Former minister calls new resolution on MSMEs an “economic and political error”
Resolution 56 of the Minister of Domestic Trade has created great confusion and unrest not only among thousands of MSMEs and TPCP, including their hundreds of thousands of workers who have believed in the assurances by the State and the Government that they will be respected and that they will not be discriminated against compared to other business actors, especially state-owned ones. With this Resolution, under the authority of the Ministry of Domestic Trade to establish commercial licenses for all companies operating in the country’s economy, whether state-owned, private or cooperative, this body has imposed its state authority, ignoring the rights of hundreds of wholesale trade companies in the private sector, for the benefit of state-owned wholesale trade companies attached to that Ministry.
The method used is truly insulting. And that is how they feel: insulted and unprotected by the state authorities who enacted laws that supposedly would protect them against arbitrary actions by the administration. And without even meeting with them, explaining the problems to jointly find viable solutions for state wholesale trade based on the facilities that private wholesale trade has to find financing that allows it to supply the private retail sector and through it the population, they have imposed a Resolution on them, obliging them to liquidate their inventories within a maximum period of 120 days and sell only to wholesale companies of Domestic Trade.
What can the other MSMEs, TCPs and Cooperatives think of such action? That at any time in the future this expeditious procedure could be applied to them in favor of state companies. Perhaps it is not in the plans of the decision-makers, but they would have elements to think so. And the same could be thought by potential foreign investors if suddenly an organization like the Internal Trade Agency, which does not even participate in the negotiations, brings up an article of some law that empowers and forces them to make decisions against their interests.
Ex ministro califica de “error económico y político” nueva resolución sobre comercio de Mipyme
I am convinced that the Cuban State has to guarantee that a Minister cannot pull out powers from under his/her sleeve to affect private businesses, and even state businesses, that are not subject to prior discussion and analysis with them, and their objections are not taken into account; even if they had somewhere to complain. It should never be a Minister who can decide against legitimate business interests. My opinion should not be that of the Government either. Perhaps it should be the courts, and even in the case of large investors, the Council of State.
I do not know if the Prime Minister was aware of this Resolution that is so important and conflictive both economically and politically. In any case, even if he has not been consulted by the Minister, he should explain to the President and eventually to the Council of State the reasons. Perhaps it should not be the responsibility of a Minister to make decisions of such economic and political magnitude.
