HAVANA, March 4, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Cuba on Tuesday authorized partnerships between public and private companies for the first time in nearly 60 years, though the communist government will maintain a state monopoly in the health, education and defense sectors.

The government published a new law in the country's Official Gazette, which will take effect in early April, regulating "the associations of state and non-state business entities" for "the formation of mixed limited liability companies."

These new entities will have business autonomy and can determine the number of employees and their salaries. They will also be able to open commercial establishments in Cuba and abroad.

They can carry out all types of activities "with the exception of providing health and education services or activities related to the armed forces," the text added.

They will not be subject to the planning rules that govern much of the Cuban economy, it said.

In 2021, the Cuban government authorized the opening of small and midsize private enterprises (SMEs), with up to 100 employees, in certain sectors of the economy, after a prohibition of nearly six decades.

With the state facing difficulties in obtaining foreign currency and an ongoing economic crisis stoked by the tightening of the US embargo, the private sector has gained ground in recent years.

By 2025, the country's approximately 9,900 private companies represented 15 percent of GDP and employed more than 30 percent of the active population.

That same year, private-sector retail sales surpassed those of the public sector for the first time, representing 55 percent of total trade.