Cuban leader begins 5-day Vietnam visit

During his stay he is expected to attend a series of events in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, hold talks with Vietnamese leaders and attend the signing of several bilateral agreements, Vietnam News Agency reported.

This is his first visit outside Latin America since taking office in December 2019, and the first visit by a senior Cuban leader to Vietnam since 2018.

Vietnam and Cuba established diplomatic relations in Dec. 1960, two years after the Cuban Revolution.

Cuba imports 300,000- 400,000 tons of rice from Vietnam annually.

Some Vietnamese businesses are investing in industrial park infrastructure and manufacture of construction materials and detergents in Cuba.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Cuba provided Vietnam with five million doses of vaccines and sent medical teams to help.

In September last year President Nguyen Xuan Phuc visited Cuba, the first visit by a foreign head of state to the island since the pandemic began.