Vietnam wants to boost cooperation with Timor Leste; Thai MPs want closer agricultural cooperation with Vietnam; PM approves cooperative agreements with foreign partners; Vietnam to help fight AIDS in Cambodia

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung made the statement while receiving Minister of Tourism, Commerce and Industry Gil da Costa AN Alves in Hanoi on September 22.

He voiced his support for cooperation between the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Timor Leste Ministry of Tourism, Commerce and Industry and said that the signing of a rice deal between the two ministries will benefit both countries.

Vietnam is ready to supply rice in a stable manner to Timor Leste, said Mr Dung.

He affirmed Vietnam’s consistent policy of increasing equal and mutually beneficial cooperation with Timor Leste, especially in economics, trade and investment. He proposed that Vietnam and Timor Leste negotiate and sign cooperation agreements in the areas of mutual concern.

Minister Gil da Costa AN Alves said Timor Leste wants to receive Vietnam’s support in human resource training and rice production. He briefed his host on the results of his talks with the Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade, including measures to promote bilateral investment and trade cooperation.

Hanoi and Bucharest boost cooperation

A delegation from the Hanoi City People’s Committee visited to Bucharest from September 16-20.

At a meeting on September 19, Nguyen Van Khoi, Vice Chairman of the Hanoi City People’s Committee, expressed his hope that the friendship and cooperation between the two capital cities would be strengthened in the future.

The Mayor of Bucharest said that the Bucharest authorities are always eager to cooperate with Hanoi in many fields such as infrastructure, urban planning and management, etc.

To mark Bucharest’s 550th anniversary, the Vietnamese Embassy in Romania has run Hanoi’s images on the city’s Town Hall website.

Thai MPs want closer agricultural cooperation with Vietnam

A delegation from the Thai parliament have proposed closer cooperation between Thailand and Vietnam in the field of agriculture.

Cooperation should be tightened, especially in producing and exporting rice and other farm products, the MPs said at a meeting with the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee on September 22.

At the meeting, the MPs also show an interest in the city’s import-export situation as well as its projects on economic development, trade, investment, tourism, energy, and infrastructure construction.

The delegation’s visit aims to study the socio-economic environment in the city and to discuss new possibilities for cooperation between Thailand and the city, said Narapat Kaeothong, head of the committee on economic development under the parliament.

The Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, Le Hoang Quan, said he hoped the visit would help enhance Thai relations with Vietnam in general and with the city in particular.

The local administration will create good conditions for Thai businesses to study and promote investment in the city, he said.

Seminar analyses overall economic model in transitional process to socialism

Nearly 500 leading Vietnamese economists gathered for a seminar in Hanoi on September 22 to discuss the overall economic model in the transitional process to socialism.

The seminar, themed “Overall economic model in the transitional process to socialism: Theory and reality”, was co-organised by the Central Theory Council and the National Economics University. It aimed to clarify theoretical foundations and major practical factors in order to define Vietnam’s overall economic model in the future.

About 70 reports at the seminar focused on issues relating to the State’s role in developing economic sectors, the relationship between the State and the market, and economic growth and measures for sustainable economic development.

Prof. Le Huu Nghia, member of the Central Party Committee and deputy head of the Central Theory Council, said the 9th National Party Congress defined the concept of a “socialism-oriented market economy” and made this Vietnam’s overall economic model during the transitional process to the socialism. The 10th National Party Congress reaffirmed this model and started to clarify a number of its characteristics. However, he said, it is essential to revisit the theoretical and practical foundations of the model now and in the future because of difficulties in national economic development in recent years, and negative impact of the global financial crisis.

Prof. Nghia noted that opinions at the seminar could be collected and contributed to the economic development strategy for 2011 to 2020 and then submitted to the 10th National Party Congress.

Most delegates to the seminar agreed that Vietnam’s overall economic model in the future should lead to a modern market economy to ensure a strong nation with prosperous people and a just, democratic, and civilised society.

PM approves cooperative agreements with foreign partners

The Prime Minister has agreed on the contents of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the management and development of forestry resources between the Vietnamese government and the government of the Republic of South Africa.

The PM also approved an agreement with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation and Namibia. As part of the South-South cooperation programme, Vietnam will assist Namibia to complete its food security programme.

An additional project called “Harmonising the balance between security and daily life in Vietnam” is being carried out by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, with a non-refundable aid package of US$175,00 from the Global Fund.

Vietnam to help fight AIDS in Cambodia

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong has assured Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen that Viet Nam is willing to share experiences in drug prevention and HIV/AIDS with Cambodia.

He was received by the Cambodian leader during his visit to Cambodia on September 22.

The Vietnamese government has been conducting a nationwide campaign to implement prevention and containment of drugs and HIV/AIDS at all level, said Mr. Trong, who is also Chairman of the Vietnam National Committee for AIDS, Drugs and Prostitution Prevention.

PM Hun Sen wanted Vietnam to help the country build detoxification centres, train personnel and strengthen co-operation between the country’s securities forces to help combat transnational drugs smugglers.

Regarding bilateral economic co-operation, deputy PM Trong expressed his hope that the Cambodian government will continue to help Vietnamese investors speed up the implementation of long-term projects in finance, banking, energy, infrastructure development in Cambodia.

The same day, Mr. Trong and his entourage paid a floral tribute to the Independence Monument to the Vietnamese volunteers in the country.

New publication to boost Vietnam-Denmark trade

The Embassy of Denmark in Hanoi on September 21 launched a special publication designed to provide enterprises and policy makers in Vietnam with information on business opportunities with Danish partners.

The publication is a special Vietnamese edition of Focus Denmark, a quarterly magazine published by the Trade Council of Denmark since 2001. It is being published in the lead up to the Danish Queen’s state visit to Vietnam in early November this year.

This supplemental edition will give Vietnamese businesses better access to useful information on areas where Denmark has strengths, as well as introducing companies in various areas, including trade and industry, information and technology, clean technologies for cement production, aviation, food processing, treatment of waste water and solid waste and building materials.

5,000 copies of Focus Denmark in Vietnamese will be distributed to Vietnamese importers, partners, companies, and research institutes as well as investors, said Ambassador Peter Lysholt Hansen at a press briefing the same day.

According to the Ambassador, the publication comes at a time when leaders of the two countries have reached the “highest political will” to accelerate bilateral relations, especially in trade.

Denmark now ranks 25th out of 87 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with a total investment of over US$493 million. However, two-way trade stayed at US$318 million in 2008, up 2.6 percent from 2007.

Vietnam prepares for ASEAN summits in 2010

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem has agreed in principle to the organisation of the first ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) Summit in Ho Chi Minh City on April 2010.

The Deputy PM asked the Chairman of the Municipal People’s Committee to direct related agencies to spruce the city up for the summit meetings.

Hanoi will host the second ASEAN Summit, ASEAN Summit plus dialogue partners, the East Asia Summit, and ASEAN ministerial meetings, scheduled for October, 2010.

Taking over the ASEAN chairmanship in 2010 will help Vietnam raise its prestige and profile in the region and the world as a whole, said Deputy PM Pham Gia Khiem, who is also Chairman of the National Committee on ASEAN.

PV