As you have done on previous occasions, Vietnam He delivered a new rice donation on Saturday, one of the foods most demanded by Cubans.
The containers with 10 thousand tons of the food arrived at the Mariel terminal and then will be distributed through the island’s internal trade network, As reported The site Cubadebate.
The delivery of the donation was chaired by Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Finance, Le so Can, of official visit on the island. The Vietnamese leader who culminates his stay in Cuba this Monday pointed out that the donation was a “gesture of gratitude and solidarity with the Cuban people,” according to the report.
In addition, he assured that his country “will continue to support Cuba in the production of rice, to contribute to their food security.”
Le Can had previously met with Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, with whom he reaffirmed the “strategic” character of the links between the two countries, according to the state press.
Vietnam wants a “more practical and efficient” relationship with Cuba and points to food production
For its part, the Cuban Vice Minister of Internal Commerce, Aracelys Cardoso, stressed that “once again Vietnam tends our hand in difficult times” and added that the donation is “a sample of the special character” of bilateral relations.
According to the official information, the load corresponds to the agreements established during the visit to the island of the then president of Vietnam, to LAM, In September last year.
In addition, an upcoming sending of 1500 tons of Vietnamese rice to Cuba was announced at the event.
Vietnam, Cuba and Rice
The Asian nation is one of the main allies of the island and the largest rice supplier in Cuba, where this cereal is a fundamental food of the diet.
The Cuban State sells several pounds of rice to the population rationally through the so -called “supply notebook”, but in the midst of the severe crisis that the island suffers, those deliveries have become irregular and delayed, while local production has fallen.
All this has multiplied the prices of this product outside the state circuits, despite the “stops” established by the Government, and has transferred a most of its sales to the informal market.
Cuba reaped in 2024 About 80 thousand tons of rice, just 11 % of what consumes annually and only 30 % of what produced six years before, according to official data.
The data of this crop agree with those of many other agricultural productions that have been drastically reduced in the last five years of serious economic crisis on the island, despite the approval in 2022 of a Food Security Law.
In this context, a Vietnamese company has been the first to receive land in Cuba – in principle, 308 hectares (ha) – to sow rice on a farm south of the Pinar del Río province, an unpublished experience on the island since 1959.
The Vietnamese company – of which no data has been offered – will be commissioned for three years of sowing rice in the Pinareño municipality of Los Palacios. It will directly hire the Cuban labor force that you need, in addition to carrying your own specialists.
The Asian entity will also contribute fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and other resources necessary for production. Meanwhile, Cuba will provide machinery services.
The plan aims to conclude the planting of the first 1000 ha of rice in the first months of 2025 and the intention of the Asian firm is to grow until 5000.
