2 million USD in foreign aid for local flood victims

As of Nov. 25, foreign organisations had donated a total of almost 2 million USD to help the victims of recent floods in 17 northern and central localities in Vietnam , according to Doan Van Thai, Deputy President and General Secretary of the Viet Nam Red Cross.

Of the total, the Netherlands Red Cross has donated 200,000 EUR; the Swiss Red Cross, 80,000 USD; the German Red Cross, 66,150 EUR; the Australian Red Cross 64,877 AUD; the Finland Red Cross, 50,000 EUR, while the US Red Cross and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) each provided 50,000 USD.

Fund-raising activities to help the flood-hit victims are still being carried out in many of these countries.

On the same day, the Vietnam Red Cross received more than 820 million VND (48,200 USD) from Philip Morris Vietnam to provide 2,000 relief packages to help the worst-hit families.

The Vietnam Red Cross has provided approximately 4.1 billion VND (242,000 USD) in cash and commodities as emergency aid to the flood victims. The society is aiming to provide more than 2,000 tonnes of rice, 500 tonnes of rice seeds, 680 tonnes of fertilizer and 200 cattle to the provinces most affected by the disaster.

The floods, triggered by prolonged rains across northern and central Vietnam earlier this month, killed 82 people and destroyed 180,400 houses and 245,000 ha of winter crops. The total damage is estimated to be more than 6 trillion VND (360 million USD).-

Ireland pledges 30 million Euros to poverty reduction project

Ireland has pledged to grant 30 million Euros to Programme 135, which aims to foster socio-economic development in disadvantaged, ethnic minority-inhabited and mountainous areas in Vietnam .

Ireland’s Ambassador to Vietnam Maeve Collins and Deputy Finance Minister Pham Sy Danh signed an agreement regarding the non-refundable aid, which covers the period 2007 – 2010, at the Mid-term Review Workshop of Programme 135, phase II, (P135-II) in Hanoi on Nov. 25.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Collins said that, as a major donor in Vietnam, the Irish Development Aid Agency (Irish Aid) views P135-II as having broad, effective and direct impacts on the most disadvantaged poor people in remote and mountainous areas.

“Irish Aid believes that, with strong commitment by the Government of Vietnam to poverty reduction, strong support by the development partners and strong participation by the people in the communities, P135-II will overcome all challenges to successfully realise its objectives,” stated the ambassador.

P135 has been implemented in two phases, the first lasting from 1999 to 2005 and the second being implemented from 2006-2010. During phase I, P135 helped 736 communes across the country to climb out of poverty and withdraw from the list of beneficiaries.

Phase II is being implemented in 1,779 communes across 47 provinces nationwide with four major components: infrastructure, production development, capacity strengthening, and improving living standards.

P135-II is the National Targeted Programme with the largest number of development partners, namely the World Bank (loan) and donors providing grants, including the UK, Australia, Ireland, Finland, as well as technical assistance via the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The programme has received the highest level of funding commitment, approximately 330 million USD for the 2007-2010 period, which accounts for 30 percent of the total investment.-

Vietnam to be president of ASEAN women confederation

Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam will hold the presidency of the ASEAN Confederation of Women Organisations (ACWO) in the 2008-2010 term.


This was cited during the 13 th ACWO General Assembly, which took place in the Philippines from Nov. 20-23.

T he event highlighted the role played by women and their contributions to socio-economic development.

It called on national and regional women organisations to focus on improving women’s capacity in economic development activities and also recommended that the governments of ASEAN member countries create opportunities for women to promote their ability during the course of national development and international economic integration.

The 13 th ACWO General Assembly was attended by m ore than 300 representatives from 10 ASEAN nations and several international organisations.

The Vietnamese delegation to the event was led by Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh, Vice President of the Vietnam Women’s Union.-

PM attends CLV development triangle summit

Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung departed from Hanoi on Nov. 25 to attend the 5 th summit of the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam (CLV) Development Triangle, taking place in the Lao capital of Vientiane from Nov. 26-27.

His visit is being made at the invitation of Lao Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh.

