Deputy Minister Phan Thi Thang co-chaired the meeting to implement the Vietnam - Cuba Trade Agreement.

At the first meeting of the Joint Committee for the implementation of the Vietnam-Cuba Trade Agreement, Deputy Minister Phan Thi Thang commented that the rate of Vietnamese enterprises taking advantage of origin incentives is gradually increasing.

Cuba is a key market for Vietnam in the Latin American region.

According to information from the Department of Foreign Market Development, Ministry of Industry and Trade , on December 1, 2025, in the capital city of Havana, Deputy Minister Phan Thi Thang and Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment of Cuba Deborah Rivas Saavedra co-chaired the 1st Meeting of the Joint Committee for the Implementation of the Vietnam - Cuba Trade Agreement.

This is an important event marking the first time the two sides have established a periodic dialogue mechanism to review the implementation of the bilateral trade agreement, propose measures to remove obstacles as well as identify key priorities to effectively implement the agreement, contributing to promoting economic, trade and investment cooperation in the context of the two sides celebrating the 65th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam - Cuba diplomatic relations (1960 - 2025).

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Phan Thi Thang co-chaired the 1st meeting of the Joint Committee for the implementation of the Vietnam - Cuba Trade Agreement.

At the meeting, the two sides comprehensively assessed the situation of bilateral economic , trade and investment relations five years after the agreement took effect on April 1, 2020.

On the Vietnamese side, Deputy Minister Phan Thi Thang assessed that bilateral trade remained stable at 200 million USD. However, in the unfavorable context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the global economic crisis and Cuba's economic situation facing many difficulties and challenges, this result demonstrated the joint efforts of both sides in promoting bilateral trade relations.

Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade said that Cuba continues to be one of Vietnam's 10 key markets in Latin America and Vietnam is currently Cuba's second largest partner in the Asia-Pacific region.

Currently, Vietnam is the largest Asian investor and one of the leading investors in Cuba with 7 active projects, focusing on the fields of material production, consumer goods, industrial park infrastructure development and energy. In the near future, it will expand its investment to the fields of wholesale, retail, rice cultivation, instant noodle production, animal feed, fertilizer, as well as joint ventures in research, production and trade of agricultural biotechnology products, medicine and pharmacy...

“With the above advantages, the cooperation opportunities between Vietnam and Cuba still have much room for development. The two sides need to make more efforts and coordinate to strive to bring bilateral trade turnover to 500 million USD in the coming time,” said the Chairman of the Vietnam Sub-Committee.

Agreeing with the opinion of the Vietnamese side, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment of Cuba mentioned Cuba's strengths in the field of biotechnology and the potential for investment cooperation between the two countries in the coming time.

Accordingly, Cuba has strengths in joint ventures to research and develop vaccines, drugs, biological products of natural origin, as well as expanding the capacity to produce high-quality biomedical products right in Vietnam. These are also areas in which Vietnam can promote cooperation and expand investment and business in Cuba.

Vietnamese enterprises make good use of origin incentives

At the meeting, the two sides exchanged, discussed and reviewed the implementation of the Vietnam - Cuba Trade Agreement , including propaganda, dissemination, institution building, implementation of tariff commitments, rules of origin, etc.

According to the assessment of the two countries, the rate of Vietnam taking advantage of the agreement's preferential origin is increasing, showing that businesses are gradually taking advantage of the opportunities brought by the Agreement.

The Chairman of the Cuban Sub-Committee hopes that more and more Cuban businesses will benefit from the agreement, bringing practical benefits to businesses and facilitating bilateral import and export activities.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Phan Thi Thang and Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment of Cuba Deborah Rivas Saavedra signed the meeting minutes.

At the end of the meeting, the two sides agreed to have favorable policies and mechanisms to remove difficulties and obstacles, and prioritize solving payment issues to create more favorable conditions for investment and business activities of Vietnamese enterprises in Cuba.

The two leaders also signed the minutes of the first meeting of the Joint Committee for the implementation of the Vietnam - Cuba Trade Agreement, in which they agreed on key tasks to be coordinated in the coming time to improve the effectiveness of the Trade Agreement implementation, bringing benefits to businesses and people of the two countries.

During the working trip, the Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade had meetings with the Cuban Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines and the Cuban Deputy Minister of Industry to discuss cooperation prospects in the fields of renewable energy and manufacturing industry in line with the needs and potential of both sides.

Through the meeting and bilateral meetings, the two sides affirmed their determination to strengthen cooperation, effectively exploit the signed Trade Agreement and bring Vietnam-Cuba economic and trade relations to match the good political relationship between the two countries.

In 2024, bilateral trade turnover will recover slightly and reach 199.3 million USD, up 28.1% compared to 2023, of which Vietnam exported 193.7 million USD, up 24.5% and imported 5.6 million USD from Cuba. In the first 10 months of 2025, trade turnover reached 68.97 million USD, of which Vietnam exported 65.52 million USD and imported 3.45 million USD from Cuba.

Vietnam’s main exports to Cuba are mainly rice, coffee, chemical products, textiles, footwear, computers and components, construction materials, ceramics, machinery and equipment, spare parts, etc., of which rice is the item with the highest proportion in the structure of Vietnam’s exports to Cuba. Vietnam’s imports from Cuba are mainly vaccines and pharmaceuticals.

Vietnam is currently the second largest trading partner and the largest Asian investor in Cuba.

Hoang Hoa

Source: https://congthuong.vn/thu-truong-phan-thi-thang-dong-chu-tri-ky-hop-thuc-thi-hiep-dinh-thuong-mai-viet-nam-cuba-433095.html