FOR exactly half a century, from the very moment of its founding, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has provided considerable assistance to Cuba.
From the outset Cuba has also made available highly qualified personnel to the Organization, to assist as experts in the field and work as support technicians. The island has also provided UNIDO with venues in which to carry out regional and sub-regional meetings.
As such, relations between Cuba and UNIDO have always been productive.
In terms of Cuban industrial development, this support is evident in the implementation of more than 300 collaborative projects, primarily aimed at local capacity building, professional training, and technology transfer.
During the first 20 years of work between the organization and the island, collaboration was focused on the following sectors: sugar, metallurgical, mining, mechanical, and chemical. In the latter, efforts were mainly focused on pharmaceutical, paper, and glass production, as noted by Amita Misra, UNIDO Regional Programmes director, during the recently concluded Second International Cuban Industry Convention and Exhibition, CubaIndustria 2016.
Speaking at the event, which also served as the setting for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of this international organization, Misra noted the benefits of such efforts, including the development of quality control, standards and metrology, industrial maintenance, and design.
Specifically, among the projects carried out over this time, a highlight was the establishment, in 1973, of a multipurpose pilot plant, known as “Planta 8 de marzo”, which was designed and built for the production of fifteen carriers of active pharmaceutical ingredients.
This was the first significant contribution of UNIDO to Cuba in the pharmaceutical field, which remains an important sector for the island today.
Another significant project was the program to manufacture paper from sugar cane bagasse, with the construction of a semi-industrial pilot plant in 1978, which provided much of the paper and cardboard that was used in Cuba during the 1900s.
Referring to the situation experienced by the Caribbean nation during the decade of the 1990s, Amita Misra noted that the country was forced to reorientate its economy and establish new development priorities, including tourism, improving the productive sector and the efficient use of energy, with the use of renewable resources. She stressed that during this period, UNIDO provided assistance in the fields of biotechnology and genetic engineering, environmental sustainability, business management development and institutional strengthening, among others.
A DRIVING FORCE FOR DEVELOPMENT
Beyond isolated contributions which provide piecemeal progress, UNIDO is committed to promoting sustainable and inclusive industrial development, considered the driving force behind the economic growth of all developing nations. This is precisely the spirit of the mandate approved in December 2013 by all member states of the organization, as Alejandro Rivero, UNIDO programme officer for Latin America, told Granma International.
In November, 2015, the Country Programme (CP) for Cuba was signed by UNIDO Director General, Li Yong, and Cuban Minister of Industries Salvador Pardo Cruz, and includes more than twenty projects providing new hopes for modernization, Rivero explained.
He added that to this end, there is a tentative budget of 50 million euros for the implementation of the projects.
The UNIDO representative noted that the CP provides for the implementation of 22 collaborative projects, aimed at efficient use of technologies and the generation of productive capacity, through a process of industrial reorganization and rationalization; as well as through national and regional production linkages and complementary measures, to increase productivity and value added, favoring the use of domestic raw materials and resources.
The projects will also be directed toward the diversification of industrial goods produced and services offered, by incorporating advanced technologies and minimizing environmental degradation; as well as increasing import substitution and exports of goods and services to create the productive and infrastructural conditions that allow for a transition to a higher level of development. Another focus is the strengthening of research centers and their links to industrial development strategies.
In addition, these projects aim to educate and train the human resources required by industry, with varying degrees and types of expertise; and enhance both the use of renewable energy sources and the industrialization of recycling processes to increase use of industrial waste.
The CP covers three specific areas: the first is the improvement of the institutional and business environment, in order to advance new management models; the second relates to industrial competitiveness, promoting the value added in production and access to new markets; and the third is related to the promotion of foreign investment in Cuba.
The program, scheduled for the period 2016-2020, is also aimed at increasing the participation of women and youth in decision-making; as well as boosting innovation, knowledge sharing, and technology transfer.
As Ileana Núñez Mordoche, vice minister of Foreign Trade and Investment, noted during the launch of the UNIDO Country Programme 2016-2020 as part of CubaIndustria 2016, key aspects are the diversification of the export industry, import substitution, the modernization of technology infrastructure, electricity generation through renewable energy sources, and emphasis on the coordination and improvement of efficiency and productivity.
The vice minister explained that each one of these aspects reflects national priorities for economic development, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals, “in particular Goal no. 9, which recognizes industry and industrialization as the main engines of sustained economic growth, environmental sustainability, and shared prosperity.”
IMMEDIATE PROJECTS
With an initial budget of five million dollars, on June 24, the first three projects of the Country Programme were signed, which constitute “a significant sample of the objectives we hope to achieve in terms of creating capacities through their implementation,” Núñez Mordoche noted.
The first two projects are related to the formulation and monitoring of a more inclusive industrial development strategy, based on statistical evidence, in order for Cuba to meet industrial measurement standards; as well as the development of the island’s music industry, to support its insertion into the global market and increase export capacity.
The third project aims to contribute to better business management in the production of fertilizers and agricultural machinery.
In this regard, Alberto Hernández Flores, national director of the Project for the Improvement and Modernization of Industry in Cuba, told reporters that three entities are involved in this endeavor: the Center for Chemical Research Engineering, the Holguín Agricultural Machinery Development Center, and the Nuevitas Fertilizer Plant (Camagüey).
He stressed the intention of identifying strengths, weaknesses and opportunities based on a strategic analysis, in order to develop a plan for the improvement and modernization of Cuban industry, particularly in regards to the production of calcium nitrate fertilizer, which is highly demanded by the population, used for the cultivation of fruit and vegetables.
Hernández Flores expressed confidence that, with the training of human capital, and investments to modernize facilities, the island could expand production and improve the quality of this product.
Meanwhile, Gilma Noroña, Ministry of Industries senior specialist for Industrial Development, noted that efforts also include the creation of machinery prototypes for the efficient application of these fertilizers, with the aim of increasing food supplies for the Cuban population, as well as supplying the industry with the necessary elements to produce agricultural machinery and tools.
