The capital city will send a delegation to Havana, Cuba, this year, Secretary of the Hanoi’s Party Committee Dinh Tien Dung has said.

Hanoi's officials and Cuba's diplomats at the meeting on April 14. Photos: Thanh Hai/The Hanoi Times

The planned visit by the municipal high-ranking officials will tighten relations with Cuba’s capital city, Dung said in a meeting with the Cuban Ambassador to Vietnam, Orlando Nicolás Hernández Guillén, in Hanoi on April 14.

Hanoi always expects to strengthen friendship and cooperation with Havana and other Cuban localities in terms of education and training, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, culture, tourism, agriculture, textile and garment, footwear, and people-to-people ties, Dung said. 

The cooperation is also in line with Hanoi’s strategies toward a green and civilized city in full global integration to sustain its “City for Peace” title recognized by UNESCO.

Hanoi’s Party Chief said the city is on its way to recovering the economy by focusing on economic activities and removing barriers for businesses, adding that the city’s recovery path is positive following Vietnam’s flexible adaptation to Covid-19 since October 2021.

Despite widespread Covid-19 in 2021, Hanoi posted a growth rate of 2.92% in the year.

At the meeting, Dung stressed the importance of Vietnam-Cuba friendship, saying that the relations, having lasted for more than six decades, were established by the late Presidents Ho Chi Minh and Fidel Castro, are valuable for both, being the motivation for current leaders and people of two countries.

The relations were reinforced with the visit paid to Cuba in September 2021 by Vietnam’s President Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

On this occasion, Dung thanked the Cuban government and people for their support to Vietnam in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hanoi's Party Chief Dinh Tien Dung (R) and Cuba's Ambassador to Vietnam Orlando Nicolás Hernández Guillén.

For his part, Orlando Nicolás Hernández Guillén highly appreciated the generosity that Vietnam and Hanoi offered to the Cuban people during the pandemic. Of the assistance, Hanoi handed over Havana 2,000 tons of rice.

The Cuban Ambassador said he vows to make efforts to enhance Vietnam-Cuba relations during his term beginning in July 2021.

Vietnam and Cuba established diplomatic relations in 1960 and since then both countries have maintained a close relationship.

The ties, which are called “brotherhood” by both countries, are characterized by unconditional support and loyalty.

In Vietnam’s fight for independence and reunification, Cuba has donated thousands of tons of sugar to Vietnam and trained thousands of Vietnamese engineers, graduates, and technicians in the Southeast Asian nation.

Meanwhile, Cuban media reported that solidarity between the two nations has been strengthened in the pandemic. In July 2021, Vietnam sent 12,000 tons of rice to the island and assured that it would stand side by side with the Cuban people.