Former Minister of Construction honoured with Cuban Friendship Medal

A ceremony to award the Friendship Medal of the State of Cuba to comrade Pham Hong Ha - former member of the Party Central Committee, former minister of Construction, former Chairman of the Vietnam Sub-Committee in the Vietnam - Cuba Intergovernmental Committee held on May 5^th, at the headquarters of the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba to Vietnam. There was Mr Nguyen Thanh Nghi - Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Construction, Chairman of the Vietnam Sub-Committee in the Vietnam - Cuba Intergovernmental Committee; Deputy Minister Le Quang Hung; Deputy Minister Nguyen Van Sinh; representative of Government Office, Department of International Cooperation - Ministry of Construction at the ceremony.

At the award presentation ceremony

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Cuba to Vietnam Orlando Nicolás Hernández Guillén emphasized that the Friendship Medal was a noble award of the Cuban State to pay tribute to the contributions of former Minister Pham Hong Ha – former chairman of the Vietnam Sub-Committee in the Vietnam - Cuba Intergovernmental Committee in strengthening the economic, trade and scientific and technical relations between the two countries through the cooperation mechanism of the Vietnam - Cuba Intergovernmental Committee in the period 2016 - 2021.

Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba to Vietnam Orlando Nicolás Hernández Guillén presents a souvenir to comrade Pham Hong Ha

In the 2016-2021 period, the political-diplomatic relationship between Vietnam and Cuba was promoted with many visits at all levels by delegations of the Party, State, Government and organizations. In particular, during the official visit to the Republic of Cuba by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong (March 2018), the official visit to Vietnam by Cuban President Miguel Diaz- Canel Bermúdez (September 2018), the official visit to the Republic of Cuba by Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh (July 2019), many Cooperation Agreements and Memorandum of Understanding between agencies and businesses of two countries in many fields have been signed.

In this period, the Vietnamese Ministry of Construction has coordinated with the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment to develop the content and successfully organize 5 meetings of the Vietnam - Cuba Intergovernmental Committee. The Ministry of Construction of Vietnam regularly urged the ministries, branches and units of the Vietnamese side to focus on implementing the commitments in the Minutes of the meeting. Two sides have effectively implemented the medium-term bilateral economic agenda for the period 2014 - 2019, completed the draft Agenda for the period 2020 - 2025 for signing during the high-level visit of the State leaders of two countries.

In the field of trade, with the close direction of two co-chairs of the sub-committee, the two-way trade turnover reached an average of 250-350 million USD/year. The Vietnam - Cuba Trade Agreement was signed in November 2018 during the official visit to Vietnam by the President of the Republic of Cuba, helping to enhance trade exchanges between two countries. Every year, the Ministry of Construction proposes the Vietnamese Government to ensure rice exports to Cuba as committed at meetings, and proposes the Vietnamese Government to assist in removing difficulties for Vietnam businesses exporting consumer goods to Cuba.

Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi presents flowers to congratulate Comrade Pham Hong Ha

In the field of Construction, two sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding in March 2018 to strengthen and expand cooperation in the field of construction. The Vietnamese Ministry of Construction exchanged annual delegations to exchange information and experience in construction management and development; supported and created favorable conditions for enterprises of two countries to implement trade and investment cooperation agreements, including VIGLACERA Corporation, Dinvai company.

Mr Pham Hong Ha said that during his tenure as Chairman of the Vietnam Sub-Committee in the Vietnam - Cuba Intergovernmental Committee, he always closely coordinated with the leaders of the ministries, branches and localities of Vietnam and Cuba to renew and improve the operation quality of the Intergovernmental Committee; realize the guidelines and directives of the Party, State and Government of the two countries.

Mr Pham Hong Ha expressed his thanks to the leaders of the Party, Government, ministries, branches and localities of two countries, especially the leaders of the Ministry of Construction who supported him to complete his tasks at the Vietnam - Cuba Intergovernmental Committee.

 Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi and leaders of Construction congratulate Mr. Pham Hong Ha

Former Minister Pham Hong Ha expressed his belief that Cuba would continue to overcome challenges to further develop and the activities of the Vietnam - Cuba Intergovernmental Committee would become more effective and substantive in the coming time.