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