The PM is accompanied by Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc, Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Huy Quang, Vice head of the Governmental Office Tran Quoc Toan, as well as the Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defence, Public Security, Transport, Agriculture and Rural Development, Natural Resources and Environment, and Industry and Trade.

The leaders of the Central Highlands’ steering committee and the Prime Minister’s assistant Nguyen Van Tung were also part of the delegation.-

Vietnam supports int’l role in Mid-East peace process

New York (VNA) – Ambassador to the UN Hoang Chi Trung has welcomed some positive signs visible across the Middle East while calling for stronger international role in seeking comprehensive and sustainable peace in the region.

The Vietnamese representative voiced the Government’s position at a UN General Assembly session on Palestine in New York on November 24.

Trung said Vietnam appreciated Palestine ’s efforts in ensuring security and speeding up national conciliation and socio-economic development and supported negotiations between Israel and relevant parties.

He raised concerns over repeated attacks on innocent people from both sides and condemned Israel for expanding illegal resettlements and conducting military incursions into the West Bank, building the separation wall, holding thousands of Palestinian detainees and maintaining blockage on Gaza that were blamed for serious humanitarian problems.

The ambassador called on relevant parties to avoid the use of force and other violence actions that may further complicate the situation while strictly abiding by the Peace Roadmap and international law, especially human rights and humanitarian laws.

He demanded Israel stop besieging the Gaza Strip and allow international assistance to the Palestinian Government and people.

Vietnam strongly supports a role played by the international community, especially the UN, the League of Arab states, the Quartet and regional countries, in an effort to work out equal, comprehensive and sustainable solutions to the Middle-East peace process, Trung concluded.–

Vietnam, Morocco intensify economic ties

Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi has called upon Vietnamese and Moroccan government officials and businesspeople to focus on boosting their economic and trade cooperation to make the most of their potential.

Addressing the Vietnam-Morocco Investment and Business Forum held in Hanoi on Nov. 25, the Moroccan PM suggested the two countries set up a business council to conduct joint investment projects and promote the partnership in all fields.

Morocco , one of the five largest economies in Africa, is seen as a key market and an important gateway for Vietnamese goods to North Africa, and Africa in general, said Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

Loc proposed that the two governments provide businesses of the two countries with preferential treatment to help boost bilateral investment and trade, particularly in aquaculture and fertiliser production.

Trade relations between Vietnam and Morocco have experienced a modest increase over recent years but have failed to match the two countries’ potential.

Morocco is Vietnam ’s largest trade partner in Africa , with two-way trade reaching 27 million USD in the first nine month of 2008. The figure is equal to the level recorded last year.

The Vietnam-Morocco investment and business forum attracted more than 100 businesses of both countries.

The Moroccan delegation included representatives from businesses in telecommunications, cosmetics, geological information, aquaculture, husbandry, insurance, real estate, electronics, refrigeration, civil engineering and communications.

VCCI and the Moroccan Embassy plan to organise a similar forum in Ho Chi Minh City on Nov. 26.-

Myanmar PM wants to strengthen links with Vietnam

Myanmar’s Prime Minister Gen. Thei Sein reitereted the Myanmar government and people’s desire to promote friendship, economic cooperation and trade with Vietnam.

PM Thein Sein made these remarks while receiving Vietnamese ambassador to Myanmar Tran Van Tung, who paid a farewell visit to the PM prior to the end of his term of office in Myanmar on Nov. 25.

The PM thanked the Vietnamese leaders, government and people for their support to Myanmar at international and regional forums, particularly during periods of difficulty.

He said that, following the devastation wreaked by Cyclone Nargis, Vietnam shared its valuable experiences in the prevention of natural disasters and overcoming the aftermath, and provided assistance for his country through a national campaign to help the people of Myanmar .

PM Thein Sein praised the outstanding achievements of the Vietnamese people in their national development, which, he said, has helped raise Vietnam’s prestige and profile in the international arena.

The PM valued Ambassador Tung’s contributions to promoting Myanmar-Vietnam relations over the past three years.

