Local Development: Producers Interconnected also From Virtuality

The 1^st Local Development Fair Havana 2022, summoned by the governor of the province and hosted by Expocuba between March 28^th-April 3^rd, will give us the chance to glimpse how many interconnection and common  possibilities could exist between the Local Development Projects (LDP), Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Non-Agricultural Cooperatives (NAC), Agricultural Production Cooperatives (APC) and Credit and Services Cooperatives (CCS) and Self-Employed Workers (SEW).

It made also possible -besides highlighting their potential in terms of goods and services offers- to look at the possible links of these economic actors with companies and state entities, as well as with other equally interesting alternatives.

As a result of that meeting, according to the website of the Ministry of Domestic Trade https://www.mincin.gob.cu/es/noticias/cerro-la-i-feria-de-desarrollo-local-de- la-habana , “1,620 businesses deals were closed between the actors themselves or with the participating companies”.

How many more businesses and new connections could continue to derive from that event, how much could be paid to that necessary circular economy we seek, if there were a digital space that would officially give continuity to it?

We are not talking here about a virtual Fair, but just a digital site that, permanently and with the appropriate technological support and attention, facilitates the consensus of all those economic actors, new and old, so that they get to know each other and can thus come together for benefit not only local, but national.

Because the proposal should perhaps not focus just on the capital's environment, but spread to the entire country because Havana producers could perhaps complement each other with those from other provinces, and vice versa.

Of course, ultimately, the benefit would revert to the local network, but also municipal, provincial, and for the welfare of the entire country.

That platform would also mean a large database, the usefulness of which would go beyond the links between producers.

In social networks like Facebook (Meta) if profiles and groups have been created whose objectives are precisely that minor enterprises and other modalities get to know each other and do business. Among these virtual spaces stands out Mipymes de Cuba https://www.facebook.com/groups/336032378212781/?hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen&multi_permalinks=453498709799480 , which as I am writing these lines had just over 49 thousand members.

This Facebook group seeks, as indicated in its presentation, "to group the minor enterprises created in Cuba in order to share knowledge, experiences and promote the services of each one, achieving integration and collaboration." And they either promote products, ask about certain raw material, give conferences, clarify doubts, ask for and give recommendations...

It has an administrator, and he does well. He is Carlos Julio Gamez Viamonte, along with 24 others. But how good it would be if computer scientists, economists, experts from various disciplines and also managers, added their knowledge to this proposal, or to another.

Or that among all the existing groups related to this topic, they join in a Cuban platform created for that purpose, which could even contain virtual stores with payment gateways included, virtual classrooms... the options are several, as many remain to be explored for the good of Cuban economy.

Translated by Amilkal Labañino / CubaSí Translation Staff