The bill, presented by the Secretary of the Council of Ministers, José Amado Ricardo, updates a regulation in effect since 1994. It fulfills the constitutional mandate to determine by law the number, designation, mission, and functions of the ministries and other bodies comprising the Central State Administration.

  The new structure will consist of 20 ministries and the Central Bank of Cuba, while existing institutes—such as INDER, the Institute of Social Communication, INOTU, and the Geological Resources agency—will be dissolved and transformed into ministerial portfolios.

  Entities undergoing significant transformation include the ministries of Agriculture and Food; Higher Education, Science, and Innovation; Environment, Habitat, and Water Resources; Trade and Foreign Investment; Sports and Recreation; Economy and Finance; Education; and Industry and Construction.

  The Ministry of Environment, Habitat, and Water Resources integrates functions related to land-use planning, housing, and water resources—areas previously distributed across various different agencies.

  Similarly, the Ministry of Industry and Construction achieves the integration of diverse industrial sectors and the complementarity of functions to consolidate production processes.

  Regarding the Ministry of Education, although it retains its name, the move represents an “institutional success” that equips the Central State Administration with the capacity to guarantee the full exercise of rights recognized in the Constitution and the Code on Children, Adolescents, and Youth. jdt/kmg/mks