Cuba now has higher storage capacity for the preservation of foods in cold stores, thus allowing the country to face extreme situations more efficiently.

Interior Trade Minister Jacinto Angulo explained the step was possible thanks to a new fully automated technology from China, which will reduce energy consumption.

The country currently has capacity to store 278,000 tons of food, Juventud Rebelde daily noted.

The director of the National Cold Stores Enterprise, Hugo Acosta, informed the investments will help revert the deterioration those facilities suffered in the 1990s.

He foretold that by 2011, 80 percent of those centers will be operating in line with international efficiency standards.