Prime Minister Pham Minh Thanh announced that Vietnam will provide Cuba with 5,000 tons of rice to help Cuba overcome the recent economic and social difficulties.
During talks with Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz today at government headquarters, Prime Minister Fan Minchin said the decision to support rice reflects the traditional spirit of brotherly support between the two countries. According to a statement from the Cuban foreign ministry, the Cuban prime minister saw this as practical aid and thanked Vietnam for its support after the explosion of a fuel depot in Matanzas province on August 5.
The leaders of the two countries also discussed measures to strengthen cooperation in the fields of politics, security, trade, education, medical care and medicine, especially in the field of food security. Prime Minister Pham Minh Thanh said that Vietnam is willing to share the experience of agricultural development as the backbone of the economy.

On September 29, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Thanh (right) and Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz at the government headquarters. picture: Network Analyzer.
The two sides also agreed to create favorable conditions for companies to conduct business and invest in areas such as industrial park infrastructure development and tourism infrastructure, building materials production, consumer goods and renewable energy, and to expand other potential areas.
On international and regional issues, the two prime ministers agreed to continue to consult, coordinate and support each other in international organizations and multilateral forums, and support the peaceful settlement of disputes. Cuba expressed a desire to strengthen relations with ASEAN. At the same time, Viet Nam reiterated its position calling for the unilateral lifting of the economic and financial embargo against Cuba.
Prime Minister Marrero Cruz invited Prime Minister Pham Minh Thanh to pay an official visit to Cuba in the near future, which was accepted by the Vietnamese leaders.
Prime Minister Marrero Cruz will pay an official visit to Vietnam from September 28 to October 2. This is his first trip to Latin America since taking office in December 2019, and the first visit by a senior Cuban leader to Vietnam since 2018.
Vietnam and Cuba established diplomatic relations on December 2, 1960, two years after the successful Cuban Revolution. Vietnam supports Cuba in developing family-scale rice production, maize, soybean production and aquaculture…Cuba imports about 300,000 – 400,000 tons of rice from Vietnam every year.
Some Vietnamese enterprises are implementing investment projects such as infrastructure construction in industrial parks, production of building materials, and production of washing powder. Cuba has provided Vietnam with more than 5 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine and expressed its willingness to send medical teams to help Vietnam fight the outbreak.
In September 2021, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc visited Cuba, the first visit by a foreign head of state since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Xuanle