From 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on March 2, 2022, Hanoi time (7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on March 1, 2022, Havana time), the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) organized a virtual meeting with the Higher School of State and Government Cadres of Cuba (Spanish: Escuela Superior de Cuadros del Estado y del Gobierno – ESCEG) to discuss and agree on a plan to promote the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and develop a Cooperation Plan between the two sides in 2022.
An overview of the working session.
Dr. Nguyen Dang Que, NAPA Executive Vice President and Dr. Mercedes Delgado Fernandez, ESCEG Rector, co-chaired the meeting.
Meeting participants at ESCEG, Havana, Cuba.
Attending the meeting, on the side of Havana were Mr. José Ramón Diaz Delgado, Dr. Ana Gloria Navarro Pentón, and Dr. Bárbara Susana Sánchez Vignau, ESCEG Vice-Rectors; Mr. José Miguel Valdes Portal, Director of Information Technology Department; and some school officials.
Meeting participants at NAPA Headquarter in Ha Noi.
Meeting participants at the Cuban Embassy of Vietnam, Ha Noi.
From the videoconference room of the Cuban Embassy in Vietnam, Hanoi were Mr. Joy Fuentes Saldices, Political Counselor, Deputy Chief of Mission, and Ms. Irmina Perojo, Economic and Commercial Counselor. From NAPA, there were Directors of the International Cooperation Department, the Refresher Training Management Department, the Institute of Administrative Studies, the Department of Finance and Planning, and NAPA Office.
At the meeting, Dr. Mercedes Delgado Fernandez, ESCEG Rector, suggested that NAPA should continue to seek approval from competent authorities for the Plan “Strengthening capacity for administrative reform and economic-social development for senior Cuban government officials” under the direction of the government and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA). She emphasized that this is a very significant plan for Cuba and the Vietnam-Cuba cooperation relationship in general and for the two training institutions in particular. In addition, Dr. Mercedes Delgado Fernandez suggested that the two sides actively cooperate in sharing experiences in administrative reform, socio-economic innovation, policy making and implementation, and leadership and management capacity development, as well as exchange experience in training leadership and management.
Dr. Nguyen Dang Que speaking at the meeting.
Speaking at the meeting, Dr. Nguyen Dang Que expressed his appreciation for the Cuban partners and agreed with the importance and significance of the Cooperation Plan developed by the two sides. Dr. Nguyen Dang Que committed to continually seeking approval for the Cooperation Plan from the competent authorities. This Plan will be served as an important legal basis for implementing cooperation activities between NAPA and ESCEG. In addition, NAPA will coordinate to implement practical cooperation activities at the request of ESCEG, Cuba. Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Joy Fuentes Saldices, Political Counselor, Deputy Chief of Mission from the Cuban Embassy in Vietnam, expressed his strong support for the cooperation activities between the two sides and committed to serving as a supporting role in promoting the cooperation process between the two sides.
At the meeting, the two sides discussed and agreed on the following main contents:
- NAPA, ESCEG and the Cuban Embassy in Vietnam will continue to promote the process of seeking approval from competent authorities for the Plan ” Strengthening capacity for administrative reform and economic-social development for senior Cuban government officials” for the sake of the Plan implementation in 2022 or early 2023.
- Once every six months, the two sides will co-organize international workshops on topics as proposed by leaders of ESCEG, Cuba. At the end of each workshop, the two sides will jointly publish the conference proceedings in three languages (Vietnamese, Spanish, and English). NAPA will publish and present the workshop proceedings to the Cuban partners. Specifically, in 2022, the two sides will co-organize the following 02 workshops:
+ Workshop “Experience in administrative reform and digital transformation capacity development for public leaders and managers: international experiences and reference values for Cuba”. NAPA will discuss with the French Embassy in Vietnam to invite Mr. Martin Jaspers, Head of the Artificial Intelligence Authority in the French Ministry of the Interior, former Director of the Centre for High Studies CHEMI, France, to attend and present at the workshop during his visit to Cuba in July 2022.
+ Workshop “Improving management and administration capacity of cadres and civil servants” in October 2022.
- NAPA, through its network of international partners, will invite international experts to present at the workshops co-organized by the two sides, or invite Cuban public leaders and ESCEG lecturers to participate in the international workshops, seminars and training courses organized by NAPA in collaboration with other international partners.
- The two sides agreed to implement a number of other cooperation activities as follows: cooperation in research, cooperation in submitting and publishing research products and articles in scientific journals and on websites; NAPA will share with ESCEG its experience in identifying training needs for public leaders and managers according to their job position, and its experience in training leaders and managers before promoting them to higher positions.
- Leaders of NAPA and ESCEG assigned the International Cooperation Department from each side as focal points to continually communicate, advise the leaders, and develop specific plans to implement the contents agreed by the two sides.
Photo time of the participants.
At the end of the meeting, Dr. Mercedes Delgado Fernandez expressed her complete satisfaction with the meeting results. She believed that with the enthusiasm, commitment and support of NAPA leaders and officials, the year 2022 will mark an important milestone in the cooperation between the two sides.
On behalf of NAPA, Dr. Nguyen Dang Que committed to promoting and realizing the agreed cooperation contents. He showed his appreciation to ESCEG leaders and staff for their participation in the meeting, despite the differences in time zone and location. He highly appreciated and expressed his deepest gratitude to the Cuban Embassy in Vietnam for their constructive role in effectively connecting and supporting the cooperation relationship between the two sides in general and this meaningful and successful meeting in particular.
On behalf of the Cuban Embassy in Vietnam, Mr. Joy Fuentes Saldices, Deputy Chief of Mission, congratulated the success of the meeting and committed to facilitating the cooperation relationship between NAPA and ESCEG. This cooperation will actively contribute to the development of high-quality leader contingents and promote each country’s innovation and development process.
Meeting participants at NAPA Headquarter in Ha Noi.
