HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam and Cuba have issued a joint statement during the State visit to Cuba by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyễn Phú Trọng.

The visit is made at the invitation of First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) Central Committee and President of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers of Cuba General Raul Castro Ruz, the joint statement says.

Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng met with Second Secretary of the PCC Central Committee Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, Politburo member and President of the Cuban National Assembly Esteban Lazo Hernandez, and Politburo member and First Vice President of the Cuban Council of State and the Council of Ministers Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez.

Vietnamese and Cuban leaders agreed the special friendship and solidarity between the two countries is a symbol of the era and an invaluable asset of the Parties and people.

Their resolve is to follow in the footsteps of the friendship fostered by President Hồ Chí Minh and Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro.

The leaders agreed on the importance of expanding and deepening the friendship and comprehensive co-operation between the two countries, thus actively contributing to their national construction and defence, and to maintaining peace, stability, and development in the region and the world.

During the talks, they expressed their joy at the flourishing bilateral relations between the two nations, and affirmed their determination to turn the special relations into a new development period, on the basis of political trust.

They stressed the two sides should work closely to improve the efficiency of bilateral economic, trade and investment co-operation, while comparing their notes on international and regional issues of common concern.

The Vietnamese Party Chief congratulated Cuba on its recent successful local and national assembly elections, expressing his belief Cuba will continue the process of updating the socialism economic model, opening a new development stage of the process to build a sovereign, independent, socialist, democratic, prosperous and sustainable state.

He reiterated Việt Nam’s consistent stance on supporting Cuba’s struggle for immediate and unconditional removal of economic, trade and financial sanctions against the country, and efforts to normalise the Cuba-US relations on the basis of equality, and respect for sovereignty, independence and political institutions of each country.

Việt Nam appreciated the prestige and role of Cuba in the Latin American and Caribbean regions, and in the international arena as well. President Castro congratulated Việt Nam on its prominent achievements in its Đổi mới (renewal) process initiated by the CPV.

He spoke highly of Việt Nam’s peaceful foreign policy and international prestige; its efforts to protect independence and sovereignty, and to promote international integration; and the country’s contributions to peace, stability, co-operation and development in the Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific regions, and in the world, adding that Cuba supports and believes Việt Nam will continue obtaining greater achievements in the future.

The two leaders agreed the countries should maintain regular meetings at all levels, and discuss and share experience related to state leadership, socio-economic management, and Party building.

The two sides stressed the importance of bilateral co-operation mechanisms like the exchange and co-operation agreement between the CPV and the PCC, the two Parties’ theoretical workshops, the Inter-governmental Committee on economic, scientific and technical co-operation, and the political consultation between the two foreign ministries.

They expressed their resolve to enhance the effectiveness of these mechanisms. General Secretary Trọng and President Raul Castro emphasised the significance of enhancing economic partnership. They highly valued the two sides’ finalisation of the negotiation on a new trade agreement, considering this a basis for them to continue expanding economic and trade ties. Cuba also supports the increase of Việt Nam’s investment in the country.

The two sides will consider their potential to boost co-operation in priority fields such as energy, telecommunication, tourism, construction, healthcare services, industry, agriculture, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, transport, and other spheres.

President Castro thanked the Vietnamese Party, State and Government for freeing the Cuban Government from its debt to the Vietnamese Government, describing this as an illustration of the two countries’ special relations. The two leaders expressed their delight at the complete similarities in the countries’ stance on many international issues.

They stressed international disputes need to be resolved by peaceful means on the basis on international law and the UN Charter. They also underlined the necessity to respect the principles of independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and the right to self-determination of countries, non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs, and no use of force or threat to use force.

They share the view that the increasingly tightened bilateral links will help expand Việt Nam’s co-operation with Latin American and Caribbean nations and Cuba’s co-operation with Asia-Pacific countries.

They re-affirmed the validity of the fundamental principles of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), stressing the targets and principles of NAM need to be thoroughly respected.

They also applauded NAM’s contributions to the protection of the principles of international law. Both sides renewed the commitment to promoting international peace and security and disarmament, especially nuclear disarmament.

They expressed their delight at the two countries’ signing and participation in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and also agreed to effectively implement the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda, continue actively contributing to climate change response efforts.

The two countries will continue supporting each other at international organisations and multilateral forums, especially at the UN.

They will foster co-operation and mutual support within the framework of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties, the Sao Paulo Forum, and other political and social forums.

In the statement, the two sides hailed the State visit as a success, adding it was a special event amid the 45th anniversary of the first visit to Việt Nam by Fidel Castro Ruz, the only foreign leader visiting the newly liberated area at the 17th Parallel in Quảng Trị Province of Việt Nam.

General Secretary Trọng invited First Secretary and President Raul Castro to pay an official visit to Việt Nam. The Cuban leader thanked and accepted the invitation with pleasure. —VNS