Deputy PM works with Federation of UNESCO Associations; NA delegation visits Portugal; Vice President meets with RoK PM; Russian, Vietnamese communists vow to boost ties; Thai help for resident Vietnamese praised

At a working session in Hanoi on September 18, Mr Khiem noted that the federation has formed a network of nearly 100 member organisations, including UNESCO Clubs, UNESCO Centres and UNESCO Associations across the country since it was established in 1993.

The non-governmental organisation hosts about 200 cultural, scientific and educational events each year. One of them – a writing competition about Hanoi’s thousand-year-old-history - has attracted entries from more than 100 countries.

The federation has been engaged in preserving artefacts and translating books on culture, science and education, has sent art delegations to festivals abroad, and has run training courses for curators in several provinces.

Mr Khiem affirmed the federation’s important role in expanding the government’s people-to-people diplomacy and asked relevant ministries and the Hanoi administration to provide financial assistance to increase its operational efficiency.

NA delegation visits Portugal

The legislative bodies of Vietnam and Portugal should increase the exchange of delegations to share experiences in legislation and promote mutual understanding.

The view was shared during a working session in Lisbon between Jaime Gama, speaker of the Portuguese parliament and Nguyen Duc Kien, vice chairman of the Vietnam National Assembly, who is on an visit to the European nation from September 17-19.

Mr Gama described Mr Kien’s visit as a landmark in the relations between the legislative bodies and people of Portugal and Vietnam. He briefed his guest on the Portuguese parliament’s operations and exchanged views on issues of the Vietnamese delegation’s concern.

Meanwhile, Mr Kien affirmed Vietnam’s consistent policy of befriending all countries across the world, including Portugal. He congratulated the European nation on its development achievements and said Vietnam and Portugal should be well prepared for signing cooperation agreements in investment, trade, tourism and science-technology.

He also informed his host that Vietnam has introduced appropriate solutions to weather the global financial storm and these solutions have begun to take effect.

Vietnam has achieved positive economic growth over the past 9 months and it aims to keep the rate at 5 percent by the end of the year, said Mr Kien.

During his stay, Mr Kien held working sessions with a number of professors, economic experts and law-makers and visited a shipyard in Lisbon.

Vice President meets with RoK PM

Vietnam appreciates the government of the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s efforts to increase women’s role in the national development process, said Vietnamese Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan.

Ms Doan made the remarks while meeting with RoK Prime Minister Han Seung-Soo on the occasion of the second Asian Women Entrepreneurs Conference (AWEC 2009), which took place in Seoul on September 17 under the theme “Asian Women and Green Growth”.

Ms Doan thanked the RoK government for its credit incentives and humanitarian aid to Vietnam.

PM Han Seung-Soo spoke highly of the flourishing Vietnam-RoK relations in various fields.

The RoK leader expressed his hope that bilateral relations will become more comprehensive in the future when the two countries officially become strategic partners.

He affirmed that his government will encourage Vietnamese people living and studying in the RoK, as well as RoK citizens living and working in Vietnam to play a more active role in strengthening relations between the two countries.

Russian, Vietnamese communists vow to boost ties

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) is willing to further boost cooperative relations with the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), said KPRF Chairman Ghenady Ziuganov.

The chairman made the statement on September 17 while receiving a CPV delegation, led by Nguyen Van Chi, Politburo member, Secretary of the CPV Central Committee and head of the CPV CC’s Inspection Commission, visiting Russia from September 12-19.

Mr. Ziuganov highlighted Vietnam’s great achievements under the leadership of the CPV during its process of national construction and defense and in the current implementation of renewal policies.

He introduced KPRF activities in Russia, under the framework of international communist, left-wing and patriotic movements and affirmed that the KPRF always wants to strengthen ties with the CPV.

He expressed his hope that Vietnam would gain more achievements in the future.

For his part, the CPV Central Committee Secretary thanked the Russian people for their assistance to Vietnam during its past struggles for independence and in the current cause of national construction.

He said the CPV is directing the implementation of the resolutions of the 10th National Party Congress and preparations for the next Congress, which aim at reducing the impact of the global crisis and strengthening socio-economic development.
As a result, Vietnam’s GDP increased by 3.9 percent in the first six months of this year and the number is forecast to be five percent for the whole year.

During its stay in Russian, the CPV delegation held talks with the KPRF delegation, led by the first deputy chairman Ivan Melnikov. The two sides discussed and shared experiences in implementing the disciplines of communists and some issues on communist party political programmes.

Earlier, the CPV delegation paid floral tribute at the Ho Chi Minh Presidential monument and visited Red Square, and the V.I. Lenin mausoleum.

The delegation also visited some Vietnamese enterprises and the Vietnamese community in Russia.

In an interview with Vietnam News Agency correspondents, Nguyen Van Chi said the two communist parties have agreed to strengthen their traditional friendship and strategic partnership, initially through economic-trade, scientific-technological and investment cooperation.

Thai help for resident Vietnamese praised

Vietnam highly appreciates the Thai Government and local authorities’ assistance to the Vietnamese community to develop and integrate into the local society, said Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Thanh Son.

The Deputy FM, who is also Chairman of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, made the remarks while receiving Somsak Suwansujarit, Deputy Head of Local Management Department of the Interior Ministry of Thailand in Hanoi on September 17.

Deputy FM Son asked the Thai Government to create more favourable conditions for granting licenses of residence to Vietnamese in Thailand, and allow them to set up Overseas Vietnamese branches in Bangkok and some southern provinces like Chiang Mai, Sakeo and Phuket.

Stressing that most of Vietnamese people in Thailand are Buddhist followers, the Thai national religion, Son asked Thailand to facilitate the building of pagodas by overseas Vietnamese to serve their religious activities.

For his part, Somsak Suwansujarit said that the Thai Government and the Interior Ministry pay careful attention to issues related to the national identity of the resident Vietnamese population.

At present 90 percent of Vietnamese people living in Thailand have been granted licenses, including certificates of nationality and residence. The remaining Vietnamese have not yet received their licenses because they lost their identity papers or have no witness to attest for them, despite having lived in Thailand for a long time.

However, Somsak Suwansujarit said “it doesn’t matter” because Thailand may consider licensing overseas Vietnamese for residence based on the duration of their stay.

He stated that the Interior Ministry will coordinate with local authorities in solving difficulties relating to the licensing of residence for such people.

The Thai official also said that over the past years, Vietnamese people in Thailand have had a stable life and have integrated well into the local community. Some of them have succeeded in becoming examples for the Thai people.

According to the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, some 100,000 Vietnamese people are living in Thailand.

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