The program, called Center for Endogenous Development, is one of the more than 300 projects that are underway on the island as part of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), an initiative for regional cooperation and integration promoted by Cuba and Venezuela that has already been joined by Bolivia, Nicaragua and Dominica.

For this project, that will conclude in 2010, Venezuela will contribute $14 million while Cuba will give 44 million Cuban pesos.

According to Elio Castillo, an official at the Cuban Ministry for Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation (MINVEC), the new jobs will be created in the fields of agriculture, cattle raising, fishing and construction, among others.

Part of the investment will be earmarked to the repair and maintenance of roads and the construction of new houses in the area.

(www.cubanews.ain.cu)