VN honours revolutionary soldiers; President meets new head of ‘prestigious’ university; Vietnamese Deputy PM visits Cambodia; Vietnam joins Advisory Centre on WTO Law; Condolences to Indonesian bomb blast victims

He hailed the fruitful results of the talks between the Russian minister and the Vietnamese Deputy PM-cum-Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem.

He affirmed that the Vietnamese state and people will make all-out efforts to strengthen the two countries’ strategic partnership, promote two-way trade, create favourable conditions for the imports of Vietnamese products to Russia and attract Russian investors to Vietnam.

PM Dung suggested that the two countries should remove obstacles to boost cooperation in energy, telecommunications and science-technology.

He also required Russian authorities at all levels to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese people living there, especially Vietnamese traders at the Cherkyzovo market in Moscow to help them overcome difficulties and resume normal life.

Minister Lavrov said both sides have agreed to further promote Vietnam-Russia relations so as to create good conditions for Russian investors in Vietnam and strengthen the imports of Vietnamese products to Russia as well as activities to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Vietnam and Russia’ diplomatic ties in 2010.

He proposed that the two countries should discuss a trade-investment action plan until 2012 to iron out snags in every project at the next meeting of the intergovernmental committee.

Congratulations on Cuban Revolution Day

Leaders of the Vietnamese Party, State and Government on July 25 sent congratulations to their Cuban counterparts on the 56th anniversary of Cuba ’s Revolution Day (July 26).

The messages by Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, State President Nguyen Minh Triet and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, were addressed to Fidel Castro Ruz, First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party Central Committee (CCPCC), and Raul Castro Ruz, Second Secretary of the CCPCC and President of the Council of State and Government.

On the occasion, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong conveyed congratulations to his Cuban counterpart, Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada.

Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem also sent congratulations to Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla.

Party leader affirms close ties with Laos

The Party, State and people of Vietnam will work closely with the Party, State and people of Laos to bring their special relationship to new heights in the interests of the two nations and for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the rest of the world.

Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh made the statement at a reception in Hanoi on July 25 for a delegation of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP)’s Commission for External Relations led by its head Thongloun Sisoulith.

Mr Manh praised the results of talks between the two Commissions for External Relations and their positive contributions to strengthening the Vietnam-Laos traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation.

He congratulated the Lao people on their Renewal achievements and expressed his belief that under the leadership of the LPRP, they will successfully implement the resolutions adopted at the 8th Party congress to build a socialist-oriented and prosperous nation and increase its position in the world.

Mr Sisoulith, who is also Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, briefed his host on the implementation of his Party’s resolutions and thanked Vietnam for providing effective assistance to Laos’ national construction and development. He affirmed that Laos will do its utmost to cement its special relationship with Vietnam.

Earlier the same day, the Lao delegation held talks with its Vietnamese counterpart, led by Hoang Binh Quan, head of the Communist Party of Vietnam’s Commission for External Relations. They briefed each other on the situation in their respective countries, exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual concern and discussed specific measures to implement high-level agreements reached by their leaders.

During their stay in Vietnam, the Lao officials will visit some economic and cultural centres in Hue city city, Da Nang city and Quang Nam province.

President meets new head of ‘prestigious’ university

President Nguyen Minh Triet yesterday received Professor Merilyn Liddell, the new President of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) International University Viet Nam.

Professor Liddell, briefed President Triet on the expansion of the Sai Gon South campus in HCM City and plans to provide graduate and research degree programmes to meet the increasing demand by Vietnamese.

Triet welcomed the move, describing the Australian-based university as one of the most prestigious academic institutions in Viet Nam.
He pledged to provide the most favourable conditions possible for RMIT’s operation as it was the first university to offer Vietnamese students internationally recognised academic programmes.

He encouraged more leading universities to run courses in Viet Nam.

VN honours revolutionary soldiers

The younger generation should be grateful for the contributions of revolutionary soldiers who died for the country’s independence, said President of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front Central Committee Huynh Dam.

Dam made the statement at the departure ceremony, held for more than 400 former revolutionary prisoners, relatives of martyrs, who will arrive on Phu Quoc Island in the southern province of Kien Giang for the requiem, commemoration and burial ceremony for martyrs on the occasion of the Day of Fallen Soldiers and Invalids on Monday.
The remains of more than 300 martyrs have been found by Kien Giang Province’s Military Command.

About 170 members of the delegation are revolutionary soldiers who had been detained in the enemy’s prisons, 190 are relatives of martyrs and beneficiary families on social welfare, and 32 are war invalids.

