Vietnam explores the possibility of building a hotel in Havana

Havana, Sep 14 (EFE).- According to local media reports today, Cuba and Vietnam explored business and investment possibilities between both nations, in a forum held in Havana, and in which a business mission from that country participated.

The Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment of Cuba, Rodrigo Malmierca, and the head of Planning and Investment of Vietnam, Nguyen Chi Dung, led the respective delegations to the event.

The Vietnamese business delegation includesrepresentatives of the sectors of tourism, industry, maritime sector, transportation, infrastructure, logistics services, production of goods, telecommunications and commerce, among others.

Minister Nguyen Chi Dung said that bilateral relations are expanding in the areas of economy, education, diplomacy, and considered that existing potential should be taken advantage of, according to the Cuban agency Prensa Latina.

For its part,The Cuban minister Rodrigo Malmierca highlighted the "appropriate moment" in which this bilateral colloquium takes place, based on the policy of updating the economic and social model that Cuba applies, and advocated "consolidating" relations.

He also indicated that the two countries are holding negotiations that will contribute to the development of strategic sectors of the island such as industry and renewable energy, in the medium and long terms.

During the visit, the Vietnamese businessmen explored the possibility of building a hotel in Havana and participating in the island's renewable energy program., according to the head of the commercial office of the Vietnamese Embassy, Viet Phuong.

The agenda of the Asian delegation in Cuba also includes a visit this Thursday to the Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM), the flagship project of the Cuban Government to attract foreign capital investments that offers advantageous conditions for the installation of foreign companies.

Vietnam, considered by Cuba as a political and economic ally, is the island's second partner in the Asia and Oceania region after China, with bilateral trade that in recent years has exceeded 500 million dollars annually.