Havana (VNA) 🍰– Vietnam and Cuba have renewed their determination to continue deepening their friendship, solidarity, brotherhood, trust and comprehensive cooperation in service of the respective countries’ nation-building and defence.

This was declared in a joint declaration issued during the official visit to Cuba from November 15-17 by State President Tran Dai Quang, his spouse and a high-ranking Party and State delegation of Vietnam. The two sides agreed on measures to ratchet up bilateral cooperation, especially in defence, trade, agriculture, science and technology, communications, radio and television broadcast, energy, telecommunication, medicine-pharmacy, biotechnology, construction, tourism, culture, sports, education and training. Vietnam reiterated its support for Cuba’s struggle to ask for an immediate and unconditional end to irrational economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba and backed the Caribbean country’s process to normalise its relations with the US. Cuba highly valued Vietnam’s external policy of peace, independence, self-reliance and international integration as well as its contribution to peace, stability, cooperation and development in Asia and the globe. The countries agreed to increase contacts between their Party and State leaders, continue to work closely in defence, security and external affairs, and educate young Vietnamese and Cuban generations on the two countries’ historic brotherhood bond. They underscored the importance of the Vietnam – Cuba intergovernmental committee on economic – trade and science – technology cooperation and expressed their resolve to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the mechanism. Both showed their attention to promoting mutually-beneficial investment and committed to soon actualising investment and cooperative projects being negotiated. The two sides agreed to continue pushing relevant agencies to implement the mid-term agenda on economy signed in March 2014 with a view to deepening and broadening the economic, trade and investment ties to bring practical benefits to their countries. Regarding international issues, the countries’ leaders reached consensus on the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means on the basis of respecting international law, and principles of independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and self-determination of countries, not intervening into each other’s internal affairs, not using or threatening to use force. They agreed to step up cooperation and mutual support at international organisations and multilateral forums joined by the two countries. The two sides highly valued the outcomes of the official visit to Cuba by President Tran Dai Quang, declaring that it was an important event, creating a fresh impulse for the relations between the two Parties, States and people of Vietnam and Cuba. President Tran Dai Quang invited President Raul Castro to pay an official visit to Vietnam and the invitation was accepted and will be arranged through the diplomatic channel.-VNA