Japan assists Ha Nam road system upgrade

Hanoi (VNA) – The Japanese government has pledged to grant more than 88.4 million USD to help upgrade the road network in Vu Ban commune, Binh Luc district, in the Red River delta province of Ha Nam .

The signing ceremony of the grant contract took place in Hanoi on Nov. 21.

More than 2.4km of communal road that has been damaged by the recent heavy rains and floods will be upgraded, contributing to improving socio-economic activities in the farming commune, where per capita income stands at 250 USD per annum.

Addressing the signing ceremony, the Japanese Ambassador said he hoped that, through the project, the friendship and mutual understanding between Vietnam and Japan will be further deepened.

Japan is one of Vietnam ’s leading official development assistance (ODA) providers. According to the Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC), since 1992 the total accumulated ODA provided by Japan to Vietnam stands at 13.1 billion USD, of which the amount of ODA committed to transportation projects accounts for 41 percent.

As well as financing large-scale projects, Japan grants funding to 25-30 small projects in Vietnam each year.-

Primary education in disadvantaged areas granted 250 billion VND

Hanoi (VNA) – The Primary Education for Disadvantaged Children Project (PEDC) has provided 250 billion VND in funds, with the aim of creating opportunities for children in 40 disadvantaged provinces across the country to attend primary school, from the start of the 2008-2009 school-year.

The project has directly provided 68 billion VND for 2.15 million pupils to purchase essential study tools and 8 billion VND for 80,000 primary classes to buy essential teaching aids. The PEDC has also granted 75 billion VND to be shared by 22,300 primary schools nationwide.

The PEDC has also organised 5,000 pre-school classes for ethnic minority children in the central highlands and the north-west regions during the current school-year.

In addition, the PEDC has provided 56 billion VND to allow 40 disadvantaged provinces to buy essential school equipment such as books and teaching aids.-

Lao PM praises Vietnam’s aid to financial sector

Vientiane (VNA) – Lao Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh praised Vietnam’s role in the training of personnel for the Lao financial sector and thanked the Finance Ministry for its close cooperation in the construction of the Dongkhamlane Finance College in Vientiane.

He made the speech while receiving the Vietnamese Finance Minister Vu Van Ninh in Vientiane on Nov. 19 during the latter’s working visit to Laos.

He stressed that, thanks to Vietnam’s assistance, Laos would now have financial experts to give impetus to socio-economic development in the years to come.-

Moroccan Prime Minister to visit Vietnam

– The Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Morocco , Abbas El Fassi, will make an official visit to Vietnam from November 23-26, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on November 20.

The visit is at the invitation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.-

Vietnam keen to further join in Afghan reconstruction

– Vietnam is keen to continue contributing to the reconstruction of Afghanistan and willing to share its experiences in agricultural and rural development, poverty reduction, education, healthcare, and infrastructure construction, a senior diplomat said on Nov. 20.

Ho Xuan Son, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, made this statement during a meeting with his Afghan counterpart Kabir Farahi, who is on a visit to Vietnam .

Son appreciated the achievements of the Afghan government and people in their process of national reconstruction and stressed that Vietnam attaches great importance to improving its relations with Southern Asian countries, including Afghanistan .

Deputy Minister Kabir Farahi expressed the Afghan government’s thanks and appreciation for Vietnam ’s assistance in his country’s reconstruction, and wished to learn from Vietnam ’s experiences in socio-economic development.

The two officials agreed on promoting cooperation in trade, culture and education, stepping up negotiations for the conclusion of an Agreement of Economic and Trade Cooperation and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on cooperation between the two countries’ commercial and industrial chambers.

During Kabir Farahi’s visit, the two foreign ministries signed a MOU on bilateral cooperation and consultation to strengthen the ties between the two sides in the years to come.-

Vietnam to accelerate cooperation agreements with US

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai paid a working visit to the US from Nov. 15-20 to speed up the implementation of bilateral cooperation agreements reached during the US visit by PM Nguyen Tan Dung last June.

While in the US , the Deputy PM met with US Secretary of State Condolezza Rice, Deputy National Security Advisor Daniel Price, Secretary of the Department of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab and former Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky, among other US high-ranking officials.

