On April 15, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and his delegation returned to Hanoi, concluding their successful official visit to Cuba at the invitation of the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee, and President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba, Raul Castro Ruz.

Party leader Trong’s visit to Cuba took place after the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and the Communist Party of Cuba (CPC) successfully organized the National Party Congresses to devise policies for national development in the time to come.

Cuba was the first nation outside the region that Mr Trong has visited in his new capacity as Party leader, showing the CPV’s determination to solidify the time-honoured relations and special friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

In talks with Cuban leaders, response to media questions, and meetings with staff and trainees at the Nico Lopez Party School, Party leader Trong always affirmed that Vietnam is grateful to Cuba for its wholehearted support and assistance. Every Vietnamese will always remember President Fidel Castro saying “For Vietnam, Cuba is ready to devote even its blood”.

Mr Trong said during his stay in Cuba, he felt Cuban friends’ great sentiment and understanding about Vietnamese land and people.

Vietnam and Cuba pursue their common goal for socialist construction, but measures depend on the specific conditions in their respective countries. The two parties’ leaders affirmed that they will stand shoulder-to-shoulder on the path for national independence and socialism.

The practical reality has demonstrated the vitality of socialism. Vietnam has recorded renewal achievements and continues to advance to socialism. Cuba stands firm and remains a shining example of progress, social justice, international solidarity and the indomitable spirit of freedom for all nations and human dignity.  This revolutionary trend is also taking place in Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, along with the growth of left-wing movements towards socialism which are emerging in the western hemisphere.

Cuba showed its keen interest in the guidelines, policies and renewal achievements Vietnam has made during the past 30 years, and wished to share its experiences with Vietnam in the development process from theory to practical reality.

The CPV’s sixth National Congress in 1986 set orientations for Doi Moi (Renewal), while the CPC’s sixth National Congress devised a decisive policy for an updated economic model, opening up a new period of socio-economic development to improve people’s living standards.

Vu Van Hien, Vice Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s Theoretical Council, who accompanied the Party leader to Cuba, reiterated that theoretical cooperation between the two Parties will be promoted in the future to practically serve the development process in each country.

To gain a better understanding of Cuba’s tremendous achievements and the results of bilateral cooperation, Mr Trong visited a number of Vietnam’s cooperation projects in Cuba. On agriculture, the rice project in Pinar del Rio province is paying off with output of 5-6 million tonnes /hectare each crop.

During the visit, a series of cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding (MoU) were signed between ministries and sectors, such as agreements between the Hanoi Municipal Party Committee and the Havana Municipal Party Committee, between the Vietnamese and Cuba finance ministries and a MoU on the investment of a five-star hotel worth US$250 million in Havana.

The Vietnamese gifts for Cuba, including 5,000 tons of rice, US$ 400,000 for building schools and roads, and hundreds of computers, showed Vietnamese people’s solidarity with Cuba.

Reinforcing Vietnam-Cuba solidarity is the wish of the two Parties and two peoples who are making every effort to nurture their friendship and special solidarity developed over the past 50 years.

It is believed that Party leader Trong’s visit to Cuba will contribute to further strengthening the ties of friendship, solidarity, faithfulness, mutual trust and comprehensive cooperation between the two nations.

(VOV)