Speaking at the event, the Deputy PM said Vietnam is now the second largest trade partner of Cuba in Asia. More and more Vietnamese firms are keen on promoting trade and investment projects in the Latin American country.
In the first nine months of this year, the Cuban government granted licenses to six Vietnamese firms. The Vietnamese businesses want the two governments to create favorable conditions for Cuba’s projects in priority fields of agriculture, consumer goods, construction materials, hospitality services, clean energy, telecommunications, health care, biology and pharmaceuticals, he said.
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Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung (second from left) and President of the Council of State and Council of Ministers of Cuba Miguel Mario Diaz Canel Bermudes (first from left) |
Dung added that the two governments’ signing of the new Vietnam – Cuba trade agreement during the President’s visit will lay a foundation for both sides to lift two-way trade to USD 500 million by 2022 from over USD 200 million at present.
As requested by Cuba, Vietnam will maintain stable export of rice to the country in the near future, as well as launch a new stage of a rice production project in Cuba.
Vietnamese businesses want to import more goods of Cuba’s strength, especially bio-tech and health care products, as well as pharmaceuticals, he said.
Bermudes, for his part, said Cuba has launched reform policies and promoted foreign investment attraction, adding that it has issued a new Law on Investment to lure more foreign investors.
According to him, the Cuban people trust many Vietnamese goods while Vietnamese firms are operating effectively in the country.
During the visit by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in March 2018, both sides signed a number of important agreements on construction, infrastructure, electronic spare parts and food processing. Many projects on renewable energy, construction and food processing are underway.
Cuba wants Vietnamese firms to extend operations in civil aviation, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, scientific research, academic and cultural exchange, he said.
The guest proposed both sides to work more closely together to improve the efficiency of the Inter-Governmental Committee cooperation mechanism. He wished that during the committee’s 36th meeting in Havana in late 2018, negotiations on many major projects would be concluded.
He pledged to clear barriers facing Vietnamese firms to contribute to Cuba’s development.
Source: VNA