Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh receives President of Cuban Prensa Latina News Agency
VGP - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Monday hosted a reception for Jorge Legañoa Alonso, President of Cuba’s Prensa Latina news agency, who is visiting Viet Nam on the occasion of the 65th founding anniversary of the Viet Nam-Cuba diplomatic relations.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) and President of Cuba’s Prensa Latina news agency Jorge Legañoa Alonso at the Government Office in Ha Noi, December 1, 2025 - Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac
The Prime Minister affirmed that Viet Nam will always remember Cuba's support during its struggle for national independence and its subsequent nation-building and defence efforts. He stressed that the special relationship between Viet Nam and Cuba—fostered by Cuban national hero José Martí, President Ho Chi Minh, and Cuban leader Fidel Castro—has grown stronger over the past 65 years.
Pham noted that bilateral cooperation has expanded across all levels, channels and fields, underpinned by three key pillars: political and diplomatic ties as the foundation; economic, trade and investment cooperation as the driving force; and people-to-people exchanges as the bonding element.
The two countries have maintained frequent high-level visits and contacts, including General Secretary To Lam's 2024 state visit to Cuba and President Miguel Díaz-Canel's official visit to Viet Nam in September 2025.
Viet Nam is currently Cuba's second-largest trading partner and the largest Asia-Pacific investor in the country. Vietnamese projects in food security—such as rice, corn and aquaculture—have helped ease livelihood challenges for the Cuban people. Most recently, Vietnamese donors contributed more than VND650 billion (US$25 million) to Cuba under the "65 years of Viet Nam–Cuba solidarity" campaign, 10 times higher than the initial target, while Cuba provided vaccines to Viet Nam during the COVID-19 pandemic time.
The Prime Minister highlighted the longstanding cooperation between the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and Prensa Latina, noting the Cuban news agency's role in training generations of Vietnamese journalists, sending experts to Ha Noi, and promoting bilateral friendship. VNA, in return, has supported Prensa Latina with equipment and favorable working conditions for its correspondents in Viet Nam.
Pham affirmed that Viet Nam consistently stands with Cuba and remains ready to share development experience and provide assistance in areas such as food security, energy, and telecommunications. He encouraged VNA and Prensa Latina to further strengthen cooperation, maintain effective joint activities and explore new forms of collaboration, including professional training and upgrade of media technology and infrastructure in line with modern trends.
He expressed confidence that future generations of journalists from both news agencies will continue contributing to the traditional Viet Nam–Cuba friendship and solidarity.
For his part, Legañoa Alonso expressed pride in the enduring friendship between the two nations and their news agencies, and reaffirmed Prensa Latina's commitment to working closely with VNA to advance the cooperation priorities outlined by the Prime Minister./.
