| Deputy PM welcomes Japan-Vietnam Special Ambassador; Special ties: a valuable shared heritage of Vietnam and Laos; Vietnam, India hold first strategic dialogue
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem on October 16 received Japan-Vietnam Special Ambassador Sugi Ryotaro, who is in Hanoi to attend a national film-making contest for Vietnamese students.
The Deputy PM praised Ambassador Sugi’s practical contributions to developing friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Japan , especially in culture and the arts, as well as his humanitarian activities in Vietnam .
For his part, Ambassador Sugi promised to make more contributions to developing people-to-people and cultural exchange as well as strengthening mutual understanding and trust between the two countries.
At the end of the reception, Deputy PM Khiem relayed to Sugi the Vietnamese government’s decision to confer the title “Vietnam-Japan Special Ambassador” on him.Special ties: a valuable shared heritage of Vietnam and Laos The special relationship between Vietnam and Laos, fostered by Presidents Ho Chi Minh and Kaysone Phomvihane, is a valuable part of the mutual heritage of the two nations.
Lao Ambassador to Vietnam Sunthon Saynhachac made this statement at a ceremony to mark the 60th anniversary of the Traditional Day of Vietnamese voluntary soldiers and military experts in Laos (Oct. 30), held in northern Nam Dinh province on October 16.
She went on to say that this relationship enabled each nation to grow and develop and was a decisive factor in the success of their revolutionary cause.
She expressed her deep gratitude to the Vietnamese Party, State and people for their valuable support and assistance to Laos during wartime, but especially to the Vietnamese voluntary soldiers and experts who devoted their youth, strength and even their lives to Laos ’s revolutionary cause.
On the occasion, delegates to the ceremony presented gifts to heroic Vietnamese mothers and relatives of fallen soldiers. Mass to pray for martyrs fallen in Laos scheduled A State-level requiem, the first of its kind in Vietnam, is scheduled for October 22-24 to pray for soldiers killed on Lao soil during their war-era international mission.
The event, which is to take place at the Vietnam-Laos Martyrs Cemetery in the central border province of Nghe An, is to meet the massive demand from overseas Vietnamese, war veterans and military experts once servicing in Laos as well as the families of fallen soldiers, said organisers.
Deputy Foreign Minister and Chairman of the State Committee on Vietnamese Overseas, Nguyen Thanh Son, said at a press briefing in Hanoi on October 16 that the mass also aims to uphold the Vietnamese tradition of “Drinking water, remember the source” and to promote the traditional friendship between the two neighbour countries.
The event will include a musical performance entitled “Vietnam-Laos: deep attachment, great loyalty” scheduled for the evening of October 24. War veterans, authorities, members of the military and citizens of the two countries are expected to join in.
The event is expected to draw over 300 participants and a large number of monks, nuns and Buddhists.
This event has earned enthusiastic endorsements from the State Committee on Vietnamese Overseas, the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, the Nghe An provincial administration, the Political General Department under the Defence Ministry, the Vietnam Television, the ITV Communication Joint Stock Company and many others.
The Defence Ministry reported that over 12,000 sets of remains of fallen Vietnamese soldiers have been repatriated from Laos and reburied at the Vietnam-Laos Martyrs Cemetery .
The ministry added that missions are still on-going to locate and recover more remains of Vietnamese soldiers killed on Lao soil for re-interment at the cemetery. Vietnam, India hold first strategic dialogue The first strategic dialogue and fourth political consultative meeting between Vietnam and India took place in New Delhi on Oct 15.
At the meeting, co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Dao Viet Trung and his Indian counterpart, Neelakantan Ravi, the two sides reviewed bilateral relations since the two countries established their strategic partnership in July, 2007.
They also discussed measures to strengthen two-way ties in politics, economics, trade, investment, credit, oil and gas, science and technology, IT, communication, national security, and the educational and cultural sectors.
They agreed to increase high-level the exchange of delegations in future, and to soon organise the 14th joint committee between the two countries in Vietnam to expand and develop the strategic partnership between the two nations.
