Havana (VNA) – Seventy years since the resounding Dien Bien Phu Victory that was "stunning five continents, shaking the earth", Vietnam has risen from the ashes of war to become a key factor in the global supply chain, Vice President of the Cuban Institute for Friendship between Peoples (ICAP) Alicia Corredera has commented.
Speaking to the Vietnam News Agency in Havana on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the victory, Corredera, who studied in Vietnam in the 1970s, said that she has always closely followed every step of development of the nation that she loves as her second home.
She held that reunification and peace have opened up various opportunities for Vietnam in international cooperation.
Initially, most foreign direct investment projects in Vietnam focused on two main areas of textiles and garments and footwear, but now Vietnam is rising rapidly in the value chain and become an important electronic product assembly centre in the world.
Besides, Vietnam’s external policy has been increasingly open, with many achievements recognised in the region and the world, she noted, stressing that from a war-torn country with destroyed infrastructure, but with their brainpower, sacrifice and altruism, Vietnamese people have steadily moved forward and reaped many great results.
Today, Vietnam has become one of the world leading rice exporters and a big exporter of coffee and many other products, realising President Ho Chi Minh’s wish to build a more prosperous country, said Corredera, expressing her belief that Vietnam’s goal to become a developed country by 2045 will become true.
Looking back on the close brotherhood between Cuba and Vietnam, the ICAP Vice President underlined that special sentiments that the two peoples have given to each other started from hardest time that the two countries faced.
The two sides have always stood by each other. When Vietnam was devastated by war, Cuba assisted and supported the country's reconstruction. When Cuba fell into economic crisis, Vietnam sent hundreds of tonnes of rice, school supplies, toys and many other donations to the Western Hemisphere. That special friendship has continued to develop strongly based on a foundation of mutual trust, understanding and mutual respect, she stated.
Corredera, or Nguyen Thi Hue - the Vietnamese name given to her by Heroine Nguyen Thi Dinh, reminded the young generation of Vietnam of the nation's heroic past and cherish the sacrifices by their older generations for national independence and freedom./.