He asked Ambassador Tung to convey his best regards to PM Nguyen Tan Dung and expressed his thanks to the Vietnamese government for its warm welcome during his visit to Vietnam for the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACEMECS) summit and the Cambodia , Laos , Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) summit, which took place in Hanoi from Nov. 5-7.-

Vietnamese delegation attends Bulgarian Socialist Party Congress

Hanoi (VNA) – A delegation of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), led by Nguyen Van Thuan, member of the Party Central Committee and Secretary of the Hai Phong Party Committee, attended the 47 th Congress of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) from Nov. 22-23 in Sofia.

Numerous guests and foreign delegations were joined by 894 representatives of 201,000 BSP members at the Congress.

The Congress re-elected Sergei Stanishev as Chairman of BSP.

The Vietnamese delegation delivered a message of greetings from the CPV Central Committee to the Congress and met with BSP leaders and other foreign delegations.

Chairman Sergei Stanishev and the other BSP leaders thanked the Vietnamese Party for attending the congress and extended their best wishes to the Vietnamese Party and State leaders.
They expressed their desire to enhance relations and share experiences with the Vietnamese Party in order to strengthen and develop the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two Parties and the two countries.-

Regional nations discuss drug control

More than 60 delegates from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos met in the Lao capital of Vientiane on Nov. 25 to discuss measures to beef up cooperation in the fight against cross-border drug trafficking.

Participants at the 8 th ministerial meeting reported on drug control strategies in each country and reviewed cooperation between the three nations in the control of illicit drugs over the past year.

They unanimously agreed to enhance their cooperation and to increase the flow of information between the law enforcement agencies in their respective countries in a bid to prevent and monitor the illegal transport of addictive substances across their common borders.

The delegates also agreed to effectively implement a number of cooperation agreements within bilateral, multilateral, regional and international frameworks with a view to turning the ASEAN nations and China into a drug-free region by 2015.

Within the framework of the meeting, the drug control agencies of Vietnam and Laos deliberated their cooperation in drug control. The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding, under the terms of which their relevant agencies will continue to abide by the 1998 Agreement, the 1999 Plan of Action and other compacts relating to this field that the two nations have previously signed.

In addition, Vietnam pledged to continue assisting Laos in the training of drug control officers.

The Lao Prime Minister, Bouasone Bouphavanh attended the meeting and delivered an opening speech to an audience including the Deputy Minister of Public Security Le The Tiem, member of the Vietnam National Committee on AIDS, Drug and Prostitution Control, Soubanh Srithirath, Minister to the Lao Presidential Office and Chairman of the Lao National Commission for Drug Control and Supervision, and Ang Vong Vathana, the Cambodian Minister of Justice and Vice Chairman of the National Authority for Combating Drugs.

The 9th ministerial meeting on drug control between the three countries will take place in Vietnam next year.-

Vietnam prepares for UN Human Rights review

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam is committed to the success of the UN’s Human Rights Council and the Universal Periodic Review Mechanism, said Deputy Foreign Miniter Nguyen Quoc Cuong at a workshop in Hanoi on Nov. 25.

Vietnam shares the hopes of the international community that the UN’s Human Rights Council will make a positive development in international cooperation over human right issues, serving as a forum for effective cooperation and mutual understanding, with adequate respect to the traditions, culture and self-determination of every nation, Cuong said.

Vietnam has established an inter-agency mechanism to make preparations for its first comprehensive report on human rights conditions.

UN’s resident coordinator in Vietnam Jesper Morch praised the country’s participation in most of the major international conventions on human rights and cited its remarkable progress in poverty reduction and its implementation of the Millenium Development Goals, with a substantial portion of its social benefits allocated to the nation’s most needy.

However, he said, the protection of human rights, socio-economic development and social security expansion remain challenges to Vietnam .

The two-day workshop was organised with the aim of providing knowledge and experience for Vietnamese experts in preparation for the submission of the country’s report next year.

Under the terms of the mechanism, the UN’s Human Rights Council reviews the human rights conditions of all 192 UN members every four years as a reminder to the countries of their obligations to the protection and implementation of basic freedoms and human rights.-