Royal Thai Navy ship visits Hai Phong

The Royal Thai Navy’s ship H.T.M.S Narathiwat with a 146-member crew docked at the northern port of Hai Phong Monday, beginning a four-day visit to the city.

The trip aims to strengthen and develop the friendship, cooperation and mutual understanding between the people and armies of the two countries, as well as to celebrate the 35 th anniversary of Vietnam-Thailand diplomatic ties (August 6).

Rear Admiral Pradit Sirikupt, head of the delegation, and Thai Ambassador to Vietnam Anuso Chivanno are scheduled to make courtesy visits to leaders of the municipal Hai Phong People’s Committee and officers of the High Commands of the Vietnam People’s Navy and Military Zone 3.

During their stay in Vietnam, the Thai officers and crew members will also explore several beauty spots in Hai Phong and the capital city of Hanoi, and the well-known Ha Long Bay in the northeastern province of Quang Ninh.

Deputy Foreign Minister visits Russia

Deputy Foreign Minister and Chairman of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, Nguyen Thanh Son, visited Russia from May 18-25.

The deputy Minister met with his Russian counterpart, Grigory Karasin, who is in charge of Russians living abroad, to learn from Russia ’s experience in supporting their people in foreign countries.

Son asked Russia to help Vietnam and Vietnamese Embassy in works related to the Vietnamese community in Russia to help them develop dynamically and sustainably in accordance with local laws, contributing to increasing traditional friendship and strategic partnership between the two countries.

He also planned to meet leaders of local agencies in migration, labour and employment and guest worker affairs to learn about the situation of the Vietnamese community in Russia and discussed cooperative measures between relevant agencies of both countries.

Deputy Minister Son also met with representatives of overseas Vietnamese in Russia on May 22.

On the occasion, the diplomat presented an insignia “For the Cause of Sea and Island Sovereignty Protection” of the Vietnam Naval High Command to Do Xuan Hoang, Chairman of the Vietnamese Association in Russia.

Vietnam, Poland handle Vietnamese residents’ stability

Vietnam and Poland should further exchanges and cooperation in handling issues on security and legitimate interests protection for the Vietnamese community in Poland under their agreed bilateral agreements and in complying with international laws.

Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Thanh Son underlined the issue at a meeting with Polish Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Plotr Stachanczyk during his visit to Poland from May 16-18.

Son, also acted as the Head of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, spoke highly of the growing traditional relationship between Vietnam and Poland, especially after Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s visit to Vietnam last September.

Stachanczyk said that his ministry is completing a bill on foreigners’ residency for the parliament’s approval, stressing that once ratified, it will provide an array of favourable conditions for Vietnamese people residing in Poland to stabilise their lives.

On the occasion, Deputy FM Son visited the Research Institute of Vietnamese Culture and Science under Almamer University in the Polish capital city of Warsaw.

He described the establishment of the institute as a concrete act contributing to promoting the two countries’ relations.

Earlier, Deputy FM Son and Vietnamese Ambassador to Poland Nguyen Hoang met with representatives from the Vietnamese community and visited several traders who lost their property to a fire at the EACC trade centre in Wolka Kosowska on May 10.

ASEAN defence ministers meeting wraps up

The fifth ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM-5) ended in Jakarta on May 19.

The meeting issued a joint declaration calling for increased security-national defence cooperation among ASEAN members to ensure and boost regional peace and stability, advancing towards an ASEAN Community by 2015, with one of the most three important pillars being security-political community.

The declaration affirmed freedom of navigation in the East Sea in accordance with international laws, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

It also reiterated ASEAN Member States’ commitment to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the East Sea, looking towards the approval of the Code of Conduct to further promote peace and stability in the region.

The ministers agreed to establish a joint committee to coordinate the use of ASEAN military assets for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. They agreed with three proposals on the ADMM working plan between 2011-2013, the establishment of an ASEAN peacekeeping centre network and a mechanism for ASEAN Defence Industry Collaboration.

Addressing the closing ceremony, Indonesian Defence Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro affirmed the importance of increasing ADMM role in ASEAN, saying that ADMM is also a forum to boost bilateral cooperation.

The positive development of the forum has improved the transparency, mutual trust and respect among ASEAN members, which is considered as an important premise for increased ASEAN defence cooperation in the future.

Minister Yusgiantoro added that ASEAN should maintain its centrality in developing the ADMM Plus forum with such partners as the US, Russia, India, China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia to strengthen cooperation, ensure regional security and stability and affirm the effectiveness of joint actions in the fight against piracy, smuggling and terrorism in order to consolidate international community’s trust in ASEAN.

He also stressed the necessity of increasing practical cooperation among ASEAN member states to cope with non-traditional security issues and conflicts in the region.

Apart from bilateral talks between Thailand and Cambodia’s Defence Ministers, and the tripartite meeting between Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia Defence Ministers on Thailand-Cambodia border dispute, ADMM-5 also discussed the issue, agreed that solutions needed to be implemented via peaceful negotiation.

Promoting France-Vietnam partnership

The France-Vietnam Friendship Association has taken initiatives aimed to encourage French businesses to invest in Vietnam.

The France-Vietnam Friendship Association elected a new executive board at its 14th congress in Paris on May 20-21, aiming to promote the friendship and cooperation between France and Vietnam.

During the two-day congress, the association reviewed its activities during the last term and devised future plans.

Over the last three-year term, the association continued its combined efforts to promote understanding of Vietnam in France and the struggle for justice by Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange (AO).

Last year, the association held two seminars about Vietnam in Paris and Lyon to help French businesses better understand the investment environment in the country.

The association’s chairwoman, Helene Luc, said her organisation will give priority to strengthening friendship and solidarity with the Vietnamese people and hopes to raise relations to a partnership level as Vietnam is now considered an important country in Southeast Asia.

The association was established in 1961 and over the past 60 years, has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Vietnamese nation in its struggle for national defense and socio-economic development.

PV