Cuba creates foreign trade managing group

The Cuban government on Friday announced the creation of a foreign trade managing group to take up the entrepreneurial role of the Foreign Trade Ministry. The Managerial Group for Foreign Trade, or Gecomex, comprises 12 companies in charge of buying and selling goods and services abroad, the government said in a gazette. The Foreign Trade Ministry will cease its commercial activities to solely focus on policy-making, it said. The group includes companies involved in raw materials, import and export, transport, computer science, machinery, as well as food and sugar production. The creation of Gecomex is part of the economic reforms spearheaded by Cuban President Raul Castro since he took office in 2008 to make state-run companies more efficient and invigorate the economy. The restructuring has led to the creation of more than 10 new private groups in a range of sectors, including aviation, energy, petroleum and food production.