China, Myanmar boost defence cooperation

Hanoi (VNA) – Chinese Defence Minister Liang Guanglie on August 25 met with Chief of Defence Industries of Myanmar, Tin Aye, Xinhua news agency reported.

Liang, also a state councilor, said China and Myanmar, as close and friendly neighbours, have increased cooperation in political, economic, cultural and military affairs in recent years.

The Chinese defence ministry is ready to work with Myanmar to further expand bilateral cooperation, so as to help the two nations’ defence building and to safeguard regional peace and stability, the Chinese official noted.

Meanwhile, Tin Aye said Myanmar values its relations with China , hoping that the two nations would further enhance friendly cooperation. –

Lao Prime Minister Bouphavanh to visit DPRK

Vientiane (VNA) – Lao Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh will pay an official visit to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) from August 30 to September 9, the Lao Prime Minister’s Office said.

The visit, made at the invitation of DPRK Premier Minister Kim Yong Il, is aimed at strengthening ties and cooperation between the two countries, the Lao Prime Minister’s Office said in a press release.-

Thai soldiers prevent Cambodian entry to temple

Phnom Penh (VNA) – Thai soldiers have not withdrawn from the disputed border area around the Ta Moan Thom temple, and they also refused to allow Cambodians to visit the ancient site, a Cambodian official said.

The soldiers said they have not allowed Cambodians to visit the temple because Thai tourists and students are there, and they are worried that there could be clashes, Deputy Commander of Cambodia’s Border Military Unit 402, Ho Bunthy, told the Phnom Penh Post on August 24.

The action has violated a reached agreement between the two countries on the withdrawal of armed forces from the 13th-century ruins, Ho Bunthy added. –

Wall proposed at Cambodian-Thai border areas

Phnom Penh (VNA) – Some complicated border areas between Cambodia and Thailand should be built with border markers or even concrete walls, said Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith.

Both sides should start to discuss to plant border markers from undisputed border areas to the complicated border areas, Khieu Kanharith, who is also Cambodian Information Minister, told reporters at a press conference on August 24.

According to the official, the Cambodian government will allow private companies to invest at least 2 million USD at the Preah Vihear Temple to set up cable cars for tourists.

The government is also trying to build road accessing to the temple so that foreign tourists could visit the temple from the Cambodian side, he added.–

More Cambodian women take high posts in gov’t

– The number of female appointees to the fourth term of government and local administration would be higher than that in the previous term, the Cambodian Interior Ministry said.

Women will be appointed as deputy provincial governors in 23 provinces and municipalities, said Sak Setha, director general of the ministry’s General Administration Department.

This is the long-term policy of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) to improve the role of women in the country’s political affairs as well as implement gender equality, he added.

Each province and municipality has five or more deputy governors, posts that have historically been dominated almost entirely by men.-

Indonesia, China to expand economic cooperation

– Indonesia and China will sign an agreement to expand their bilateral trade and economic cooperation at a meeting of their joint commission in Yogyakarta in November this year, Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Pengestu said.

“We are going to sign an agreement to expand our bilateral trade and economic cooperation at a meeting of the Joint Commission chaired by the two countries’ trade ministers in Yogyakarta,” Pangestu was quoted by Antara news agency as saying after a meeting with her Chinese counterpart Chen Deming in Beijing last weekend.

According to the minister, the two governments would send senior officials to a meeting either in September or October this year to complete the draft of the planned agreement.

The agreement would cover various efforts the two countries would make to step up their trade and economic cooperation through, among other things, information exchange and formation of a body to settle bilateral trade problems without the help of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).-

Strong quake jolts Indonesia’s Jakarta capital

– A tectonic earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale jolted Jakarta on August 26 morning, local media reported.

The epicentre of the quake was located at a depth of 20 kilometres under the sea level, or some 125 kilometres northwest of Ujung Kulon, the westernmost tip of Java island, Indonesia’s Antara news agencies quoted Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) as saying.

The quake was felt in Jakarta capital, Bandar Lumpung in Sumatra, when houses in the two areas were shaken.

At first, the Indonesian authorities issued a tsunami warning, but the warning was lifted later.

