HAVANA – Cuba has issued a pair of surprising free-market decrees, allowing foreign investors to lease government land for up to 99 years – potentially touching off a golf-course building boom – and loosening state controls on commerce to let islanders grow and sell their own fruit and vegetables.

The moves, published into law and effective immediately, are significant steps as President Raul Castro promises to scale back the Communist state’s control of the economy while attempting to generate new revenue for a government short on cash.

A small army of investors in Canada, Europe and Asia has been waiting to crack the market for long-term tourism in Cuba, built on drawing well-heeled visitors who could live part time on the island instead of just hitting the beach for a few days.

Investment firms have for decades proposed building lavish 18-hole courses ringed by luxury housing under long-term government leases. Cuba currently has just two golf courses nationwide, but the Tourism Ministry has said it wants to build at least 10 more.

The island’s ever-weak economy has been rocked by the global financial crisis and a sustained drop in prices of the country’s chief natural resources.