Las Tunas Pavilion at the 2023 Havana International Trade Fair.

If an activity is going well in the province of Las Tunas, it is foreign trade, foreign investment, and international cooperation because its specialists consolidate the objectives set to advance in the strengthening of competition activities in international relations, despite the short time of experience in management.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- This has been possible, to a large extent, by the identification of new exportable lines from the use of the potential offered by local resources, the active participation of new economic actors, and the constant search for alternatives to increase the competitiveness of production, achieve the exports projected in the economic plan, and the promotion of strategic alliances.

In 2023, the province participated in important commercial events such as ExpoCaribe 2023, and the Havana International Trade Fair, besides consolidating the development of the Industry and Commerce Fair with wide participation of national and foreign representatives. Also, the companies that attended those meetings signed several contracts and letters of intent, in addition to presentations of good practices in business management and an exhibition of goods and services with value for export, import substitution, and initiatives that contribute to development.

As a result of the work for export in the previous year, the province today has 24 consolidated goods in 17 entities of the state sector, seven in development and 56 in promotion, and several services already consolidated while the non-state sector also has different projections for foreign trade.

At the end of 2023, the Directorate of Foreign Trade, Foreign Investment and International Cooperation in Las Tunas achieved export sales amounting to 608,717 pesos, of the one million 125,514 planned. The non-compliance was related to the steel, charcoal, tobacco, and sugar productions, fundamentally, due to the limitation of raw materials and financial resources.

Last year, Agroint exported 500 tons of charcoal to Spain and Turkey, and 2.4 tons of Havana chili to Canada and so far in 2024 it is consolidating those exports, in addition to sending 240 kilograms of chunky banana to Canada and working on the certification of 60 experimental farms that are added to the 13 already existing.

Among the projects that show consolidation are the e-commerce sites Market Place, from Pescatun; Tuknasta, from Agroint; and Islamim, from the Food Industry; and the development of cooperative productions with partners from Canada, Argentina, and Uruguay, through the delivery of raw materials and inputs to improve the wholesale and retail offer.

There are also cultural services to several countries, such as the Charles Ingram in memoriam project, destined to the Bahamas; Zabaleando, to Canada and Trinidad and Tobago; and the Huracán Mágico Company, also to Trinidad and Tobago and St. Kitts and Nevis.

Among the work projections for the current 2024 are the creation of business teams at the level of companies or productive entities or service providers with export potential, achieving greater improvement of specialists in all municipalities, developing cooperative productions with foreign partners, presenting three proposals for international cooperation projects for each municipality and organize and develop the fourth edition of the Industry and Commerce Fair with greater international participation.