Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man and President of the National Assembly of People’s Power and President of the Council of State of Cuba Esteban Lazo Hernandez co-chaired the second session of the Vietnam – Cuba Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee in Hanoi on October 1.
Opening the event, Chairman Man underlined that over the past 65 years, the Vietnam – Cuba relationship has continuously grown stronger, becoming a model of pure, faithful, and close-knit international solidarity. Within that special bond, the legislatures of both countries play an increasingly important role as not only a reliable political channel but also a core force in deepening bilateral ties.
He stressed that through law-making and policy-building, the two parliaments have helped create a favourable environment for practical, effective, and sustainable development cooperation across multiple fields, serving the interests of the two peoples while nurturing the traditional fraternity between Vietnam and Cuba.
In the current context, he went on, fostering parliamentary cooperation will help to not only reinforce the political and diplomatic foundation but also contribute to connections in other fields, including economy, education, biotechnology, health care, science – technology, defence – security, and people-to-people exchanges.
Building on the success of the committee's first meeting held in Havana in 2024, the second session demonstrates the strong political commitment of both parliaments to further consolidating the special friendship and solidarity between the two nations. It also provided an opportunity for the legislatures to comprehensively review cooperation outcomes, share experience in law-making, and discuss their role in stepping up collaboration in the spheres of mutual interest, especially following the state visit to Cuba by Party General Secretary and then President To Lam in September 2024.
For his part, Esteban Lazo recalled the unforgettable moments in the history of bilateral ties and said the meeting allowed both sides to oversee the implementation of agreements between the two Parties and States, promote investment and cooperation in priority sectors, and concretise the outcomes of the talks between the two parliamentary leaders on September 30.
He affirmed Cuba’s determination to adopt necessary policies to facilitate trade and economic cooperation with Vietnam, stressing that Cuba highly values the participation of Vietnamese enterprises in its economic model updating process.
The top legislator of Cuba also reiterated his country’s appreciation for Vietnam’s invaluable support in helping Cuba stabilise and develop, as well as the assistance provided by Vietnamese organisations over recent years.
During the meeting, the two sides spoke highly of the strong development of Vietnam – Cuba relations and the importance of parliamentary cooperation to bilateral ties. They discussed ways to improve the legal framework to facilitate business development, attract foreign investment, boost agricultural production with new technology, and expand collaboration in biotechnology and health care.
Both sides affirmed their commitment to strengthening parliamentary cooperation not only bilaterally but also at international and regional inter-parliamentary forums. They also considered joint supervision to ensure the effective implementation of the signed cooperation agreements.
The top legislators of Vietnam and Cuba agreed to increase consultations on law-making, create favourable conditions for realising bilateral commitments, improve specific cooperation mechanisms, encourage Vietnamese businesses to expand investment in Cuba, and foster locality-to-locality ties to share experience and support each other in socio-economic development.
Concluding the session, the two legislatures issued a joint communiqué on the outcomes of the meeting, and agreed that the third session of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee will be held in Havana, Cuba./.
