Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz (L) shakes hands with Mr. Phan Van Mai, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee ( Photo: SGGP)
On the afternoon of October 1, Politburo member and Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen received Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz and a high-ranking delegation of the Cuban Government during their working visit to Ho Chi Minh City.
At the meeting, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen sent respectful greetings from the city’s leaders and city dwellers to Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz and a high-ranking delegation of the Cuban Government.
Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen expressed his sincere thanks to the Government and people of Cuba for their assistance with the Covid-19 vaccine to help Vietnam, including Ho Chi Minh City, overcome the Covid-19 pandemic.
Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen informed the delegation about the situation of the Covid-19 epidemic in Ho Chi Minh City and the post-Covid-19 recovery process.
According to him, like many countries in the world, Vietnam, especially Ho Chi Minh City, suffered heavy losses due to the Covid-19 epidemic. In the process of economic recovery, Ho Chi Minh City did not set a high target but only 6 percent-6.5 percent. However, the actual growth rate of Ho Chi Minh City has exceeded the set level.
After a year of recovery and development, Ho Chi Minh City has regained its economic growth momentum from the beginning of 2022 until now at a rate of nearly 10 percent compared to the same period in 2021. According to Secretary of the City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen, Ho Chi Minh City has also learned many lessons; subsequently, residents and businesses in the city strived to fight, overcome and finally control the epidemic.
The HCMC Party Committee Secretary emphasized thanks to the Party and the Government’s good direction plus residents’ dynamism and concerted efforts, the city has gained positive achievements.
Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen shared with Cuba's difficulties due to the oil depot fire and some recent storms.
Regarding the relationship between Ho Chi Minh City and Cuba, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen affirmed that despite many difficulties due to the epidemic in 2021, the two sides still maintain cooperation and trade activities.
Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz shakes hands with Construction Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi ( Photo: SGGP)
Specifically, the bilateral trade turnover between Ho Chi Minh City and Cuba from the beginning of 2022 until now has reached $62 million, up 3.6 times over the same period in 2021. He expected that the two countries will promote trade, investment, tourism, health care, energy, education and training activities more.
In response, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz expressed his pleasure to visit the city named after Uncle Ho, the Cu Chi tunnels, and the Ho Chi Minh City Hi-Tech Park. The Cuban Prime Minister thanked Party Secretary Nguyen Van Nen for sharing about the situation of Ho Chi Minh City during the Covid-19 period and the recovery period.
According to the Cuban Prime Minister, the two governments continue to promote cooperation in many fields, creating conditions for Vietnamese businesses to invest more in Cuba.
The Cuban Prime Minister revealed that Cuba is currently facing many difficulties due to external factors such as natural disasters and Covid-19. Therefore, the Cuban Government has issued over 300 measures to stabilize domestic security, increase domestic production, services and business; promulgated many policies to attract foreign investment. In particular, Cuba has now successfully controlled the Covid-19 epidemic. Cuban Prime Minister affirmed that Cuba can support Vietnam in the medical field including doctors training and biopharmaceutical technology and other fields to meet Vietnam’s demands. The Cuban Prime Minister believed that with all the agreements reached by the two countries during this visit, Cuba will have the opportunity to overcome difficulties.
Earlier, on the afternoon of the same day, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz led a high-level Cuban government delegation to visit the Ho Chi Minh City Hi-Tech Park to explore opportunities for technology cooperation between Cuba and Ho Chi Minh City. On the morning of October 1, the group visited Cu Chi tunnels.
This morning, the Cuban government delegation led by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz left Ho Chi Minh City for Cuba.
