Việt Nam's Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Hoàng Xuân Chiến and Minister of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces Alvaro Lopez Miera signed documents on bilateral cooperation. — VNA/VNS Photo

HAVANA — Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Hoàng Xuân Chiến held talks with Minister of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces Alvaro Lopez Miera in Havana on the morning of September 20. 

Deputy Minister Chiến is accompanying President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc during his official visit to Cuba.

At the meeting, Minister Alvaro Lopez Miera spoke highly of President Phúc’s visit to Cuba, saying it reaffirms the solidarity and special brotherhood between the two countries at the time when the world is facing challenges caused by the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both sides welcomed the outcomes of bilateral defence cooperation over recent years which are in line with documents and agreements signed by the two ministries and commitments made by the countries’ leaders. They spoke highly of results achieved in 2020, highlighting the compilation of a set of documents on the Việt Nam-Cuba defence partnership over the last six decades (1960-20) as an example.

They agreed to further increase delegation exchanges, high-level dialogues and cooperation in the defence industry, personnel training, cyber security, military medicine and other areas in which both sides have competitive edges and potential.

They also agreed to coordinate in responding to the pandemic and soon develop and sign a cooperation plan between the two countries’ military medical forces for the next five years.

Thanking the Cuban Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces for sending medicines and experts to help Việt Nam fight COVID-19, Deputy Minister Chiến announced that the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence will present 100 tonnes of corn seeds along with medical supplies and cash, worth around US$436,700 in total, to its Cuban counterpart.

The Cuban minister also informed that his ministry will donate 150,000 doses of Abdala COVID-19 vaccine and virus treatment medicines to Việt Nam’s Ministry of National Defence.

At the end of the talks, the two sides inked a plan for defence cooperation for 2020-22. — VNS