Lessons from Cuba: How the TRNC government can create a new revenue stream for the economy
On September 4, 1961, partly in response, The United States Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act, a Cold War Act (among many other measures) that prohibited aid to Cuba and authorized the President to impose a complete trade embargo against Cuba. These actions crippled the Cuban economy till today. Over the last sixty years, the economic embargo has failed to achieve any of its stated policy goals while exacting a high human cost, stifling the development of the Cuban economy and making daily life harder for Cuban families. Link
This article isn't about Cuba per se, but something that Cuba did- Much of Cuba’s success in these areas is due to its primary healthcare system, one of the world's most proactive. Cuba’s population of 11.27 million has 452 out-patient clinics, and the government prioritises disease prevention, universal coverage and access to treatment. This made Cuba extremely good at medicine, so they began exporting their medical expertise, and according to foreign policy, this is Cuba’s greatest export.
In 2013, the then-Brazillian president announced that his country had negotiated to hire about 6,000 doctors from Cuba. This was another country in the very long list of countries that had negotiated and hired Cuban Doctors- Italy, Algeria, Venezuela, Qatar, South Africa and many more in exchange for foreign currency, oil and other things the country of Cuba needed at the time. Similar to Cuba, the TRNC has been under embargoes from the United Nations since 1964, and this has severely hampered local economic development and investment. However, unlike Cuba, the TRNC has not properly harnessed one of the key resources- people in building back the economy.
TRNC boasts a high number of universities and international students per capita, probably one of the highest in the world at the moment. I wonder if the Cuban model could be copied with the right policies from the TRNC government and the Turkish government. Europe and the rest of the West are reeling from the long-term irreversible effects of dwindling low birth rates. Thus, they are locked in a competition of talent and skilled workers from developing countries like Nigeria. This explains the somewhat high rate of visa rollout across those countries, from digital visas to job seeker visas. Interestingly, the TRNC also has representations and embassies in some countries needing workers- like Germany and Sweden.
For example, the TRNC government could, via an entrepreneurship and innovation committee, ramp up the growth and development of skilled workers using an initial pilot comprising locals, Turkish and international students. The TRNC then registers a company in Turkey or Dubai to bypass the embargoes and can negotiate with those countries needing workers such that a Cypriot or an international student can get a visa under this program, be flown to Germany to work and a percentage of his or her salary will be paid to the TRNC in form of taxes under the program. If the pilot succeeds, the program can be updated and adjusted to drive local investment.
The TRNC President, Mr. Ersin Tatar once said international students are goodwill ambassadors of the TRNC. This is a great avenue to build on that statement and birth a new future for the TRNC.
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