Non-Agricultural Cooperatives in Cuba Improve Their Management

The non-agricultural cooperatives are immersed in a learning process which will allow them to perfect their role in the economy, Odalys Labrador, an official of the Cuban Cooperative Society, indicated today.

In statements to Prensa Latina, made during the closing day of the IV International Meeting of Cooperatives held at the Convention Center in the capital, Labrador said these forms of management are in an experimental process of development.

In the official's opinion, it is vital for managers, partners, and also for the actors involved in the development of this movement, that these structures be educated about the socio-economic essence of a cooperative as a company.

They must be profitable and efficient, Labrador added, but they must also understand they have a social responsibility to the community in which they are located and to society as a whole.

The non-agricultural cooperatives, which draw from the wealth of knowledge of the Cuban agricultural movement organized in these structures, reveal the expert, fulfill the objectives for which they were created, which is to reorganize some vital services for the population.

But to do so efficiently, Labrador stressed, they must ensure the principles and values inherent in the cooperative movement are observed.

Once its regulatory framework was approved at the end of 2012, the first non-agricultural cooperatives began operations in the second half of the following year.

Since then, and until now, more than 450 entities of this type have been founded, covering a diverse range of services associated with gastronomy, construction and vehicle repair, among others.

The 4th International Meeting of Cooperatives, recently held here, illustrated, during its debates, the need to strengthen the processes of formation and training of the Cuban cooperative movement.

Its participants also advocated for inter-cooperation between these entities, both in marketing and technology transfer, agroecological sustainability as well as social responsibility.