The trip lasts from July 23 to 29 and will include a series of memorial activities, such as participating in the commemoration and burial ceremony of martyrs in Phu Quoc Martyr Cemetery, laying wreaths at Revolutionay Soldiers Statue, visiting Phu Quoc Prison and visiting the grave of President Ho Chi Minh’s father, Nguyen Sinh Sac, in Dong Thap Province.

Yesterday, authorities from the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum handed out gifts from the State president to 129 families on social welfare, of which 107 are families of Vietnamese Heroic Mothers. Other units and enterprises in the province also gave presents to families who had contributed to the national revolution.

Central Nghe An Province also held activities to mark the Day of Invalids and Fallen Soldiers. In addition to gifts from the State president, provincial authorities spent more than VND5.6 billion (US$311,000) to buy presents and support nearly 97,000 social welfare beneficiaries in the province.

Kien Giang Province authorities also granted gifts worth VND2 billion ($110,000) to the families of invalids, martyrs and those who had contributed to the national revolution.
Some 150 new houses have been built and will be granted to social welfare families on Sunday. The province will build 580 more similar houses this year.

The remains of 172 Vietnamese army volunteers and experts who died in the war in Cambodia were repatriated to Dong Xoai Township in the southern province of Binh Phuoc yesterday.

The commemoration and burial ceremony was attended by representatives from the Military Commander of Military Zone No 7, Binh Phuoc Province and heads and vice heads of Cambodia’s Kratie and Kongpongthom provinces and residents of the township.

The remains were found during the 2008-09 dry season in Cambodia’s Kratie and Kongpongthom provinces by searching teams from Military Zone No 7 and the Military Command of Binh Phuoc Province. Six bodies have been identified.

On the same day, authorities from the province’s Loc Ninh District commemorated the dead and buried the remains of 29 war martyrs. Twenty-two of the soldiers were killed in the American war.

Authorities from the southern province of Dong Thap yesterday also held a commemoration and burial ceremony for the remains of 149 volunteer soldiers, who died on the battlefield in Cambodia.

The authorities and people of Cambodia’s Pray Veng and Posat provinces helped uncover the remains during the dry seasons of 2008-09.

Deputy PM Trong visits Cambodia

A Vietnamese government delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong began a three-day official visit to Cambodia on July 25.

He is scheduled to attend inauguration ceremonies of the kingdom’s new national carrier - Cambodia Angkor Air (CAA) – and a representative office and an investment company of the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) in Cambodia.

CAA is a joint venture between the Cambodian Government and the Vietnam Aviation Corporation – Vietnam Airlines. It plans to conduct flights to HCM City, starting on July 28.

BIDV in collaboration with Phuong Nam Company plans to establish the Investment and Development Joint Stock Company of Cambodia (IDCC) with a charter capital of US$100 million. IDCC will focus on investment activities, mergers and acquisitions

BIDV plans to set up the Vietnam Cambodia Insurance Co (CVI) and an association of Vietnamese investors in Cambodia in August to promote investment and trade between the two countries.

Vietnam joins Advisory Centre on WTO Law

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has signed a decision to approve a protocol on Vietnam’s admission to the Advisory Centre on WTO Law (ACWL).

The PM asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to finalise procedures in line with the existing regulations, and the Ministry of Finance to pay membership fees on request from the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Condolences to Indonesian bomb blast victims

President Nguyen Minh Triet has sent a message of condolence to his Indonesian counterpart, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, over the recent two deadly suicide bombings at the Ritz Carlton and JW Marriott hotels in Jakarta.

The July 17 bombings killed at least nine people and injured more than 40 others.

Workers urged to take lead in national industrialisation, modernisation

The President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, Huynh Dam, has sent best regards to trade unionists and workers across the country on the occasion the 80th anniversary of the Vietnam Trade Union (July 28).

In his message of congratulation to the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour, Mr Dam wrote that over the past 80 years, the Vietnam Trade Union has mobilised and united the working class to promote their leading role in the revolutionary cause. The class has formed the central core of the worker-peasant-intelligentsia alliance and the bloc of great national unity. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, it has made a significant contribution to the cause of national liberation in the past and national construction and defence at present.

Mr Dam expressed his hope that all trade unionists and workers will continue to fulfill their historic mission of contributing to national unity, taking the lead in national industrialisation and modernisation and international economic integration while supporting the Renewal process for the sake of a wealthy people, a strong country, and an equitable, democratic and civilized society.

PV