Promoting potential and enhancing investment cooperation in the construction sector between Vietnam and Cuba

Within the framework of the 41st session of the Vietnam-Cuba Intergovernmental Committee in Havana, the capital of the Republic of Cuba from April 11-15, Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi and the working delegation had talks with Cuban Minister of Construction Rene Mesa Villafana and Cuban construction units and enterprises.

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Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi (6th from left) and the delegation held talks with Cuban Minister of Construction Rene Mesa Villafana and Cuban construction units and enterprises.

At the meeting, Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi emphasized the significance of this working trip when he joined the delegation of Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam Tran Luu Quang on an official visit to the Republic of Cuba and co-chaired the 41st meeting of the Vietnam-Cuba Intergovernmental Committee with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment of Cuba Ricardo Cabrisas Ruíz.

The talks between the two Ministers of Construction of Vietnam and Cuba aimed to discuss the results of cooperation in the field of construction and plans for the coming time. Recalling the cooperative relationship between the two sides, Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi affirmed: Regarding cooperation in the field of construction, in the past year, the Ministry of Construction of Vietnam and the Ministry of Construction of Cuba have exchanged delegations, exchanged information, shared experiences in construction industry development management, and discussed solutions to support and promote substantive cooperation between construction enterprises of the two countries.

The relationship and cooperation between the two Ministries have brought about positive results: Viglacera Corporation and Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUD) have created favorable conditions for Dinvai Vietnam Company to participate in providing supervision consulting services at a number of projects in Vietnam; Vietnam Machinery Installation Corporation (Lilama) has sent a team of technical experts to Cuba to survey a number of cement factories and propose solutions to renovate, restore and improve the production efficiency of these cement factories; Vietnam Cement Corporation (VICEM) has visited and surveyed the cement factory in Artemisa province, Cuba. The Cuban business delegation including Dinvai Cuba Company; Geicon Group had a working session with VICEM Vietnam to discuss cooperation plans. VICEM Vietnam and GECEM Cuba have agreed on a cooperation plan for 2024-2025, including support for training Cuban cement industry technical staff in Vietnam.

At the meeting, Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi and Vietnamese enterprises investing in Cuba also pointed out some difficulties they are facing, specifically the SanVig Joint Venture (a joint venture between Cuban enterprises and Viglacera), although both sides have made efforts to implement it, it has not achieved the desired results. Brick and sanitary ware factories are all operating below capacity due to power shortages and lack of raw materials for production...

Along with sharing the difficulties that Cuba is facing, Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi hopes that the two Ministries will continue to pay attention to and support businesses of both sides to promote and strengthen close, practical and effective cooperation in the construction sector. Regarding the difficulties of the SanVig Joint Venture, he requested Cuban Minister of Construction Rene Mesa Villafana to prioritize the solution of providing enough electricity and raw materials for factories to ensure stable production and product quality.

Delegates discuss at the meeting.

At the meeting, Vietnamese enterprises investing in Cuba also shared investment results and proposed solutions to promote effective investment cooperation in the spirit of mutual support and mutual benefit.

Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, General Director of Viglacera, said: The SanVig joint venture factory invested by Viglacera in Cuba has received attention from Cuban agencies, providing raw materials and fuel for production. The market is very good, products are sold out as soon as they are made, in addition to serving domestic needs, Cuba also exports products abroad. If attention is paid to solving difficulties, providing stable electricity to maintain operations, the factory will be a good source of foreign currency for Cuba, this will be a model in investment cooperation with Cuba.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Housing and Urban Development Investment Corporation HUD also said: HUD and Dinvai Cuba Construction Company have signed a cooperation agreement based on mutual support and mutual benefit. According to the agreement, Dinvai Company will provide information and documents on real estate investment opportunities such as housing, hotels, and golf courses to HUD for research and investment decisions. HUD will invite Dinvai to participate in construction consulting packages in accordance with Dinvai's capacity and Vietnamese law.

Up to now, according to the initial cooperation agreement, HUD has awarded Dinvai 6 supervision consulting contracts with a value of 2.7 billion VND. It is expected that in 2024, 2 consulting contracts will be awarded to Dinvai. Dinvai has good implementation capacity, professional staff, high sense of responsibility, and can participate in larger bidding packages through bidding. HUD will support Dinvai to participate in large consulting bidding packages.

Mr. Ho Van Ha, Director of Dong Nai Department of Construction, also introduced the potential and investment opportunities in the construction of industrial parks, new urban areas and especially housing, including social housing in Dong Nai, hoping that Cuba would share its experience in planning, construction management, construction licensing and housing development. Mr. Ho Van Ha affirmed: Dong Nai is very interested in and promoting the development of social housing, through the joint venture between HUD and Dinvai, it can participate in construction investment projects in Dong Nai, especially since Cuba has good experts in the field of construction consulting.

With the function of advising on policies, Director of the Department of Construction Management - Ministry of Construction Hoang Anh Tuan also shared: Typical examples of cooperation between the two construction sectors of Vietnam and Cuba are projects such as the hospital in Dong Hoi, roads in Vietnam supervised by Cuban engineers; planning products in some localities of Vietnam. The Cuban construction sector has strengths in construction design, planning and construction consultancy and supervision, so it hopes that Cuba will send experts to strengthen cooperation in the fields of design, supervision, construction licensing management, and planning consultancy. With specific guidance from the two Ministries, the Department of Construction Management will study to remove barriers to the construction capacity of Cuban enterprises in Vietnam so that Cuban enterprises can participate in more projects in Vietnam.

Delegates discuss at the meeting.

