HAVANA, Cuba, Dec 17(ACN) Tourism, construction and renewable energy sources are among Cuba’s prioritized investments in 2019, according to what was announced in one of the sessions of the Industry, Construction and Energy Commission of the National Assembly of People’s Power.

Representatives of the Ministry of Economy and Planning presented the plan for 2019 that is focused on import substitution, the increase of exports and investments and the management of accounts abroad.

Mara Ramos Lemus, deputy minister of Economy and Planning, said that in 2019 they will invest to rehabilitate the José Mercerón cement factory, located in Santiago de Cuba, for an amount of 178 million pesos, which will produce from 2022 about one million 200 thousand tons of cement a year.

The country will allocate 65 and 76 million pesos to build the wind farms of Herradura and Ciro Redondo, respectively, which will ensure plans to increase renewable energy generation on the island, said the vice minister.

In the Housing Program the 2019 budget will prioritize the construction of 16,105 houses for victims of weather events and shelters, as well as the allocation of 69 million pesos to the manufacture of petrocasas which will enable the delivery of about 1,500 houses per year from 2020.

The 2019 investment plan also includes the modernization of Antillana de Acero, the repair of railway equipment and the development of hydraulic infrastructure in several provinces of the country, said the deputy minister of Economy and Planning.

Santiago Lage Choy, president of the Permanent Commission of Work of Industry, Constructions and Energy, pointed out the importance of controlling the execution of the budget so that each planned investment can be carried out.

He added that the territorial contribution should also be directed to the substitution of imports and the generation of new goods, mainly in the production of construction materials.