Cuba has announced it will allow private businesses to operate in most sectors, in what is a major reform to its state-controlled economy.
Labour Minister Marta Elena Feito said the list of authorised activities had expanded from 127 to more than 2,000.
Only a minority of sectors would be reserved for the state, she said.
The communist country’s economy has been hit hard by the pandemic and US sanctions introduced by the Trump administration.
Last year its economy shrank by 11% – its worst decline in almost three decades – and Cubans have been facing shortages of basic goods.
Ms Feito said just 124 economic activities would be exempt from private involvement although she did not mention which ones.
“That private work continues to develop, is the objective of this reform,” Ms Feito was quoted by AFP as saying. She said the move would “help free the productive forces” of the private sector.
This will be a significant shot in the arm for those families and individuals who harbour hopes of moving beyond just the very small businesses into medium-sized ventures, he notes.
Apart from hundreds of thousands of small farms, Cuba’s non-state sector is composed mainly of small private businesses run by artisans, taxi drivers and tradesmen. Around 600,000 people, around 13% of the workforce, joined the private sector when the opportunity arose.
However a large number of private businesses are involved in the island’s tourist industry, which has been hard hit by the pandemic and sanctions.
Given how slowly reforms tend to move in Cuba, it may still be some time before the change is noticeable in daily economic life, our correspondent says.