In brief
Cuban President Miguel Díaz‑Canel urged the country’s state‑owned businesses to become more agile, efficient and competitive, while ensuring they remain rooted in socialist principles. The focus was on four pillars: the energy transition, circular economy, science and innovation, and digital transformation, including automation and artificial intelligence. He highlighted the need for trained management, worker participation, and newer management practices to avoid bureaucratic drag.
On November 2, 2026, Cuban President Miguel Díaz‑Canel addressed a gathering of more than 50 managers of state‑owned enterprises, urging the national company system to become more agile, efficient, and competitive while preserving its socialist character.
In a seminar held at the end of September, Díaz‑Canel outlined what he described as the key criteria for modernizing management teams in state‑owned firms: trained members, functional bodies that move away from administrative formalism that can drag innovation, and a culture of active trust and social responsibility.
He stressed that the society–enterprise relationship must be grounded in a change of mentality, a sense of belonging, and a greater participation of workers. He warned that bureaucracy and negative trends—such as excessive formality or resistance to change—must be identified and addressed.
Díaz‑Canel added that the confidence of the country's leadership in the ability of the business system to contribute to economic development carries a clear demand: managers must be at the forefront of the transformation, not the rear of resistance.
With these points, the president reminded that the pre‑eminence of the socialist state enterprise cannot be measured only by the number of entities, but by the quality of its management, its capacity to confront present challenges, and its real ability to generate economic efficiency compared with other forms.
He reiterated that the transformative process aims to attract capital, increase efficiency and better utilize the capabilities of state‑owned enterprises, while preserving social ownership as an indispensable principle of the system.
To guide this process, Díaz‑Canel identified four focal areas: the energy transition, the circular economy, science and innovation, and digital transformation, which includes process automation and artificial intelligence.
On the energy transition, the president emphasized the importance of moving toward low‑carbon sources and improving efficiency of existing infrastructure. This includes modernizing energy production, distribution and consumption within the state ownership framework.
Regarding the circular economy, Díaz‑Canel spoke of strategically moving production and waste management toward more resource‑efficient cycles, allowing state firms to reduce material consumption, increase recycling, and streamline supply chains.
He singled out science and innovation as a driver of competitiveness, noting that investment in research, development and applied technology can help Cuba advance independent technological capabilities while creating new productive capacities within the socialist enterprise system.
On digital transformation, he highlighted automation and artificial intelligence as tools that can help reduce manual overhead, streamline processes, and increase productivity. He also pointed out how digital tools can support better decision making and transparency in state firms.
These ambitions reflect an increasingly global trend toward integrating sustainability and innovation into governmental or state‑owned enterprises. While Díaz‑Canel’s remarks show a clear commitment to sustainable priorities, converting these goals into concrete outcomes will require sustained policy support, investment and alleviation of bureaucratic constraints.
State‑owned Cuban enterprises historically have taken a leading role in the nation’s industrial and agricultural sectors. The current drive to increase agility aims to build a bridge between socialist principles and modern standards for environmental and economic performance.
In practical terms, entrepreneurs, managers and front‑line workers will have to learn new skills, adopt shared decision‑making practices and bring a culture of continuous improvement to their daily operations. This will involve reshaping training programs, adjusting performance incentives and aligning company incentives with social responsibility.
With these reforms, the Cuban government hopes to attract foreign investment while strengthening the role of public sector firms in meeting environmental goals, offering a distinctive model for economies with a strong state component to address climate change challenges.
