Conference on capacity building for Palestine opens

– The Ministerial Conference on Capacity Building for Palestine opened in Jakarta, Indonesia, on July 14, drawing more than 200 officials from 53 countries and international organisations.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and five ministers are among the participants. A Vietnamese delegation led Deputy Foreign Minister Doan Viet Trung is attending the conference.

The two-day conference organised under the New Asia-Africa Strategic Partnership framework aimed at improving the capacity building of Palestinians and would focus on concrete projects, said Teuku Fiazasyah, a spokesman of the Indonesian foreign affairs ministry.

The Asian and African countries had experiences in development and their efforts to help Palestine would compliment other efforts by the international world, he added.

Besides Asian-African countries, the conference was also attended by representatives from Cuba, Brazil and Venezuela.-

Mongolia confirms MPRP takes parliament

Hanoi (VNA) – The Mongolian election commission on July 14 confirmed the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) had won the majority of seats in parliament in a June 29 vote.

According to the committee, the MPRP won 39 seats in the 76-seat Great Hural with 25 seats belonging to the main opposition Democratic Party and two to smaller parties.

The results for the remaining 10 seats were not announced, but the MPRP has gained more than half of the parliament’s seats, the commission said.

Allegations of election fraud led to a riot in early July, killing at least five people and injuring over 300 others. This urged President Nambaryn Enkhbayar to declare a state of emergency in Ulan Bator for five days.

The Mongolian election committee reassured voters that the election was transparent and fair. –

Brazilian President attaches importance to Asian tour

– Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has described his recent tour to Asian countries, including Vietnam, as very important.

President Lula da Silva said in a weekly programme broadcast by Radio Brazil on July 14 that Brazil assumed the commitments to increase trade with Vietnam and Indonesia and proposed to contribute knowledge and experience to East Timor for its development.

During his visit to Vietnam from July 9-10, the two countries signed an agreement on science and technology cooperation, and memorandums of understanding on the establishment of a joint governmental committee, on poverty elimination and sports cooperation.

The two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Brazil has strongly increased over the years, from more than 113 million USD in 2005 to 204 million USD in 2006, and over 323 million USD last year.

Brazil said it considers Vietnam one of its four priority markets in Asia over the next three years.–

Beijing opens Olympic cultural squares

Beijing (VNA) – China’s capital city of Beijing has set up 26 Olympic cultural squares across the city’s 18 districts and counties.

The squares opened to the public on July 13 and will remain open until the Paralympic Games close on September 17.

The cultural squares have a plasma screen television to show live broadcasts of the Games. There will also be various performances and exhibitions held at each location.

The cultural squares are also being set up in the five other Olympic co-host cities.

Meanwhile, nearly 6,000 hotels in Beijing are ready to welcome visitors during the games. Of them, 120 hotels registered for welcoming foreign reporters to cover the event.-

Mitsubishi mulls to produce aircraft components in Vietnam

Japan’s Mitsubishi Aircraft Co is mulling to produce components for its small aircraft, Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), in Vietnam as part of the company’s plan to develop an overseas sale and component production system.

The company expects to put the MRJ into operation in 2013. According to the company, East Asia would be a place for its production and sale systems in order to reduce production cost.

The company has won an order for 25 MRJs from All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan ’s second-largest carrier.

The demand for small aircraft like MRJ is estimated to 5,000 jets in the next 20 years.-

Bank of Japan downgrades growth forecasts

Tokyo (VNA) – The Bank of Japan (BOJ) on July 15 lowered its growth forecast for the fiscal year ending in March 2009 to 1.2 percent, compared with the 1.5 percent projected in its twice-yearly outlook report in April.

In addition to cutting its economic growth forecast to the slowest pace in six years, BOJ also warned of the fastest inflation in a decade as rising energy costs and weakening exports batter the second largest economy in the world.

Though it is facing slowing growth and rising inflation, the Japanese economy is not experiencing stagflation like that seen in the 1970s, Masaaki Shirakawa, the head of the central bank was quoted by news agencies as saying. –

Asian SMEs optimistic about business operation

– A lot of Asian small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) are still optimistic about their business operation and are following plans on business expansion, a Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) survey has found.

According to the HSBC’s survey of more than 3,000 businesses in China, Bangladesh, Singapore, India, the Republic of Korea (RoK), Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam, most of businesses believe that their national economies will attain economic growth rates equal to or higher than those of 2007.

They also added that they will maintain the current staffs or employ more staffs, and make heavier investments.

The survey showed that Indian businesses are the most optimistic, while those of the RoK showed lower optimistic viewpoints, which is due to the unstable economic and political situation in the country.-

China’s GDP increases 10.4 percent in first half

– China’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 10.4 percent to 13.06 trillion yuan (1.9 trillion USD) in the first half of this year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The growth rate was 1.8 percentage points lower than the same period last year, or 0.2 percentage points lower than the first quarter of this year.

China’s Xinhua news agency cited the bureau’s chief economist Yao Jingyuan as saying that the two-digit GDP growth rate indicated China’s steadily and fast growing economy.

“The cooling of GDP growth indicated that the government’s macro-economic policy to prevent the economy from going overheated has paid off,” Yao said.

He added that the slowing world economy and weaker demand on international markets also adversely affected the Chinese economy. –

Indonesia, East Timor commit to strengthen reconciliation

– Indonesia and East Timor have committed to take initiatives to boost the friendship and reconciliation between the two countries after receiving a final report of the Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) on alleged human rights violations in East Timor.

A joint statement underscoring the commitment was signed by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his East Timor counterpart Ramos Horta, and East Timorese Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao in Bali on July 15, according to Antara news agency.

In the 14-point joint statement, both governments expressed their deepest regret over the past violence that has claimed so many lives and material loss and commit to study and take follow-up steps with regard to the CTF recommendations, said the news agency.

Indonesian President Yudhoyono has expressed “deep regret” for what happened in the past, saying “we cannot move forward and reach our dreams if we always focus our attention on the past”.

Meanwhile, East Timorese President Ramos said his country has not intended to find an international tribunal for the case.

“Justice is not and cannot be only prosecutorial in the sense of sending people to jail. Justice must also be restorative,” the East Timorese president was quoted as saying by news media from Bali, adding that “we as leaders of our people must lead our nations forward.”-

Thai Election Commission submits PM case to court

– Thailand’s Election Commission (EC) on July 16 agreed to forward a case against Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej on allegations that he violated the charter by hosting two TV cooking shows to the Constitution Court to decide if his premiership should be revoked.

All the five commissioners, voted 4-1 to reach an agreement to forward the case to the Constitution Court.

According to the Article 267 of the Constitution, the prime minister is strictly prohibited from holding any position in a partnership, a company or an organization carrying out business with a view to sharing profits or income, or being an employee of any person, said local media.

However, PM Samak earlier told the Election Commission that he appeared in the programme only as an honorary guest. He said he did not sign any contract with the programme producer and did it for free.-