Vietnam Donates 10,000 Tons of Rice to Cuba
Equals two pounds of rice for every Cuban
Vietnam’s deputy finance minister has promised another 1,500 tons in a future shipment (0.3 pounds per Cuban).
HAVANA TIMES – During an official visit to Cuba, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Finance Le Tan Can donated 10,000 tons of rice to the island’s government (2 lbs. per person) and promised another 1,500 tons (0.3 lbs. per person) in a future shipment. The containers containing the rice were unloaded at a dock in Mariel and, according to authorities this Saturday, will be distributed along with the rations the government sells.
The Vietnamese leader, who concluded his stay in Cuba on Monday, said the donation is a “gesture of gratitude and solidarity with the Cuban people,” reported Cubadebate. The official outlet also noted that the shipment corresponds to the agreements established during the visit to the island by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, To Lam, in September of last year. “Vietnam will continue to support Cuba in rice production, to contribute to the Caribbean country’s food security,” Le Tan Can emphasized.
Cuban Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade Aracelys Cardoso emphasized that “once again, Vietnam is reaching out to us in difficult times.” She also added that “this rice donation demonstrates the special nature of the ties between Cuba and Vietnam, as this grain is an essential part of the Cuban people’s diet.”
Vietnam’s deputy finance minister met earlier with Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, and they emphasized the “strategic” nature of bilateral ties, “particularly economic, commercial, financial, and cooperation,” the official newspaper Granma reported.
Vietnam has seven companies located in the Mariel Special Development Zone, making it the country with the second largest number of companies in the free trade zone. It is also the main supplier of rice to Cuba, where the cereal is a staple food and an average of more than 60 kilograms per person are consumed annually. Aid is not limited to sporadic donations; Vietnam has been involved in rice planting on the island for years, although without achieving the expected results.
14ymedio has documented the Vietnamese workers’ adventures in one of the country’s most important rice fields in La Sierpe, Sancti Spíritus, in several reports. The Asian technicians returned to the province this year after the 2022 suspension of the program through which Vietnam advises Cuba on production.
The agreement between the two nations came into effect in 2002, and in addition to providing equipment and machinery to Cuban producers, it also kept dozens of Vietnamese specialists and technicians in Cuba for 20 years. The La Sierpe region was the main focus of this collaboration, and dikes were built on its plain, canals were cleared, and local specialists were trained. The Cubans’ apathy, however, ultimately scared off the Asians.
A Vietnamese company was also the first to receive land in Cuba—initially 308 hectares—to plant rice in Pinar del Río. The company AgriVMA will be responsible for growing the rice in the municipality of Los Palacios for three years. The plan is to complete planting the first 1,000 hectares of rice in early 2025, and the goal is to expand to 5,000 hectares.
Cuba harvested approximately 80,000 tons of rice in 2024, barely 11% of its annual consumption and only 30% of what it produced six years earlier, according to official data. The crop’s numbers are consistent with those of many other agricultural products that have declined drastically.
In recent years, state and private markets have been filled with packages imported from neighboring countries like Panama and Mexico, and even Spain and Italy. The daily rice ration, which underpins nutrition in homes, has been cut to the point of disappearing for several days a month in many homes.
Translated by Translating Cuba.