President of Cuba Miguel Diaz-Canel and many other high-ranking Cuban officials expressed their thanks to Vietnam for providing Cuba with tremendous support, hoping that more Vietnamese companies would invest in new fields in the Caribbean island nation.

They showed their appreciation during separate meetings with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang, who was paying an official visit to Cuba from Sunday to Tuesday this week.

First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee and President Diaz-Canel hosted a reception for Deputy PM Quang in Havana on Monday, the Vietnamese Government Portal reported.

President Diaz-Canel remarked that the Cuba-Vietnam relations are special, with both nations always showing great respect for each other.

Bilateral ties have been consolidated and enhanced over the time based on mutual trust.

The top Cuban official expressed his thanks to the Vietnamese Party, government, and people for giving a helping hand to his country, including the stable supply of rice and technical support in food and fisheries production.

He added that Cuba imports approximately 300,000-400,000 metric tons of rice from Vietnam every year.

The Vietnam-Cuba Free Trade Agreement officially took effect on April 1, 2020, offering lots of incentives to businesses of the two countries and facilitating bilateral trade.

Speaking highly of joint ventures and investment projects by Vietnamese investors in this Latin American country, President Diaz-Canel affirmed that Cuba always creates optimal conditions for Vietnamese companies to run their business and invest in such fields as trade, consumer goods production, renewable energy, building materials, and industrial park infrastructure development.

The Cuban head of state hoped that more Vietnamese enterprises would establish partnership with Cuba in agriculture, food processing, energy, automobile industry, bio-pharmaceutical production, and health services in order to maximize both nations’ strengths and help open up a new chapter in bilateral ties.

Also on Monday, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz had a working session with Deputy PM Quang, during which the former said the Cuban government pledged to adopt measures to smooth the path for Vietnamese investors to do business in Cuba.

PM Cruz thanked Vietnam for its assistance for Cuba and highly appreciated the Southeast Asian nation for being the largest Asia-Pacific investor in Cuba and the second-largest investor in Cuba’s Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM).

Previously, the senior Vietnamese official met with Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla and held talks with Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Ricardo Cabrisas.

During his trip to Cuba, Deputy PM Quang also visited the ZEDM, the Cuban Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, as well as Vietnam-invested projects in the ZEDM.

At these working sessions, Deputy PM Quang affirmed that Vietnam always supports Cuba within the former’s capacity and shows its objection to, while calling for an end to, embargoes against Cuba.

He underlined the need to work out mechanisms and measures to remove obstacles and enhance bilateral economic, trade, and investment ties, as well as effectively implement cooperation projects between the two nations, especially in agriculture.

Aside from his meetings with Cuban leaders, Deputy PM Quang attended the 41st session of the Vietnam-Cuba Intergovernmental Committee, which was held in Havana between April 12 and 15.

According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after his trip to Cuba, Deputy PM Quang will visit and remain in Venezuela until Friday this week.

His business trip takes place at a time when Vietnam and Venezuela are celebrating the 35th anniversary of their bilateral diplomatic ties.

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