The Vietnamese official also had dialogue with US large groups and corporations at a meeting held by the US-ASEAN Business Council and the US Chamber of Commerce, and met Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Takatoshi Kato.

He also visited the Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania state.

At his meetings with US officials, Deputy PM Hai briefed them of Vietnam ’s socio-economic situation, and plans for future development, especially solutions to curb inflation and stabilise macro economy in the context of the global economic-financial turmoil.

He expressed his delight at the rapid development of the bilateral relations over the recent time, particularly in trade and investment.

He said his visit was aimed to step up the implementation of high-level agreements made during the PM Dung’s visit, including the setting up of working missions for granting the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) status to Vietnam and recognising the country’s market economy, and negotiations for the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), as well as cooperation in environment and education.

Deputy PM Hai said the two countries should further enhance the bilateral ties, taking economic-trade cooperation as focal point and impulse.

He suggested that the US soon grant Vietnam with the GSP status in order to expand the trade relations between the two countries.

Vietnam respects and wishes to develop the partnership with the US in line with the high-level joint statements and to meet the desire of the two peoples, he stressed.

US officials appreciated the Deputy PM’s visit to boost bilateral relations and broaden mutual understanding. They said the two countries’ rapport has been developing and they believed that the new US Government would continue the policy to expand its ties with Vietnam in the future.

They agreed that the two countries should keep the rapid pace of the development of bilateral ties, intensify exchange of delegations and work out appropriate solutions for outstanding problems.

They also said the US would continue consideration of the GSP status for Vietnam and wished that the two sides would soon reach agreements on relevant procedures.

Many US businesses showed their interest in doing business in Vietnam .

Earlier, Deputy PM Hai and his entourage attended a macroeconomic management policy exchange programme held in the Harvard University in Boston city, Massachusetts state.-

Diplomat urges int’l community to support Somalia

T he international community should continue its efforts to develop a common approach to addressing the challenges facing Somalia, said Ambassador Hoang Chi Trung, deputy representative of Vietnam’s mission to the UN.

Trung made the statement at a debate of the UN Security Council on the situation in Somalia .

“Our delegation remains deeply concerned about the increasing insecurity in and off the coast of Somalia ,” the ambassador said, citing the surge in piracy and armed robbery against ships along the coast, as well as a series of fighting among insurgent groups and against peacekeepers there.

The deterioration of security and stability in Somalia poses an immense challenge not only to the ongoing peace process, but also to the delivery of humanitarian aid, Trung said.

However, the ambassador appreciated the significant progress made by the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) in their implementation of the Somali peace process, notably the signing of two important documents on October 26, 2008 in Djibouti .

He believed that this is a crucial step towards securing peace and stability in Somalia , saying simultaneous actions on both political and security fronts are imperative.

Trung also called upon all the Somalis to engage in the peace process and faithfully implement the Djibouti Agreement as well as the Cessation of Armed Confrontation Agreement.

The United Nations, in coordination with regional organizations, should extend necessary financial, logistical and technical assistance to the TFG, Trung suggested.-

Vietnam, US share experiences in environment protection

HCM City (VNA) – Vietnam and the US are able to share experiences and cooperate in fields of environment and wildlife protection, said Deputy Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Tai in his meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State Claudia McMurray on Nov. 20.

Tai said his city realised the importance of the environment protection. With a view of economic development accompanied with improvement of people’s life quality, the city has worked out solutions and projects to treat wastes, reduce exhaust fumes, noise, and river pollution, as well as programmes to raise public awareness of environment protection, Tai said.

McMurray said the US-Vietnam cooperation in environment has been developing with a number of researches and exchanges of experiences to help Vietnam cope with climate change.

She suggested that Vietnam pays more attention to balancing economic development with environment protection, and said the US side is eager to share experiences and give technical assistance to Vietnam in dealing with the issue.

Exchanging views on wildlife protection and the fight against illegal trade of wild animals, the host and guest agreed that the two sides should organise more training courses to provide knowledge and skills in protection and rescue of wild animals, prevention of illegal trade, and help raise people’s awareness.

