Secretary of the National Assembly of the People’s Power of Cuba Homero Acosta Álvarez in the interview with Vietnam News Agency. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Relations between Việt Nam and Cuba have reached a new high, entering an era of partnership built upon a special, traditional friendship that is rare in international relations, according to Secretary of the National Assembly of the People’s Power of Cuba Homero Acosta Álvarez.

In a recent interview with the Vietnam News Agency on the occasion of the ongoing official visit to Việt Nam of President of the National Assembly of People’s Power and President of the Council of the State of Cuba, Esteban Lazo Hernández, Acosta Álvarez referenced the historical relationship between the two countries. He expressed his belief that Việt Nam is the only country in the world with which Cuba has maintained such comprehensive relations.

Following the visit to Cuba by Party General Secretary To Lam, the two sides have bolstered collaboration across multiple areas with new momentum, he said, noting promising domains for cooperation such as food and pharmaceutical production, biotechnology, and renewable energy.

He also pointed out that Cuba's full range of comprehensive cooperation channels and mechanisms for exchanging experiences on socialist building theory with Việt Nam is rare, demonstrating that no other partnership could compare to this relationship.

Cuba admires Việt Nam's development achievements, and the Southeast Asian country is a world model for socialist construction, he underscored.

He expressed deep gratitude for Việt Nam's timely support for Cuba during the latter’s difficult time, citing aid campaigns organised by the Việt Nam Fatherland Front, the Red Cross Society, and other organisations that raised over 14 million USD for the Caribbean nation. He described the acts of compassion as a vivid testimony to the friendship nurtured by President Ho Chi Minh and Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro.

Touching on Lazo Hernández’s trip, he said it carries great symbolic weight, taking place in a year when Việt Nam celebrates landmark anniversaries, including the 80th National Day, the 135th birth anniversary of President Hồ Chí Minh, the 95th anniversary of the Communist Party’s founding, and the 65th anniversary of the Việt Nam–Cuba diplomatic relations.

A key moment of his trip is the second session of the Việt Nam–Cuba Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, which he emphasised as an effective, results-driven mechanism aimed at strengthening inter-parliamentary relations. Cuba maintains such a formal framework with very few countries, he said.

Established in 2023 through a memorandum of understanding, the mechanism has been completed, with discussions extending beyond legislative matters to cover major economic and trade cooperation.

At the latest session, the two sides examined the ways that the two parliaments facilitate the implementation of Government agreements, remove legal barriers, and create favourable conditions for joint projects.

Việt Nam is now Cuba’s top Asian investor, with eight major projects in the Mariel Special Development Zone. In agriculture, Vietnamese-backed rice projects in Los Palacios yielded more than seven tonnes per hectare, much higher than Cuba’s previous average.

He also acknowledged ongoing challenges that need to be resolved in the coming time, such as energy, fuel, and financial-banking mechanisms.

On parliamentary cooperation, he said that both sides have maintained close ties, adding that since 2013, a high-level working delegation from the Cuban parliament has come to Việt Nam to study the country’s legal reforms and constitutional changes as a reference for Cuba’s constitutional process.

Notably, when Cuba’s new National Assembly was inaugurated in 2023, a high-level Vietnamese delegation attended, with Việt Nam's top legislator addressing the opening session. He added that this is a vivid symbol of the two nations’ special and exemplary solidarity.

At international forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the two assemblies have worked closely and supported each other, with Cuba valuing Việt Nam's rising global standing and legislative innovations. — VNA/VNS