by Yosley Carrero
HAVANA, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Emmanuel Carmona is the head of Mecanica Las Guasimas, a Havana-based startup aiming to produce agricultural equipment in Cuba amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the excruciating U.S. embargo against the island.
After having graduated from the Technological University of Havana Jose Antonio Echeverria with a major in mechanical engineering, Carmona now expects to launch his professional career, after the startup he heads has become one of the first 35 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Cuba recognized by a new law put into effect on Sept. 20.
Under the law, the SMEs will be restricted to operate in a few fields, including education, public health, defense, garbage management and mining, according to the Cuban Ministry of Labor and Social Security.
Also, the SMEs will not be allowed to hire more than 35 and 100 employees respectively.
Mecanica Las Guasimas, which now has six members, leased a warehouse on Havana's southeastern outskirts from a state-operated enterprise, and has already provided different clients with equipment to support the harvesting and storage of crops as well as sustainable charcoal production.
"Revitalizing the Cuban agriculture is crucial for the improvement of our economy. That is why we are very much betting on this project," he told Xinhua. "We need to update the technical infrastructure of our agricultural system."
"We have found a market niche," he added.
Carmona's workmate Dagoberto Marrero said the startup is in line with all the 63 measures adopted by the country's agricultural authorities to expedite the production of food nationwide.
"I think we could help small-scale farmers meet their needs. If we manufacture the agricultural equipment in Cuba, it is going to be easier to repair it," Marrero said, adding, "this could be an effective fashion to substitute imports."
The number of self-employed persons and those working for cooperatives and SMEs in the Caribbean nation has increased to more than 600,000 nowadays.
Accounting for 13 percent of the nation's workforce, local entrepreneurs are now encouraged to export through state-operated enterprises.
Apart from exploring the local market, Mecanica Las Guasimas is also looking for export opportunities to the Caribbean, Central America and Africa.
Damian Guevara, who joined the startup in December 2019, told Xinhua that the Cuban government is on the right track, giving the country's private sector the green light to increase the production of agricultural equipment.
"We can produce high-quality products. I have no doubt about it," said Guevara. "Agriculture is fundamental for the development of Cuba." Enditem