Official welcoming ceremony for President Phuc held in Havana

They held high-level talks shortly after the welcoming ceremony and witnessed the signing of a number of cooperation agreements between ministries and businesses of the two countries.

Vietnam and Cuba established diplomatic ties in 1960 and they have since increasingly improved the efficiency of cooperation mechanisms in all fields, especially in economics, trade and investment. Vietnam is now the second largest trading partner and largest investor from the Asia-Oceania region in Asia.

In 2020, bilateral trade between Vietnam and Cuba was US$102 million, down 59.5% year on year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, of which Vietnam enjoyed a trade surplus. The enforcement of the Vietnam - Cuba Trade Agreement in April 2020 has brought benefits to businesses of the two countries and facilitated import and export activities.

Cuba is the first and only country in the Latin American-Caribbean region that has successfully researched and approved three highly effective and safe COVID-19 vaccines: Abdala, Soberana 2 and Soberana Plus for emergency use. It is conducting human clinical trials of two other vaccine candidates, Soberana 1 and Mambisa, which are expected to be approved soon.

Cuba is also the first country in the world that has vaccinated children aged 2 – 18 against COVID-19.

The Latin American nation has expressed its willingness to cooperate with Vietnam in the COVID-19 fight through the supply of the Abdala vaccine and the transfer of technology to produce this vaccine in Vietnam.

President Phuc is on an official working visit to Cuba aimed at deepening the tradition of fraternal solidarity, comprehensive cooperation and complete mutual trust between the Party, State and peoples of the two countries.