Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh made the statement in Ha Noi on July 9 at a meeting with Cuban Minister of Foreign Relations Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, who accompanies the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (CPC) Central Committee and President of the State Council and the Council of Ministers, Raul Castro, on an official friendship visit to Vietnam .

The two FMs agreed on measures to increase high-ranking delegations’ visits and the exchange of delegations between the Parties, States, National Assemblies, ministries, departments and social-political organisations of the two countries.

They reached a consensus on holding an annual political consultation late this year in Havana.

The two FMs exchanged views on international and regional issues and agreed that both countries should enhance coordination and mutual support at international forums in which both countries are members.

FM Minh took the occasion to thank the Cuban delegation for their active participation and contributions to the Viet Nam-Latin America Trade and Investment Forum hosted by the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry for the first time.

The Cuban media have given extensive coverage of the meetings between its President Raul Castro with Viet Nam’s top leaders during his official friendship visit to Viet Nam from July 8-10.

In its article titled the two countries’ friendship further consolidated, Granma, the official organ of the Communist Party of Cuba, wrote despite geographical distance, Cuba and Viet Nam are always two fraternal nations and that was reaffirmed with the official friendship visit to Vietnam by General Raul Castro.

The front page article focused on Raul Castro’s activities with the talks with Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and separate meetings with President Truong Tan Sang and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, which, it said, took place in the atmosphere of wholehearted friendship.

The paper cited Raul in his talks with Party General Secretary Trong as saying that returning to Viet Nam this time is his great personal pride. He also highlighted the sustainability of the two countries’ relationship over the past decades although both nations have experienced difficult periods.

For his part, the Vietnamese Party leader affirmed Raul’s current visit aims to lift up the relationship between the two Parties and Governments to a new development stage, the paper said.

Activities by the Cuban delegation in Vietnam were also spotlighted in an article published by the ‘Trabajadores’ or ‘Workers’ newspaper. It quoted Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang as saying that “To receive you and the Cuban delegation, we have the feeling of welcoming brothers home not foreign guests.”

In a meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, the two leaders discussed their countries’ socio-economic development. They agreed that President Raul’s visit is significant to both sides to promote bilateral trade and economic ties.

On the morning and afternoon of July 8, the “Cubadebate” online newspaper and the Cuba TV covered all activities by Raul Castro on the day during his first official friendship visit to Viet Nam as Cuba’s top leader.