Vietnam-Cuba Intergovernmental Committee convenes 41st session

In his opening address at the event, Vietnamese Minister of Construction and Co-Chairman of the Committee Nguyen Thanh Nghi affirmed that the Party, State, and people of Vietnam always remember and are respectfully grateful for the special sentiments and strong support and impartial help both materially and spiritually that the Party, State, and People of Cuba gave to Vietnam during the fierce war period. This is along with the support shown during the current process of national construction and development.

Responding to Cuba's special feelings and valuable support offered in recent years, the nation has always been interested in supporting and promoting co-operation with the Cuban side in a multitude of fields, such as politics, diplomacy, trade, and investment, as well as supporting projects in the agricultural sector to help the Caribbean nation gradually become self-sufficient in food such as developing rice, corn, beans, coffee, and seafood.

This is along with annually maintaining a stable rice supply for Cuba, stepping up information exchanges, sharing state management experience in the areas of finance and banking, foreign investment attraction, information and communication, construction, and justice.

According to Minister Nghi, both sides always maintain close ties and have achieved some positive results. Indeed, within the framework of the 39th Havana International Fair (FIHAV 2023) held in November 2023 in Cuba, businesses from the two countries signed commercial contracts worth nearly US$1 million.

Currently, there are six investment projects run by Vietnamese enterprises in Cuba that have come into operation, providing a number of essential goods to the Cuban market such as napkins, washing powder, tiles, porcelain. Sanitation, and solar power, all while helping Cuba reduce the amount of imported goods and create more jobs for workers.

The two countries held a joint investment working group meeting to jointly review, evaluate, and discuss appropriate and feasible solutions to remove difficulties faced by firms to ensure maintenance of production and supply of goods to the market and improve business investment efficiency.

In the field of agriculture, the country is in the process of implementing three projects to support Cuba in developing rice, high-yield corn, and aquaculture. Regarding biotechnology and medical links, Vietnamese enterprises are importing some vaccines and biotechnology products from Cuba.

Firms from both sides are exchanging the possibility of co-operating in producing vaccines and biological products in Vietnam to supply the domestic and export markets. Cuban doctors are also working at a number of Vietnamese hospitals such as the Vietnam-Cuba Friendship Hospital in Quang Binh, the Quang Ngai Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, and Vinmec Hanoi Hospital.

The Cuban side is bolstering collaboration in the field of biotechnology and health with Vietnamese localities, including Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. In addition, the two sides are strengthening co-operation in exchanging information and sharing state management experience in finance, customs, banking, foreign investment, information technology, construction, and science and technology.

With a desire to ramp up ties in a focused, key, practical, effective, and sustainable manner, Minister Nghi proposed finding specific solutions to remove difficulties faced by Vietnamese businesses to maintain productions, as well as ensuring business investment efficiency, and creating more motivation and confidence to expand investment. This effort will also help to attract more new investors to Cuba.

For his part, Cuban Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Committee Co-Chairman Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz highlighted the importance of economic, financial, trade, and bilateral co-operation relationships.

Vietnam currently represents one of Cuba's major Asian investors, with a very active presence in the Mariel Special Development Zone. The nation is also an important rice supplier to the Cuban market, he added.

The Cuban Deputy PM especially thanked the Party and Government of Vietnam for understanding and supporting the Caribbean island in recent years, when Havana faced a complicated economic and financial situation. He affirmed that those precious sincere feelings are an expression of brotherhood, friendship, and solidarity that binds the two peoples together.

At the opening session, the two sides agreed to augment bilateral co-operation in areas such as tourism, energy, biotechnology, agricultural, and food production, while continuing to speed up business agreements for domestic and export markets.

As planned, the 41st session of the Vietnam-Cuba Intergovernmental Committee will last until April 15.