DURING the closing of the 5th Ordinary Session of the National Assembly of People's Power on August 1, 2010, President Raúl Castro reported that progress was being made on the studies undertaken by the Economic Policy Commission of the 6th Congress of the Communist Party, the results of which were to be discussed by Party members and the population in its entirety.

The work has been developing over a period of several months with the creation of the Economic Policy Commission headed by President Raúl Castro Ruz, second secretary of the Central Committee of the Party; with Julio Casas Regueiro, member of the Political Bureau, as vice president and, as coordinator of the commission, Marino Murillo Jorge, member of the Council of State, vice president of the Council of Ministers and minister of economy and planning.

In order to complete the Commission's work of defining the direction to be taken in economic and social policy, working groups were formed, headed by members of the Political Bureau, vice presidents of the Council of Ministers, as well as other Party and government leaders from the relevant areas. The work groups focused on the following topics: the economic management model; macro-economic policies (monetary, exchange, fiscal, pricing); foreign economic policy; investment policy; social policy; agricultural industry policy; policies for other sectors (tourism, transportation, construction, retail sales); science and technology, as well as a study of the country's two currencies. A working group was also formed to study the regulations and legal procedures related to changes in the economic model.

A number of other officials from departments of the Central Committee and specialists from other bodies and research institutions also participated.

As a result of the Commission's work, a document entitled "Economic and Social Policy Development Project" was drafted and will be discussed with all Party members, workers and the general population, in order to gather and take into account their opinions. It will subsequently be submitted to the 6th Congress for approval.

The document has been published as a pamphlet, available to the population for sale at post offices and news stands across the country.

The 6th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba will take place mid-April, 2011, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs victory and the declaration of the socialist nature of the Cuban Revolution.