President Phuc’s visit to Cuba reflected Vietnam’s policy of promoting relations with priority partners and traditional friends. It is an opportunity for Vietnam to affirm its solidarity and strong support for Cuba in a challenging period. It is the first visit to Cuba by a senior leader of the Vietnamese Party and State after the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam. President Phuc is also the first foreign head of state to visit Cuba after the Caribbean country successfully organised the 8th National Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc held talks with First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee and President of Cuba Miguel Díaz Canel in Havana on September 19.

Both sides expressed their delight at new and positive steps of development in bilateral special traditional ties in all fields, including politics-diplomacy, security-defence, economy-trade-investment, culture-education, and science-technology. The Vietnam-Cuba cooperation in agriculture and food security has been maintained with rice, coffee, maize and aquatic development projects, they noted.

They agreed that in the time to come, Vietnam and Cuba should work closely together to effectively implement the new trade agreement, while optimising preferences from the deal, thus raising two-way trade to a level that matches the potential and sound political ties between the two countries, they said.

President Phuc thanked the Cuban side to give highest priority to the provision of Cuban-developed COVID-19 vaccine to Vietnam, describing this as evidence for the timely support that Cuba has always given to Vietnam like Cuban leader Fidel Castro saying “for Vietnam, Cuba is willing to shed its blood”.

On the occasion, President Phuc announced Vietnam’s gift of 5,000 tonnes of rice and a number of medical equipment to Cuba. Some Vietnamese ministries and sectors also offered presents to Cuba, including 1,000 tonnes of rice from construction firms, and 100 tonnes of maize from the Ministry of Defence, and medical equipment and IT software from other ministries.

Following the talks, on behalf of the Party, State and people of Cuba, President Miguel Diaz Canel presented the Vietnamese State leader with José Marti Order, the noblest reward of the Cuban State, in recognition of President Phuc’s contributions to the acceleration of solidarity, friendship and cooperation between the two Parties, States and people.

The two leaders also witnessed the signing of a number of agreements between the two countries, Within the visit’s framework, the two sides issued a joi🔴nt statement of the two countries on the occasion of the Vietnamese President’s Cuban visit./.