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Vietnam, Cuba seek ways to raise trade to 500 million USD

Vietnam and Cuba sought measures to increase two-way trade to 500 million USD in 2025 during the 38th meeting of the Vietnam-Cuba Inter-Governmental Committee, held online on December 30.
Vietnam, Cuba seek ways to raise trade to 500 million USD ảnh 1The 38th meeting of the Vietnam-Cuba Inter-Governmental Committee held online on December 30 (Photo: vov.vn)

Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam and Cuba soughtmeasures to increase two-way trade to 500 million USD in 2025 during the 38th meeting of the Vietnam-Cuba Inter-Governmental Committee, held online onDecember 30.

The meeting was co-chairedby Vietnamese Minister of Construction Pham Hong Ha and Cuban Minister ofForeign Trade and Investment Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz.

According to Ha,the two sides will work closely to effectively implement the Vietnam-Cuba FTA toincrease two-way trade.

The two nations will speedup negotiations for the restructuring of Cuban businesses’ debts to Vietnamese companiesto ensure the expansion of trade ties and maintain the stability of rice supplyto Cuba, he said.

The Vietnamese side willcontinue to encourage and create favourable conditions for businesses from bothsides to invest in new projects in each other’s market, said Ha, who suggestedthe Cuban Government create favourable conditions for Vietnamese-invested projectsto operate smoothly and create an attractive environment for Vietnamese firmsto develop new projects in Cuba.

The FTA became effective onApril 1, 2020. Vietnam will continue to supply rice to Cuba and implementinvestment projects in the country, while a number of agreements in agriculturewere also signed.

Two-way trade stood at 262million USD in 2019 and 102 million USD in the first 10 months of 2020. Vietnamhas maintained stable rice supply to Cuba.

Both sides have alsoeffectively carried out a coffee tree development plan in the 2016-2020 periodand a rice production project in Cuba in the 2019-2023 period.

However, Ha held thattwo-way trade has yet to match potential and suffered a sharp downturn in 2020.He emphasised the need to deal with problems in the implementation ofinvestment projects in both countries as well as in Vietnam’s rice exports toCuba.

Vietnam is Cuba’s second-largesttrade partner in Asia and one of the 20 most promising partners of the country,according to the Cuban minister.

Cuba has faced numerouschallenges due to the impact of COVID-19 on socio-economic sectors, especiallytourism. It posted negative growth of 11 percent for 2020.

The country has adoptedsocio-economic strategies and plans towards 2030, while planning to applycurrency unification from January next year, he said.

The minister added that Cubawill also reform and complete economic models and control COVID-19 to resumetourism and production activities.

Meanwhile, Vietnam isestimated to post GDP growth of 2.91 percent in 2020, among the highest in theworld.

The country has attracted28.5 billion USD in foreign investment while maintaining economic balance andmacro-economic stability. It also successfully performed the role of ASEANChair and non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2020.

Vietnam and Cuba plan tocontinue the efficient implementation of a food development project in the2019-2023 period while strengthening cooperation in healthcare, pharmaceuticals,and bio-technology.

Along with maintaining theimplementation of reached agreements, the two sides will also seek newcooperation opportunities in the fields of finance-banking, trade, investment,construction, transport, labour, culture, sports and tourism, andscience-technology.

At the end of the meeting, thetwo sides signed the minutes and a number of cooperation deals.

The next meeting of theVietnam-Cuba Inter-Governmental Committee is scheduled for 2021 in Vietnam./.
VNA
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