While discussing regional and international issues of common interest, the two sides expressed their satisfaction with their on-going mutual support at regional and international forums, and pledged to continue working together for ASEAN-India cooperation, and through the East Asia Summit (EAS), the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) forum, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the United Nations (UN).
They also reached an agreement to increase cooperation to contribute to speeding up ASEAN-India cooperation in the context of Vietnam ’s upcoming assumption of the bloc’s chairmanship the ASEAN in 2010.
They agreed to organise the second strategic dialogue and the fifth political consultative meeting in Vietnam in 2010. Cuba workshop highlights Uncle Ho’s testament A seminar was held in Cuba on Oct. 15 to mark 40 years of implementing President Ho Chi Minh’s testament and 45 years since the death of Vietnam ’s national hero Nguyen Van Troi.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Cuba , Vu Chi Cong, highlighted the significance and practical value of the testament, saying it has served as a guideline for the entire Party and people in their struggle for national independence, freedom and reunification.
President Ho Chi Minh’s will emphasised the spirit of solidarity among the Party and the people, and close links between the Party and the public, especially the youth, Cong said.
While putting the testament into action, the Vietnamese people, under the judicious leadership of the Party and with support and noble international solidarity of friends across five continents, mounted the revolution to liberate the South and reunify the nation, paving the way to achieve growth and development through the present socialist construction process, the diplomat added.
At the talks, Cong also re-called the courageous actions of the great hero Nguyen Van Troi as well as his indomitable will during the days he was imprisoned and then executed.
The ambassador stressed that the revolutionary martyr Nguyen Van Troi will forever serve as an example for Vietnamese youth to follow in the course of their own efforts in national construction and defence.
He reminded the participants of the brave Venezuelan revolutionaries who attempted to rescue Nguyen Van Troi from the enemy.
On this occasion, the participants watched a 20-minute-long documentary on Vietnam ’s considerable achievements in politics, economics, culture, science-technology and society during its renewal and socialist construction process.
Also on Oct. 15, the “Granma” newspaper, the organ of the Communist Party of Cuba, carried an article praising the great sacrifice of hero Nguyen Van Troi. Sri Lankan President to visit Vietnam President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa will pay an official visit to Vietnam from Oct. 22-24.
The visit will be made at the invitation of State President Nguyen Minh Triet, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Holland seeks humanitarian cooperation with VN Dutch partners have expressed their desire to increase cooperation on development, as well as charitable and humanitarian issues with Vietnam .
This was result of a working visit to the Netherlands from Oct. 12-14 by a delegation from the Committee for Foreign Non-Governmental Organisation Affairs led by Chairman of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations Vu Xuan Hong.
While staying in the Netherlands, the delegation attended working sessions on the subject of international assistance with representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Netherlands-Vietnam Medical Committee, the fund for eye diseases, and Oxfam’s Novib branch in the Netherlands .
Apart from learning about policies and priorities regarding assistance from the government, foundations and NGOs in the Netherlands, the delegation called on individuals and organisations to support humanitarian and development activities in Vietnam as well as help Agent Orange/dioxin victims, disabled people and those suffering from the effects of climate change. Vietnam, Britain seek closer educational cooperation More than 200 policy makers and leaders of educational organisations from Vietnam and Britain gathered in Hanoi on Oct. 16 for a meeting on tertiary education.
The meeting, co-organised by the Ministry of Education and Training and the British Council, is part of activities of the memorandum of understanding on educational cooperation signed by the Vietnamese and British governments in 2008, which declared tertiary education one of five key areas for cooperation between the two countries.
Addressing the event, British Deputy Ambassador to Vietnam Peter Connolly said the two countries have, over the past years, shared a common view on the importance of reforming education.
Reaffirming that the British Government will continue assisting Vietnam in the area, he cited the fact that many British universities are interested in establishing cooperative ties with their Vietnamese counterparts.
According to the British diplomat, more than 200 Vietnamese students are studying in Britain thanks to British Government scholarships.
