-DATE-
19881029
-YEAR-
1988
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
REPORT
-AUTHOR-
F.CASTRO
-HEADLINE-
FURTHER ON REMARKS AT FACTORY TOUR
-PLACE-
HAVANA
-SOURCE-
HAVANA TELE-REBELDE
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS
-REPORT_DATE-
19881031
-TEXT-
Further on Remarks at Factory

FL2910174888 Havana Tele-Rebelde Network in Spanish 1443 GMT 29 Oct 88

[Excerpt] Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, first secretary of the PCC
Central Committee and president of the Councils of State and Ministers, has
spoken at the inauguration of Havana City's medical equipment factory.
Prior to the inauguration, he toured the factory's facilities and chatted
with the workers.

[Begin Castro recording] The vast majority of this medical equipment must
be purchased from capitalist countries and we have to spend convertible
currency.  Just by importing the components, a great deal of money is
saved.  Of course, as we produce more components--our expenditures on
imported components will be reduced.  Not only could this factory supply
our country with much of the basic medical equipment, but it could also
export part of its production to other countries.

Of course, we are not going to produce here nuclear magnetic resonance [as
heard], for now, or computerized axial tomogrophy.  There will always be
some new sophisticated medical equipment such as the one for extracorporeal
lithotomy, or the accelerator we have acquired that will be set up at the
Hermanos Amerijeiras.  We will always need to acquire something from the
international medical equipment industry, especially something new,
sophisticated, efficient, and of great use.  We will always need to acquire
something; we cannot fall behind.  We cannot insist on only using what we
discover, what we produce.  However, we can satisfy a great part of our
needs with this factory.  The growing development of our public services
results in the growing demand for this equipment.  [passage omitted with
indistinct portions] [end recording]
-END-