Up to 5,000 tonnes of rice that are the gift of the Vietnamese Party, State and people for the Cuban people were symbolically presented at a ceremony in Havana on 14 September.

Representatives of the General Department of State Reserves of Viet Nam and the Cuba Food Import-Export Corporation exchange the signed document on the handover of the 5,000 tonnes of rice (Photo: VNA)

The gift, which has arrived at the Port of Mariel in the western province of Artemisa, was announced during a visit to the Caribbean nation by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong last March.

Attending the ceremony were General Director of the General Department of State Reserves of Vietnam Do Viet Duc, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cuba Nguyen Trung Thanh and Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Antonio Carricarte, among others.

Duc said he was happy to visit Cuba amid the 45^th anniversary of its leader Fidel Castro’s visit to Viet Nam – a milestone in Cuba’s precious material and spiritual support to the Southeast Asian nation.

He underlined the faithful sentiment and support of the Vietnamese Party, State and people for Cuba’s revolutionary cause and congratulated the country on the recent achievements in updating its socio-economic model.

For his part, Antonio Carricarte appreciated the gift as well as Viet Nam’s assistance to Cuba in improving its rice production capacity.

Noting the countries’ steadfast relations and each side’s development demand, he voiced his belief in the huge potential for expanding bilateral cooperation, particularly in investment, trade and services exchange.

(Source: VNA)