Cuba’s human resources provide the country with a huge capacity for incorporation into the world market and are an advantage in the current updating of its economic model, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Alicia Bárcenas, explained in an interview with Granma on Tuesday.

Bárcenas, on an official visit to the country, highlighted the progress over the past few years in terms of improving the Cuban economy and the new opportunities offered through the new Foreign Investment Law.

"Everyone would like to see faster change, but that is not always possible", she added, after recognizing that the process is being carried out without sacrificing the social achievements of the Island.

"There are inalienable values here such as avoiding the concentration of capital, which has happened in the rest of Latin America, where wealth is concentrated in just a few hands and companies," she said.

She added that a lot of care is being taken with regards to strategic sectors such as education, health, employment and worker protection.

"Other countries welcomed foreign investment without worrying too much about their people," Bárcenas noted in a press conference prior to the interview.

She emphasized popular participation in each of the steps that have been taken. "People are aware of what they want to achieve and are accompanying the process."

"Cuba has made very good decisions in the right direction that are now irreversible," she said.

CLEAR RULES AND A FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR FOREIGN INVESTMENT

The ECLAC Executive Secretary referred to the potential for Cuba to assume greater levels of foreign investment, despite a regional context marked by a slowdown in capital inflows.

She assured that the country offers a very favorable environment for investment and noted the dynamism that the Port of Mariel and its Special Development Zone should provide.

Investment seeks three main qualities, she said. The first is the market on offer, and Cuba is benefited by its geographical position and the potential of expanding its ports. The second is natural resources, as is the case in most of the countries of South America.

The third and final area mentioned are the human resources, which Cuba has to its advantage.

Unlike the rest of Latin America, Cuba’s human resources are wide. This is a very important condition for foreign investment. The combination of human, professional factors, with investment results in less efforts in terms of having to bring in personnel from outside.

"There are very clear rules", Bárcenas stated with respect to the new legislation. She highlighted its transparency in terms of expectations, the sectors which are open to investment and those which are not.

"It also states how to handle labor and wages. Elsewhere this is not discussed and that has caused problems," she added.

"Studying the Foreign Investment Law in conjunction with labor law (The Labor Code) one can clearly see how it is protecting the most important aspect, the people. At the end of the day, all this is being done for the welfare of the people."

"Cuba has the opportunity to learn many lessons from what our region has experienced in terms of foreign investment and to avoid the same mistakes."

She said the capital arriving on the Island will be inserted into a development plan that is undertaken hand in hand with the public. "When people are not informed and not involved, foreign investment causes conflict."

She highlighted that exciting sectors are opening up such as renewable energy, food production and construction.

She particularly valued the possibilities in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. "Cuba has a unique strength in the region and that is the production of drugs, effective medicines for a geographic area in which most countries are net importers."

Bárcenas commended the kind of cooperation that the Cuban nation has with region in the field of health and described the participation in the More Doctors program in Brazil as timely and effective.

She added that other examples such as that recently seen in Bolivia, with professionals trained in Cuba who are now implementing preventive medicine there, are evidence that this is not just an exchange of people, but also an exchange on approaches to health.

Similarly, she highlighted the impact on the international community of the "concrete and correct" response of Cuba to combat Ebola in West Africa.

Bárcenas also discussed the UN vote condemning the U.S. blockade on Cuba. She stated that the U.S. government has the opportunity to change its policy which would have very positive impacts as it would open up space for economic, political and social changes in both countries.

"Cuba is currently a very welcoming environment for new investment and forms of production and it would be extremely important for the economic forces in the United States to participate in this. There are several sectors that are already calling for the blockade to end".

She noted the progress made in this area but also highlighted the setbacks, as seen in the extraterritorial application of the blockade and the financial harassment of banks who do business with the Island.

"I believe that Cuba has managed to resist for over 50 years and has developed its own productive strategy. Today the United States losses more due to the blockade than Cuba does".

2015 WILL BE A BETTER YEAR FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

ECLAC has cut its growth forecasts for 2014 in Latin America and the Caribbean to 1.8%, but its predictions for next year are better.

The Executive Secretary of the UN agency explained that by 2015 factors such as the economic recovery in the U.S and a possible improvement in trade due to a European recovery, are expected to positively influence the region.

She also mentioned that it is important for our region to exploit the new business opportunities that have opened up with the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

But she stressed that one of the main reasons for the recovery will be the results of the application in several countries of countercyclical measures based on public investment, which complement the private sector.

Bárcenas said the last century of the 90s left very strong lessons. "It showed us that the market alone will not solve the major social issues and even less so a market without regulation and without the participation of the State."

"Inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean deepened in the 90s and I think that the role of the State is crucial if we want to see the correct result of development, which is equality."

"What we're seeking is the welfare and equality of the people, a more inclusive society, to have more sustainability. That can only be achieved with the role of the State which will favor the public interest over the private."

The whole region requires a structural change, she said, but the Cuban case is different. "Cuba is a country with public goods. Today people do not ask whether they have the right or not to education or health. They do, it is a guaranteed right. That does not happen in the rest of the region."

"There is hope, motivation, the possibility to advance. There are other countries with great despair, either because they suffer from international crime, drug trafficking, or insecurity, or because they see no options in the current economic model. That is not the case here."