Dr. Nguyen Thi Le Huong from the Ministry of Education and Training told the participants that renewing tertiary education to meet regional and international standards is “a high priority for the Vietnamese government”.
She expected discussions at the meeting to help lay a foundation for the universities of both countries to increase information exchange, experience sharing and cooperation.
Joint training programmes, research cooperation, management of training quality and university cooperation were also be discussed at this meeting, according to Director of the British Council Robin Rickard.
On this occasion, an annual British education exhibition will be held in Hanoi , Ho Chi Minh City and the central city of Da Nang . A gala night for those who formerly studied in Britain will be organised in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Asia Cooperation Dialogue ramps up cooperation The 8th Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) ministerial meeting held on October 14-15 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, affirmed its commitment to enhancing joint-efforts among Asian nations.
Foreign ministers, along with deputy and state ministers of foreign affairs from 31 ADC member countries attending the meeting, adopted the Colombo Declaration, which affirmed the determination to boost ACD’s activities to become more practical and effective.
A Vietnamese delegation to the meeting themed “Spirit of Asia: Global Economic Recovery and Development Prospects”, was led by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Doan Xuan Hung.
Addressing those assembled, Deputy Minister Hung said that Vietnam is an ACD founding member and always attaches great importance to collaboration within the body.
He also proposed that ACD should draw up measures and concrete action plans to diversify avenues of cooperation, especially in boosting regional and sub-regional economic cooperation, as well as other areas within the ACD’s purview, including trade, investment, tourism, energy, human resource development and environmental protection.
Meanwhile, participants at the meeting said that although Asia was adversely impacted by the global financial crisis, the region has rapidly rebounded, playing an important role in rebuilding the world economy.
They said that more efforts are needed to take full advantage of opportunities to step up regional economic integration in a bid to boost connectivity and sustainable development in Asia, contributing to improving the global financial and economic structure and addressing common challenges in terms of energy and climate change.
They also called for efforts to build a united and prosperous Asian community and agreed to convene the ADC coordination group every six months to seek ways to deploy ADC projects, giving top priority to joint-efforts in the fields of trade, tourism, transportation, energy, information technology, culture and education.
On the sidelines of the meeting, the Vietnamese delegation’s Head, Deputy Minister Hung, paid a courtesy call to Sri Lanka’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, met Indonesia’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and worked with other delegation heads to talk about bilateral cooperation. Canada sets focus for annual ODA support to Vietnam Canada’s development assistance to Vietnam worth between 25-30 million CAD (around 24.2- 29 million USD) every year will be focused on two areas, said a Canadian government official.
Director of Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Asia Division, Syed Sajadur Rahman, is scheduled to make a visit to Vietnam in November this year.
The two priority areas of Canadian support is creating a favourable environment for economic development and building capacity for the agricultural and rural development sector, he said.
He went on to eleborate that Canada will prioritise governance and justice reforms, support for small and medium-sized enterprises, especially those in rural areas, improvement of farming productivity, vocational and skill trainings for labourers.
Canada ’s annual budget of official development assistance for Asia is around 451 million CAD, which is second only to that for Africa (518 million CAD). Vietnam congratulates newly-elected UNESCO leader Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem has sent a message of congratulations to Irina Bokova, who was elected as UNESCO General Director at the organisation’s 35 th General Assembly plenary session in Paris on Oct.15.
Irina Bokova, who is the Bulgarian Ambassador to France and Bulgarian Permanent Representative to UNESCO, has been the first woman in the world to lead UNESCO.
In the message, the Vietnamese Deputy PM said he believes that under the leadership of Irina Bokova, UNESCO will continue to play its important role as the largest intellectual cooperation agency of the UN, especially in solving current global problems.
He expressed his hope that the fine relations between UNESCO and Vietnam would be constantly developed.
The same day, President of the Vietnam National UNNESCO Committee and Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Thanh Son also sent a message of congratulations to the UNESCO leader. VietNamNet/VNA |
