The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) will ask the relevant ministries and agencies to continue selling rice to Cuba , which will help the Caribbean country to overcome its serious food shortage, said the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Ho Thi Kim Thoa.
According to the MIT, Cuba is one of Vietnam’s largest rice export markets as it imports almost 400,000 tonnes of rice annually.
Cuba has 6.6 million hectares of agricultural land but only 2.9 million are cultivated and climate changes have brought about a widespread drought this year, which in turn has seriously affected the country’s food security.
MIT’s statistics show that trade and the economic ties between both countries are growing well. Vietnam ’s main exports to Cuba are coal, electronic equipment and domestic appliances and the country imports pharmaceuticals and raw materials for the pharmaceuticals industry worth over 1 million USD annually./.