Havana, December 9 (RHC)--Cuba and Vietnam ratified Wednesday their will to continue united to face world challenges in the central act the 60th anniversary of establishing bilateral diplomatic relations.

The first secretary of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, Raúl Castro; Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel; and the Vietnamese ambassador to the island, Le Thanh Tung, and other leaders of the Party, government and organizations of the Caribbean nation attended the event.

At the meeting, held at the Council of State, the legacy of Cuba and Vietnam's historical leaders, Fidel Castro and Ho Chi Minh, respectively, was honored.  Both leaders established exemplary relations on December 2, 1960.

In his speech, the ambassador of the Asian nation to Havana said that since then, successive generations have forged and consolidated the friendship between the peoples, governments, and communist parties, based on fraternal solidarity and cooperation. 

He said that today's Vietnam has the blood and sacrifice of Cubans, and recalled the Cuban aid received during the war; and after the victory, how they contributed to building a Vietnam 10 times more beautiful with works such as a hospital, a hotel, and farms for the development of livestock and agriculture.

Thousands of students from the Asian nation have been trained in the Caribbean land, the ambassador said. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, medicines were sent to the Indochinese country as new evidence of the brotherhood that unites the two countries.

Solidarity with Cuba is an order from the heart for the Vietnamese,' he affirmed and expressed the certainty that, with the guidance of the Communist Party, the process of updating the Cuban economic and social model will be successful. 

Speaking on behalf of his country, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, highlighted the nobility, patriotism, and kindness of the Vietnamese people.

He reviewed essential milestones of the friendship between the two peoples, such as the visits of the leading figures of the Party and the government of both sides. He assured that the relations maintained in these six decades are an example for the world.

Cuba will never forget the solidarity of Vietnam in the 1990s, after the collapse of socialism in Eastern Europe. He also appreciated the fight against the economic blockade that the United States imposes on the Caribbean nation.

Vietnam is the island's second-largest trading partner in Asia and Oceania and the largest investor in that region, said Marrero. He addressed the importance of intensifying cooperation in sectors with potential such as transportation, telecommunications, biotechnology, education, energy, and agro-industry, among others.

We will invariably continue the legacy of Fidel Castro and Ho Chi Minh, the Prime Minister ratified, adding that in the face of the current challenges, Vietnam and Cuba will continue to be united and will win.