Cuban Minister of Construction Fidel Figueroa made the statement at the 27th meeting of the Vietnam-Cuba Inter-Governmental Committee for Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation in Havana on October 19.

Minister Figueroa, who is head of the Cuba-Vietnam Sub-committee for cooperation, thanked Vietnam for supplying rice to Cuba and implementing projects to grow rice, maize and soybean in the country with total capitalization of US$3.4 million. He said that these projects have helped Cuba complete its food security programme.   

He expressed satisfaction with effective cooperation between Vietnam and Cuba in informatics and construction, as well as in the exchange of goods between their businesses through trade fairs held in their respective countries.

For his part, Vietnamese Minister of Construction Nguyen Hong Quan, who is head of the Vietnam-Cuba Sub-committee for cooperation, noted that despite the negative impact of the global economic crisis, the two countries have fulfilled most targets set at the previous session.

However, the results have not yet matched their potential, said Mr Quan, adding that both countries should increase cooperation in food production, trade, oil&gas, bio-technology, investment, information and communication technology.   

A business forum was held the same day as part of the meeting, drawing the participation of representatives from 200 Cuban and Vietnamese companies.