General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong holds talks with Cuban President
The two leaders pledged to make efforts to strengthen, tighten and further deepen the exemplary fraternal relationship and comprehensive cooperation.
At the invitation of the President and Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, President of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba Miguel Mario Diaz Canel Bermudes and his wife and a high-ranking Cuban delegation paid an official friendship visit to Vietnam from November 8-10, 2018.
On the morning of November 9, at the Presidential Palace, right after the official welcoming ceremony, General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong held talks with President of the Council of State and Council of Ministers of Cuba Miguel Mario Diaz Canel Bermudes.
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| General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong and President of the Cuban State Council and Council of Ministers Miguel Diaz Canel led high-ranking delegations from the two countries to hold talks. |
On behalf of the State and people of Vietnam, General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong warmly welcomed Comrade Miguel Mario Diaz Canel on his first official visit to Vietnam in his capacity as President of the Council of State and Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba, creating a strong driving force for the continued strengthening of bilateral relations.
On this occasion, the General Secretary and President congratulated the Cuban people on their recent achievements; expressed his belief that the Cuban people, under the leadership of First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Raul Castro, will continue to gain even greater victories on the chosen path.
The President also sincerely thanked the Cuban Government and people for their solidarity and valuable support for the Vietnamese people up to now; affirmed that Vietnam attaches importance to and wishes to continue to deepen bilateral relations, meeting the aspirations and interests of the people of the two countries, while actively contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the two regions and the world.
The President of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers of Cuba expressed his admiration and respect for the heroic historical tradition of the Vietnamese people's struggle for independence, national freedom and national reunification as well as his deep respect for President Ho Chi Minh; highly appreciated the great and comprehensive achievements of the Renovation that the Vietnamese people have achieved over the past three decades; warmly congratulated the Communist Party, State and people of Vietnam; affirmed the importance and desire to exchange and learn from Vietnam's development experiences; thanked the State and people of our country for their solidarity and valuable support for the State and people of Cuba, and affirmed Cuba's determination to continue strengthening the relationship between the two countries in order to effectively contribute to the development of each country.
The two leaders positively assessed the development of the comprehensive cooperation relationship between the two countries in recent times, with the bilateral political relationship becoming increasingly close and trustworthy through regular delegation exchanges and experience sharing. Inter-governmental and inter-ministerial cooperation mechanisms have been maintained and operated more effectively, promoting diverse and substantive cooperation activities.
The channels of Party, National Assembly relations and people-to-people exchanges have been increasingly strengthened; the two countries are committed to continuing close and comprehensive cooperation on the path of construction and development; and making efforts to consolidate, tighten and deepen the exemplary brotherly relationship, traditional friendship, comprehensive cooperation and loyal solidarity.
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| General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong speaks at the meeting. |
Accordingly, the two Leaders welcomed and emphasized the importance of the two Governments signing the "New Trade Agreement" and the "Financial Protocol on disbursement and financial management of the Vietnam-Cuba Rice Production Development Cooperation Project for the 2019-2023 period" within the framework of the visit.
General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong and President of the Council of State and Council of Ministers Miguel Mario Diaz Canel agreed that the current bilateral trade turnover of 240 million USD/year does not reflect the potential, demand and highly complementary supply capacity between the two countries; agreed to direct ministries and branches of both sides to actively promote the implementation of the Bilateral Trade Cooperation Agreement, seek mechanisms and measures to facilitate businesses of both countries to access each other's markets and strive to bring the two-way trade turnover to 500 million USD by 2022.
The two leaders expressed satisfaction with the ever-increasing coordination and mutual support between Vietnam and Cuba at international organizations and multilateral forums, especially the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the East Asia-Latin America Forum, etc. Discussing the international and regional situation of mutual concern, the two sides agreed that disputes over sovereignty and territory should be resolved by peaceful means, on the basis of respect for international law.
The President of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers of Cuba sincerely thanks General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong, the State and people of Vietnam for the solemn, thoughtful and warm welcome given to the President of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers, his wife and the high-ranking delegation of the State and Government of the Republic of Cuba; respectfully invites the General Secretary and President to soon return to pay an official visit to Cuba.
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| General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong presented the Ho Chi Minh Medal to President of the Council of State and Council of Ministers of Cuba Miguel Diaz Canel. |
* Before the talks, on the morning of November 9, at the Presidential Palace, General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong, on behalf of the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, presented the Ho Chi Minh Order to Cuban President Miguel Mario Diaz Canel in recognition of his contributions to the friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Cuba.
* On the same day, at the Presidential Palace, under the witness of General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong and Cuban President Miguel Mario Diaz Canel, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh and Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung, on behalf of the Government of Vietnam, and Vice President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, on behalf of the Government of Cuba, signed the "New Trade Agreement" and the "Protocol on disbursement and financial management of cooperation in developing rice production between Vietnam and Cuba for the period 2019-2023"./.