At the meeting, Cuban Minister of Construction Rene Mesa Villafana highly appreciated the results and efforts of Vietnamese enterprises investing in Cuba: For the San Vig joint venture invested by Viglacera in Cuba, the Cuban Ministry of Construction considers it as an enterprise under the Ministry. This is a key project of great importance to Cuba with the goal of producing 3 million m2 of tiles, 250 thousand sanitary ware products/year and building a factory to produce 3 million tiles/year.

Because Cuba prioritizes fuel for its people, factories are experiencing fuel shortages, affecting production and transportation of goods. Cuba has made every effort to realize cooperation agreements and put projects into profitable operation, but in reality, it has not met the expectations of both sides. The two sides will continue to overcome difficulties. In the coming time, Cuba will remove fuel difficulties and reach agreements with many countries on fuel supply to restart production activities. In April, oil will be supplied to factories to solve the difficulties. In addition, Cuba has proposed a solution to open accounts in countries where Cuba exports products to earn foreign currency; promote cooperation to bring Viglacera products produced in Cuba and produced in Vietnam to Caribbean countries.

Minister Rene Mesa Villafana also affirmed: The cooperation agreement signed between Dinvai Corporation and HUD has brought Cuba very meaningful construction consulting contracts in Vietnam in the context of many difficulties, maintaining the operations of Cuban enterprises in Vietnam. In fact, the Cuban construction industry has participated in cooperation and been present in Vietnam for more than 30 years, currently Cuban enterprises are also participating in 2 road projects in Vietnam, however, the project will end by the end of 2024.

Currently, Dinvai Corporation has a representative office in Vietnam. This is a typical enterprise of the Cuban Ministry of Construction, with a team of professional engineering experts.

Minister Rene Mesa Villafana also said: With the contribution of more than 14 thousand expert engineers in the fields of planning, housing, urban and transportation, it is the foundation for the development process that the Cuban revolution has brought about. In addition to Dinvai Corporation, there is a system of other construction-related enterprises ready to participate and expand the cooperation between Cuba and Vietnam. Although Cuba faces many difficulties, experts and engineers are always updated with international standards, so we hope that both sides can exploit the potential and strengthen cooperation between Cuban and Vietnamese construction enterprises.

In particular, social housing is one of Cuba's priority areas and there are social housing projects, so it is possible to propose to Dong Nai province about cooperation in developing social housing. Cuba has a working program and experience exchange with Ho Chi Minh City, so it can share experiences with Dong Nai immediately on this issue.

Regarding cooperation with functional units of the Ministry of Construction, the two sides can organize exchanges to come up with ideas and propose issues for possible cooperation. The Cuban Ministry of Construction will introduce potential development projects, hoping to cooperate with many Vietnamese enterprises, including projects to renovate, repair and build cement factories; projects to repair and build Cuban hotels... Cuban Minister of Construction Rene Mesa Villafana affirmed that he will always accompany, be ready to cooperate and help Vietnamese enterprises in the process of participating in investment and cooperation in Cuba.

Responding to the proposals of the Cuban Minister of Construction, Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi assessed: The potential for cooperation between Vietnam and Cuba is still very large, especially in the construction sector. The Vietnamese Ministry of Construction is eager to promote Vietnamese enterprises to participate in investment cooperation in Cuba as well as Cuban enterprises to invest in Vietnam. If Vietnamese enterprises and projects investing in Cuba overcome difficulties and operate effectively, they will contribute to promoting the cooperative relationship between Vietnam and Cuba, increasing confidence and motivation for enterprises to continue to expand production and investment in Cuba, attracting more Vietnamese investors to Cuba.

The Ministry of Construction of Vietnam has assigned competent agencies to synthesize, review and handle Dinvai Corporation's recommendations on transport projects in Vietnam; assigned tasks to Vietnamese enterprises to create favorable conditions for enterprises to participate in consulting projects; assigned tasks to the Department of Construction Activities to review and consider creating favorable conditions for Dinvai enterprises to operate in Vietnam.

Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi agreed with Cuba's new cooperation proposals, specifically the renovation, repair and construction of cement factory projects; areas related to the strengths of Lilama Machinery Installation Corporation; tourism and real estate development projects... These are specific proposals to make the cooperation between the Vietnamese Ministry of Construction and the Cuban Ministry of Construction more substantial and effective. The results of the cooperation between the two ministries will contribute to strengthening the traditional, special cooperative relationship between Cuba and Vietnam, further affirming the special solidarity and friendship between Vietnam and Cuba, established by President Ho Chi Minh and President Fidel Castro and continued to be cultivated by generations of leaders and people of the two countries.

Minister Nguyen Thanh Nghi hopes that in the near future, the Cuban Minister of Construction and his delegation will soon visit Vietnam to work, including a survey and discussion with Dong Nai province. In the near future, functional units and enterprises of the two ministries will have discussions to handle specific issues and implement the contents agreed upon by the two sides.

The Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations and ICAP continue to cooperate to promote people-to-people exchange between Vietnam and Cuba.

On March 14, the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO) held an online meeting with the Cuban Institute for Friendship with Peoples (ICAP) on cooperation directions in the coming time.

Cuba launches special publication “Cuba and Vietnam: Symbols of brotherhood”

Recently, the Cuban National Assembly Magazine launched a special publication "Cuba and Vietnam: Symbols of Brotherhood" on the occasion of celebrating Cuban Press Day at the Cuban National Assembly - Capitolio, capital of La Habana.

According to Nhan Dan Newspaper

https://nhandan.vn/phat-huy-tiem-nang-tang-cuong-hop-tac-dau-tu-trong-linh-vuc-xay-dung-giua-viet-nam-va-cuba-post804601.html

Source: https://thoidai.com.vn/phat-huy-tiem-nang-tang-cuong-hop-tac-dau-tu-trong-linh-vuc-xay-dung-giua-viet-nam-va-cuba-198833.html