Cuba advances in public administration management

Almost 4000 Cuban specialists have had access to experience and expertise of the European Union in priority areas for public administration management during the last three years.

The Cuba-European Union Experts Exchange Programme, managed by the FIIAPP, and funded by the European Commission, ended its first phase with a very positive assessment: more than 150 exchange activities developed during the programme, which ranged from conventional training initiatives and the holding of workshops and seminars, to identification missions, study visits, participation in international conferences and short-term technical support.

The results of this first phase were clear in various areas, including improving efficiency in the income tax campaign carried out by the National Office of Tax Administration (ONAT). The Cuban institutions that also benefited include the National Institute of Economic Research (INIE), the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) and the Centre for Advancement of the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Investment (MINCEX).

In particular, progress has been made in defining powers in the administrative decentralisation process towards the provinces, promotion of the use of biogas for transport, the improvement of the collection of statistical data in accordance with new forms of state management or greater coverage of risks of Cuban companies working in exports.

The project, led by the Delegation of the European Union in Cuba, in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy and Planning and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment– has already started its second phase with another 42 months to go, almost EUR 6 million and the same objective to support the process of the island’s economic updating by exchanging experiences between officials of the Cuban and European public administrations.