Cuba's Minister of Communications, Mayra Arevich, stated that the project seeks to strengthen the infrastructure of Cuba's digital platform "Soberanía," which will help the Caribbean nation offer modern digital services closer to the population, as well as the use of artificial intelligence, "which ensures greater advantages and benefits when designing and implementing services for procedures."

The initiative results from cooperation between China's Fund for Global Development and South-South Cooperation, the United Nations Development Programme, and Cuba's Digital Government Center. Arevich thanked China and UNDP for their support and highlighted the presence of enterprises, institutions, scientific centers, and science and technology parks that will accompany the project's implementation.

Chinese Ambassador to Cuba Hua Xin noted that the Digital Transformation of Cuban Society project is the first China has developed in Cuba in cooperation with UN agencies. "It constitutes a new practice to deepen South-South cooperation between China and Cuba, a vivid manifestation of China's commitment to multilateralism, and a beneficial complement to bilateral cooperation between the two countries," he stated.

The ambassador explained that the project's implementation will be based on UNDP's consolidated experience in global digital governance, combined with China's practical experience in implementing inclusive digital technologies. The goal is to jointly build an inclusive innovation ecosystem, modernize Cuba's digital infrastructure, close the gap in digital service delivery, and eliminate interoperability barriers between platforms, so that more Cuban citizens share the dividends of digital development.

"We hope to take this tripartite cooperation as a starting point to help Cuba walk a path of digital transformation that fits its own national conditions," he said.

The Director of the Digital Government Center, Wilfredo González Vidal, recalled that July 10 marks one year since the decree establishing the Soberanía platform, a "single window" with over 300 procedures and services described and 16 online certifications. The platform has registered more than 400,000 citizen accesses and over 83,000 users. It includes a system informing people about Cuba's main transformations and events.

UNDP Deputy Resident Representative Gabriel Bottino explained that UNDP's support will be structured around three pillars: the development of new services; digital equipment and infrastructure; and dissemination actions to promote massive adoption and use of technologies by the population. According to Bottino, UNDP will "open the doors" of its office network in other nations to share experiences and collaborate with Cuba on the project.