Cuban top legislator starts visit to Vietnam

Chairman of the Cuban National Assembly Esteban Lazo Hernandez

Since Vietnam and Cuba established diplomatic ties in December 1960, the bilateral relations have been incessantly reinforced and developed.

Cuba was the first Latin American country and one of the first nations in the world to recognise the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam.

After the wartime, Cuba still stood side by side with Vietnamese people in the cause of national reconstruction and development, helping the Southeast Asian country to build transport infrastructure, develop animal husbandry and train human resources in the fields of agriculture, construction, architecture, medicine, and social sciences.

Regarding the parliamentary relations, the Vietnamese National Assembly regularly sends delegations to Cuba.

The two legislatures also established friendship parliamentarians’ groups.

Along with sound political relations, the bilateral economic-trade ties also received due attention. Two-way trade reached US$247.64 million in 2016.

Currently, Vietnam is the second largest Asian trade partner of Cuba. Vietnam mainly exports rice, coal, chemicals, garment-textile and computers to Cuba while importing pharmaceutical products from the market.

During the trip to Vietnam, the Cuban parliamentary delegation wants to study the role, functions, apparatus and activities of the Vietnamese legislature, especially of the NA Standing Committee, as well as share experience in renovation and national development.