Tai suggested that the US side sends experts to help train Vietnamese officers in the field.

During her five-day working visit to Vietnam starting on Nov. 18, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and Environment and Science also attended a ceremony to inaugurate the Mekong Delta Research and Global Observation Network (Dragon Institute) in Can Tho city on Nov. 20.

The institute’s establishment was part of efforts to realise the agreements by PM Dung and US President G. Bush in last June to intensify scientific research and educational cooperation in agriculture, fishery, maritime, flood and storm control, wildlife protection, energy and ecological preservation between the two countries.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony, McMurray said she hoped the Dragon Institute would demonstrate its usefulness to countries worldwide that are facing impacts of climate change by providing scientific data and information as well as ecological forecasts.

McMurray also had meetings with officials from local rangers’ service, environmental police and custom officers to discuss cooperation on personnel training and law enforcement in the field of wildlife protection.

During her stay in Vietnam , McMurray will visit the Cat Tien National Park in southern Dong Nai province and central Lam Dong province, wildlife projects financed by Winrock International, and environment research projects conducted by the Colorado University ’s experts.-

Deputy PM: APEC cooperation boosts Vietnam’s development

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem said cooperation within the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum has helped raise Vietnam’s internal strength and boosted its trade and investment with other economies in the region.

In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency, Deputy PM-cum-Foreign Minister Khiem said that through meetings and high-level contacts, APEC has become an important channel for Vietnam to boost its ties with other regional economies and that cooperation within the 21-member forum has also helped strengthen the nation’s image and position in the region.

“ Vietnam ’s admission to APEC marked an important milestone during the course of implementation of the Party’s and the State’s foreign policy of openness, multilateralisation, diversification and integration into the world economy,” Khiem said.

According to the deputy PM, since Vietnam became APEC’s official member in November 1998, the nation has made marked contributions to the forum.

Vietnam has fully and responsibly participated in APEC cooperation programmes and actively joined other member economies in new areas of cooperation, such as human security, health care, education and tourism alongside traditional trade activities, he said.

By sharing experiences and information, particularly with developing member economies, Vietnam has efficiently contributed to a number of areas of cooperation between APEC members, including fisheries, agriculture and the prevention of bird flu and other epidemics, the deputy PM said.

The Southeast Asian nation has also participated in APEC committees for trade, investment and economics as well as its working groups regarding business travel, small- and medium-sized enterprises, health care, fight against terrorism, emergency preparedness and response.

“One of Vietnam’s prominent and practical contributions to the forum was its successful organisation of the 2006 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, with a number of the event’s outcomes being seen as important landmarks in the APEC cooperation course, such as the Hanoi Action Plan for acceleration of the Bogor Goals, and commitments to APEC reform,” Khiem said.

He went on to say that following the 2006 event in Hanoi, Vietnam proposed a range of initiatives for boosting cooperation between members, including the initiatives on trade facilitation, intellectual property, emergency response, corruption and epidemic prevention.

This year, in addition to traditional cooperation areas, Vietnam’s new initiatives focused on improving capacity of member economies in the areas of food security, health care and emergency response.

These initiatives are expected to foster cooperation and increase the sharing of experiences among APEC member economies as well as between them and related partners, the deputy PM said.

As the initiatives focus on capacity building, they will provide Vietnamese staff members with training courses to improve their knowledge and capacity in order to better serve the country’s process of regional and international integration, he added.

This year, the APEC Leaders’ Week is held in Lima, Peru, from November 16-23.-

NA Standing Committee opens 14th session

The 14th session of the National Assembly Standing Committee opened in Hanoi on Nov. 21, with amendments to an ordinance on natural resources tax and to a resolution on export tariff scheduled to be tabled for approval.

National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong told the opening ceremony that a number of other resolutions, including those on changing names of Hanoi ’s military courts and procuracies, will also be considered for approval during the session.

During the opening ceremony, the committee reviewed the result of the fourth session of the 12th National Assembly and gave opinions on preparations for the upcoming one.-