This comment was shared at the 38th meeting of the Vietnam – Cuba Intergovernmental Committee, held online on December 30, in Hanoi.
The meeting was co-chaired by Vietnamese Minister of Construction Pham Hong Ha and Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz.
At the meeting. (Photo: VOV)
Mr. Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz said that the event aims to evaluate the results of cooperation achieved in 2020 and unify cooperation contents in 2021.
2020 is significant as Vietnam and Cuba together celebrate the 60th anniversary of official diplomatic relations, an important milestone in the two countries’ history of friendship, solidarity and comprehensive cooperation.
Cuba has faced numerous challenges due to the impact of COVID-19 on socio-economic sectors, especially tourism. It posted negative growth of 11 percent for 2020.
The country has adopted socio-economic strategies and plans towards 2030, while planning to apply currency unification from January next year, he said.
The minister added that Cuba will also reform and complete economic models and control COVID-19 to resume tourism and production activities.
According to Vietnamese Minister of Construction Pham Hong Ha, the two sides will work closely to effectively implement the Vietnam-Cuba FTA to increase two-way trade.
Vietnam and Cuba are seeking measures to increase two-way trade to 500 million USD by 2025.
The two nations will speed up negotiations for restructuring Cuban businesses’ debts to Vietnamese companies to ensure the expansion of trade ties and maintain the stability of rice supply to Cuba, he said.
The Vietnamese side will continue to encourage and create favorable conditions for businesses from both sides to invest in new projects in each other’s markets, said Ha, who suggested the Cuban Government create favorable conditions for Vietnamese-invested projects to operate smoothly, and create an attractive environment for Vietnamese firms to develop new projects in Cuba./.