President Nguyen Minh Triet on July 16 met with Cuban, Egyptian and Algerian leaders on the sidelines of the 15th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Egypt.

While receiving Cuban President Raul Castro Ruz, Mr Triet praised the president who presided over the 14th NAM summit in Havana three years ago for his significant contributions to promoting solidarity and elevating the movement in the world arena.

The two presidents expressed their pleasure at the positive development of special relationship between Vietnam and Cuba, saying it is an invaluable asset to the two nations and a source of encouragement for the revolutionary cause of each nation.

They agreed to maintain the exchange of high-level visits and promote bilateral economic and trade cooperation to match their fine political ties.

They agreed that the 28th session of the Vietnam-Cuba Inter-governmental Committee, scheduled to take place in Havana in September 2009, should focus on measures to effectively implement agreements reached during Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh’s visit to Cuba in June 2007.

Top priority will be given to finalising a mid-term plan under which Vietnam will support Cuba in agricultural production and help iron out snags in cooperation and investment projects in both countries. They include a project to build a bio-technology centre in Vietnam designed and supported by Cuba and a project to explore and exploit oil and gas in Cuba.

Presidents Triet and Ruz said that both Vietnam and Cuba should work more closely and support each other in regional and international forums, especially in combating forces that make use of democracy and human rights issues to subvert the revolution in each country.

They said that the two countries should cooperate closely in carrying out activities to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties in December 2010.

The two presidents invited each other to visit their respective countries and agreed to arrange the visits through diplomatic channels.

In a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mabarak, Mr Triet congratulated Egypt on its successful hosting of the summit and expressed his belief that as the NAM president for the next three years, Egypt will put forward initiatives to further strengthen the solidarity and power of the movement.

President Mubarak praised Vietnam’s role in the NAM movement as well as on the United Nations Security Council.

Both host and guest agreed to increase cooperation in economics, investment, agriculture, culture, tourism and education-training.

In another meeting, President Triet and Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika shared the view that the two countries still have great potential for development. They agreed to increase the exchange of visits at all levels and examine the legal framework to facilitate trade cooperation.

President Triet thanked the Algerian government for creating favourable conditions for the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group to invest in oil and gas exploration and exploitation in Algeria.

VNN/VOV