This past Sunday, Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel inaugurated a new high-tech pharmaceutical facility in Vietnam, marking a key event in his official visit to the Asian nation. This plant is part of the joint venture Genfarma, established in May 2025 between Cuba's state-owned BioCubaFarma and the Vietnamese company Genfarma Holdings.
"This is the fastest joint venture we have ever created. We are dreaming of all the future potential, harnessing the research, innovation, and production capabilities of this institution," Díaz-Canel stated during the inauguration ceremony.
On his official account on platform X, Díaz-Canel expressed, "The common achievement is thrilling: In less than a year, the high-tech pharmaceutical plant of the Cuban-Vietnamese joint venture Genfarma is ready. It aims to serve both nations by positioning Cuba's pharmaceuticals in the competitive Asian market."
International Aspirations and Mutual Promises
The Cuban presidency claims that this project is designed to benefit both countries while expanding their pharmaceutical reach to other Asian markets. Vietnam's Health Minister, Dao Hong Lan, confirmed that the project enjoys the "highest level of attention and interest" from the Vietnamese government.
Díaz-Canel declared, "We aspire for Genfarma to become a landmark in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, symbolizing the cooperative relations between Cuba and Vietnam—two brotherly nations committed to socialist construction."
In May, during the agreement signing in Havana, BioCubaFarma President Mayda Mauri Pérez emphasized that the new plant would advance technology transfer, drug and biological production, as well as research activities. However, she noted that the company's focus will be on exports. "The alliance will allow us to export products manufactured in our country, aiming to generate revenue for developing and producing medications for the Cuban population," she mentioned.
Within a few months, Genfarma evolved from a protocol agreement to an operational plant, but the facilities are located in Hanoi, not Cuba, and are not managed under Cuban production standards. It seems the Vietnamese partners understand that for this project to succeed, it must be situated and controlled in Hanoi.
Contrasts with Cuba's Health Crisis: Shortages and Challenges
The official excitement starkly contrasts with the severe crisis plaguing Cuba's healthcare system. In July, Minister José Ángel Portal Miranda admitted that over 70% of essential medications were either missing or in short supply.
During a presentation to the National Assembly delegates, the Health Minister painted a bleak picture of chronic shortages in medical supplies, professional exodus, illegal services in hospitals, and rising maternal and infant mortality rates in Cuba.
Out of the 651 officially registered products, 461 were facing total or partial shortages. Despite this, authorities have reiterated that the primary focus of the new plant in Vietnam will be on exports, to earn foreign currency needed to sustain medicine production on the island.
This approach echoes the controversial foreign currency stores, which exclude much of the population amid a severe economic and social crisis.
Unequal Cooperation in an Impoverished Nation
The launch of Genfarma coincides with another joint project with Vietnam, this time in agriculture, where Vietnamese companies have been granted land for rice cultivation in western Cuba. Meanwhile, thousands of hectares remain unused due to resource shortages.
This strategy of attracting foreign investment, focused on strategic sectors like biotechnology, underscores the Cuban regime's reliance on bilateral agreements without offering concrete solutions to the urgent issues facing most citizens.
Such strategies have not gone unnoticed by Cubans. On social media, a user commented on Canal Caribe, "Please, enough speeches. We need results, and the best way to see them is in our pharmacies. We can't be missing antipyretics, antihistamines, antiemetics, antibiotics… the medicines people need, because when they do appear, they're sold at exorbitant prices on the black market. Stop publishing news that raises expectations that are never met. This country doesn't need more empty promises."
Understanding the Pharmaceutical Partnership Between Cuba and Vietnam
What is the purpose of the new pharmaceutical plant in Vietnam?
The new pharmaceutical plant aims to serve both Cuba and Vietnam by producing high-tech medications and expanding the reach of Cuban pharmaceuticals in the competitive Asian market.
How does the Genfarma project reflect on Cuba's current healthcare situation?
While the Genfarma project signifies international cooperation, it starkly contrasts with Cuba's internal healthcare crisis, characterized by severe medication shortages and systemic challenges.
What are the criticisms surrounding the Genfarma venture?
Critics argue that the focus on exporting pharmaceuticals rather than addressing domestic shortages reflects a misalignment of priorities, raising concerns about unmet needs within Cuba.