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The Ministry of Iron & Steel and Mechanical Industry (SIME,
according to its Spanish acronym) is the Cuban entity in charge of
ruling, execute and control the State and Government policy regarding the
activities of steel & metallurgical industry and recycling.
Ever
since its foundation (1974), SIME has had a vertical development line
because of its
properly structured and well thought investment plan aimed to the
production of: automotive and railroad equipment, agricultural machinery,
iron & steel industry, construction equipment, machine tools, medical
equipment and clinical furniture, supplies for hotel industry, etc.
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This
investor process started as early as 1963-64, when industrial factories
and enterprises still belonged to the Ministry of Industries
founded by
Major Ernesto Guevara, and it was carried out in cooperation with socialist
countries, commissioning productive complexes in central and eastern zones
of the country.
Its creation was an essential step allowing the agglutination of human
resources toward sectors of vital importance for our development.
Statistics
show that soon after its foundation, in 1976 SIME
produced a value of 246 million dollars, 248 millions in 1977, 304
millions in 1978 and 360 millions in 1979, reaching 760 millions in 1985.
In 1989 a sudden downward trend
started,
due to the diminishing trade with the USSR and former socialist countries,
which got to its climax in 1992.
In
1993 SIME enters a recovery process, re-ordering its capacities toward
new product lines, related to the needs of emerging sectors of economy
in this stage of special period, as well as exports. Other fields were
incorporated in 1994, such as electronics, information science,
recycling
and the import – export possibilities in its competent activities, as a
consequence of a re-ordain in the state apparatus with the objective of
transferring, in a mid-term period, the management of economy to
enterprises in an important proportion and diminish the leading role of
the central organism in an important quantity of decisions that should
actually be taken by enterprises themselves.
These years have been a period to consolidate and make grow excellent
workers’ groups, who know their profession, are skillful and able to make
our factories work in hard conditions, being also capable of
making them evolve and develop.
A
large quantity of technicians and professionals incorporated to SIME
in recent years, a massive entrance of university graduates who have
enriched its
enterprises'
possibilities and potential.
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This
Ministry is currently structured on:
12
Corporative Groups
218 Enterprises
7
R&D Centers
1
Qualification Center
(with 2 branches)
4
Joint Ventures
5
Economic Associations
in Cuba
9
Organizations abroad
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