Cuba to open state-run wholesaler for private companies

Cuba to open state-run wholesaler for private companies

Reuters

11:56 a.m. CST, March 7, 2013



* Step toward meeting new entrepreneurs' demand

* Signals support for strong private sector

* More than 200,000 small businesses added since 2010



By Marc Frank



HAVANA, March 7 (Reuters) - Cuba established on Thursday a

state-run wholesale company to sell food products, industrial

and other consumer goods to private companies and the state

sector, a step aimed at meeting a key demand of local

entrepreneurs.



The new company was just the latest indication that

President Raul Castro plans to create a strong private sector in

retail services and farming as part of a broader reform of the

Soviet-styled economy.



Since taking over for his brother Fidel in 2008, he has been

lifting some restrictions on civil liberties, such as travel and

the sale and purchase of private property, as well as revamping

the state-dominated economy into a more mixed and market

friendly one.



More than 200,000 small businesses have opened since Cuba.



http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-rt-cuba-reformwholesalel1n0bzadv-20130307,0,5185472.story