(VOVworld)- Cuba’s 55^th National Day (January 1, 1959 – January 1, 2014) was celebrated in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday. In his address, HCM City People’s Committee Chairman Le Hoang Quan emphasized that the Vietnamese people will always stand shoulder to shoulder with the Cuban people to support each other in development. Quan said Ho Chi Minh City is committed to maintaining solidarity and a fraternal relationship with Cuba. He urged the two countries’ businesses to strengthen cooperation in high tech, consumer goods production, mechanical engineering for agriculture, automobile assembling, tourism, and retail services. Cuba’s Ambassador to Vietnam Herminio Lopez Diaz enthusiastically praised the strong solidarity between the Vietnamese and Cuban people both in the past revolutionary cause and the present economic development process. He said Vietnam’s economic development model is a valuable source of reference for Cuba.