Vietnam and Cuba Strengthen Economic and Scientific Cooperation

Deputy Minister of Construction of Vietnam Nguyen Tuong Van and Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment Cuba Deborah Rivas Saavedra chaired the 42nd Session of the Intergovernment Committee of Vietnam - Cuba on economic and scientific technical cooperation in Hanoi on August 27. The two sides agreed on the results of cooperation and exchanged the contents of the draft minutes of the 42nd meeting. The ceremony marked a significant moment in the 65th anniversary of Vietnam - Cuba diplomatic relations, with the two countries organizing many practical activities to celebrate this milestone.

Key Takeaways:

• The two countries have achieved positive results in cooperation, with trade and investment cooperation continuing to be an important pillar, with bilateral trade turnover reaching $199.3 million in 2024, up 28.1% compared to 2023.
• Investment projects of Vietnamese enterprises in Cuba have been promoted, with some preferential policies of the Cuban government, such as the new model of rice production in Pinar Del Rio province, which has achieved twice the yield of Cuba's average yield.
• Collaboration in other fields such as construction, transportation, science and technology, communication information, finance - banking, education - training, culture - sports - tourism, and Justice has been actively promoting and diverse in terms of results.
• Deputy Minister Nguyen Tuong Van emphasized that the cooperation results have been achieved over the past time, and the two sides focused on solving problems together, unifying new orientations and content of cooperation for the period 2025-2026.
• The cooperation will prioritize the main pillars: proposing the Government of the two countries, especially the Cuban government, the direction of the difficulty and existence, creating an open investment environment for Vietnamese businesses; strongly promoting agricultural cooperation in a comprehensive way, on the basis of the results obtained from technical support projects helped by Vietnam; creating breakthroughs in health cooperation, biotechnology.

Statistics:

• $199.3 million: Bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and Cuba in 2024.
• 28.1%: Increase in bilateral trade turnover compared to 2023.
• 2025-2026: Period of new orientations and content of cooperation between the two countries.
• 65th: Anniversary of Vietnam - Cuba diplomatic relations.
• $2.5 billion: The value of investment projects of Vietnamese enterprises in Cuba, as mentioned in the Minister Nguyen Tuong Van's speech.

Sources:

• Deputy Minister of Construction of Vietnam Nguyen Tuong Van
• Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment Cuba Deborah Rivas Saavedra
• Ta Hai - Photo Agency
• Vietnam and Cuba's Intergovernment Committee report
• Vietnamese government's report on cooperation with Cuba
• Contify.com