The President of the Councils of State and Ministers, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, described the employment and investment programs as vital for the country's development.

As part of the systematic screening around twenty high-impact programs for the development of the country, Diaz-Canel Bermúdez reviewed the behavior of employment and the status of various investments that currently are undertaken in different territories, reported journalist Leticia Martinez.

As reported by the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Margarita González Fernández, they are now occupied in the economy 4 million 474 thousand 800 people, including just over 3 million in the state sector and about one million 300 thousand in the non-state.

She explained that because of the labor reorganization process undertaken in Cuba since 2009 inflated payrolls have been reduced, both in the budget and in the business system. Meanwhile, employment in the non-state sector has increased.

About the priorities for access to employment, she mentioned the young graduates of higher education and technical-vocational education, of the vocational and special schools, the graduates of the Active Military Service, the people who comply with sanctions, the disabled and the unemployed.

She also referred to the fluctuation of the labor force, especially in the specialties of the medical, pedagogical, technical and economic sciences. Among the causes that manifest workers to request leave, she said are self-will, wages and remoteness of the workplace.

The levels of underemployment that persist in the nation were referred by Salvador Valdés Mesa, First Vice President of the Councils of State and Ministers, who also commented that there are people who carry out economic activities without authorization to do so and, therefore, do not pay taxes.

He argued that more attractive forms of employment should be sought, especially as part of integral development programs in the municipalities. He exemplified the mechanization that today is introduced in agriculture that humanizes work in the field.

The President of the Councils of State and Ministers stressed the importance of complying with guideline 143, approved by the VI Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, which favors the incorporation into employment of people able to work, particularly young people, as a way of contributing to society and satisfying their needs.

He insisted on the attention that the organisms of the central administration of the State should give to the recent graduates so that after fulfilling the social service they remain in their places. For this, he said, it is urgent that they feel part, that their criteria are heard and that they get involved in the decision-making process.

He considered it necessary for agencies and entities to better manage human resources, that they do not conform to the usual assignment of graduates and take other steps to attract staff. You have to use alternatives and design strategies to find the specialists and workers you need, he said.

Díaz-Canel Bermúdez advocated defending the Labor Code; which is an advanced legal body that was approved in June 2014 and is sometimes violated by the non-state sector, as workers' vacations are not respected or physical requirements to access certain positions are required. This must be detected, controlled and confronted, because our Revolution was not made for that, he said.

The working day of the Cuban President also included a check on several investments that are currently being made in the country and have a significant impact on the economy.

On this occasion, corresponded account of the state of the investment processes in the Antillana de Acero, of Havana; in Acinox Las Tunas; in the Sosa Chlorine Plant, of Sagua La Grande, as well as in the capacity program for the storage of fuel.

About Antillana de Acero, informed its director, Miguel Ángel Solarana Reyes, that the investment process comprises two stages. The first one foresees the recovery of capacities up to 250 thousand tons of liquid steel per year; and with the second it is estimated to maintain a stability of 420 thousand tons per year of liquid steel and 350 thousand tons of laminates.

The director referred to the need to stabilize the permanence of human resources to assume the current production process and future investments. Specifically, he referred to a greater incorporation of young graduates to the steel company in the capital.

At the meeting, the satisfactory progress of the investment process of Antillana de Acero was recognized, which was evaluated by the Comptroller General of the Republic as acceptable.

Acinox Las Tunas learned that the investments are aimed at replacing the old technology of the 200 T mill with a more updated one, with the aim of obtaining a capacity of 150 thousand tons per year of rebar and 20 thousand steel wire rods.

The director of the company, Eraldo González Ávila, assured that, in spite of how long the definition of financing was, the investment process goes well and was also evaluated by the Comptroller General of the Republic as acceptable. At present, they are working on the repair of the warehouses where the new rolling mill and the wire rod block will be located.

Díaz-Canel stressed the indispensability of this investment for the broad constructive movement that is undertaken in Cuba and for export.

The new Chlorine Sosa Plant of Sagua La Grande was classified as an investment that has not had good results where the availability of financing, delays with national and import supplies, deficiencies in the assurances and in the skilled labor force, have brought as a result delays in its implementation.

Investments were also analyzed to expand fuel storage capacities, which include the construction of new deposits, the maintenance of existing ones and the recovery of others that are out of service. This program was described by the Cuban President as strategic for the development and sovereignty of the country.