Cuba’s Raul Castro Is Visiting Vietnam

HAVANA TIMES — Cuban President Raul Castro arrived in Vietnam on Saturday for a four-day official visit to that country at the invitation of its political authorities, reported AP.

Castro was greeted at the airport by the head of the Foreign Relations Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and the Cuban president later attended a reception at the presidential palace, which began his program of meetings with senior officials.

When welcoming the guest, Vietnamese president Truong Tran Sang called the visit by the Cuban leader a landmark event because it would deepen the two nation’s wide-ranging relations even more.

Trade between the two countries totaled $274 million in 2011, with the Asian country providing the bulk of Cuban rice imports.

During his visit, the Cuban president will have the opportunity to “study the model of economic development in Vietnam,” an Asian diplomat.

Unlike Castro’s visit to China, he is not expected to sign any agreements while in Vietnam, said one diplomatic source.