So far there has been no immediate report of fatality or damage, Antara noted. –

ASEAN economic ministers meet in Singapore

Hanoi (VNA) – The 40th ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) and Related Meetings officially opened on August 26 to discuss ways to strengthen regional trade links.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the annual meeting, scheduled to last till August 29, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the talks came at a key moment after the breakdown last month of global trade talks in Geneva.

He also warned against “backsliding” toward protectionism, urging ministers to be watchful of any backsliding and resist the temptation to raise trade barriers or resort to protectionist practices for lack of an overall agreement, according to news agencies.

While a strong rules-based global trading regime remained the best option for the world economy, ASEAN “should continue to integrate and liberalise” its own economies, PM Lee said, adding that ASEAN’s free-trade agreements with India, and with Australia and New Zealand, will enhance market access for goods and services and lay the foundations to forge stronger links with the other Asian economies.

At the week-long meeting, ASEAN is expected to seal an FTA with India covering merchandise trade. The ASEAN-India FTA, covering more than 1.5 billion people, is expected to be signed in December during the annual ASEAN summit in Bangkok, Thailand.

The group also hopes to conclude talks on a “substantive portion” of a comprehensive economic agreement with Australia and New Zealand.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.-

Vietnam eyes future of software testing

HCM City (VNA) – Vietnam has great potential as a centre of excellence in the field of software testing, according to the US-based software testing company LogiGear.

The software testing market is a niche segment within the IT outsourcing market, with global market size estimated at 6.1 billion USD in 2005, according to the US-based IT research and advisory Gartner Group.

LogiGear Vietnam CEO and President Hung Nguyen said though India is Asia’s undisputed market leader of offshore services and China the leading challenger, Vietnam could offer fierce competition in the niche segment.

Software testing is an empirical investigation conducted to provide stakeholders with information about the quality of a software product or service in the context in which it is intended to operate.

India ’s young software testing market, which started around 2001, has an estimated value of 1 billion USD (Meta Group). The industry has created an estimated 40,000 software testing professionals in 2008.

”Though Vietnam’s software testing professional level is at only 15 percent of India, the 6,000 professionals in Vietnam will more than triple and grow to 25,000 by the year 2011,” said Nguyen.

Vietnam’s edge would be hinged on its skill-based approach that produces a workforce with advanced software testing and automation skills higher than those of the two other countries, he said.

The intent of software testing is finding software bugs or errors to ensure optimum software performance for various industries.

Nguyen said the Vietnam market’s viability was based on cost of labour, workforce suitability; political and economic stability, government policies on business and intellectual property protection, and facility in English of its IT graduates and professionals.

LogiGear Corp has been expanding its operations in Vietnam since 2005 as Vietnam is seen as a favourable location for offshore outsourcing.-

Vietnam exports 3.38 million tonnes of rice

– Vietnam shipped abroad 3.38 million tonnes of rice in the first eight months of this year, earning over 2.2 billion USD, the General Statistics Office reported.

With bumper crops in both the northern and southern granaries, the country expects to reap a total output of 37 million tonnes of paddy this year, 1 million tonnes higher than 2007, said the Vietnam Food Association (VFA).

VFA said the higher paddy yield is likely to prompt the government to increase the yearly export target to 4.5 million tonnes, equivalent to last year’s figure, adding that local exporters had signed contracts with foreign partners to sold 3.5 million tonnes by the end of September.

Experts forecast the world rice market will become more stable in the year-end months following strong fluctuations during the first half, as major rice producers have started to harvest crops with yields higher than last year and importers have nearly fulfilled their yearly import targets.

Rice prices on the world market have reduced between 35-42 percent from the record high in late May. Vietnam’s 5 percent broken rice slipped to 600 USD per tonne from 1,050 USD per tonne.

However, pundits said the downward trend will stop by the year-end and rice prices will rebound due to lower stockpiles compared with previous years after the recent global food crisis.

Shrinking rice cultivation acreages and higher costs for rice-paddy production are also factors that push up rice prices in the world, they said, pointing to a fact that the current prices almost double the figures of 320-340 USD per tonne a year ago.-