubans will be allowed to own a second home in cities, and a mortgage system will be implemented for the first time.The Cuban government announced that strategic areas such as health and education services, mass media, telecommunications, security, defense, and the tobacco industry will remain under state control.Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero stated in parliament that 110 of the 176 reform points have begun to be implemented, with the remaining regulations to come into effect starting in September.Marrero noted that over 100 actors have been authorized for the wholesale trade of gasoline and that the first foreign investment project for the import, distribution, and marketing of gasoline has been approved.More than 15,000 small and medium-sized businesses, which employ more than a third of the country's active population, operate in Cuba. The reform package is seen as one of the most comprehensive liberalization steps towards the country's exit from the severe economic crisis of the past decade.