The vital importance of applying science and technology in national industry investments, to ensure present and future progress, was reiterated by the President of Cuba’s Councils of State and Ministers, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, during meetings to review the implementation of the national packaging and industrial development plans.

Once again, the President insisted on the necessity of strengthening collaboration between industry, universities, and research centers.

During the meeting, Comandante de la Revolución Ramiro Valdés Menéndez and the ministers of Industry and Food Industry, Alfredo López and Iris Quiñones, respectively, participated to analyze progress made on the directives emphasized by the President in previous reviews.

Among the issues evaluated in the context of the packaging policy was the comprehensive proposal to strengthen the national center dedicated to these productions, as well as the investment plan with a view to gradually replacing containers for products exported that are now imported, as explained on the Presidential website.

The magnitude of the task is made clear by the fact that the 480 exportable items identified require 2,782 types of packaging, of which 1,642 are made in Cuba and 1,140 imported.It was reported that in the last five years investments for more than 170 million pesos were made in the packaging industry, especially in plants based on the use of paper, plastic, and wood. The perspective through 2025 is to allocate an additional 280 million pesos.Notable growth in the reuse of glass, plastic, and metal containers was noted, and Díaz-Canel highlighted efforts made to learn about international trends in packaging, which have included exchanges between foreign experts and students at the José Antonio Echevarría University of Technology and the Industrial Design Institute.