Vietnamese women’s role highlighted; Foreign ministry promotes digital diplomacy; Get-together marks the 60th anniversary of Vietnam’s military assitance to Laos

The Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan received a delegation from the Asia Pacific Ladies Friendship Society (ALFS) in Hanoi on October 27.

The delegation was led by the association’s President Komura Masahiko and its executive chairwoman in the 2009-2010 term, Nguyen Thieu Ngan who is also Vietnamese ambassador to Japan.

At the reception, Minister Ngan thanked ALFS for its attention to Vietnam since 1992 and highlighted the association’s recent charitable activities. She expressed the hope that the association will continue to provide support to Vietnam.

Minister Ngan also informed the delegation of Vietnam’s achievements in poverty reduction and hunger eradication, as well as in gender equality work. She said Vietnam has made great efforts in promoting gender equality and the role of women in economic, cultural and social development. In Vietnam, women now make up 52 percent of the population and 25 percent of the National Assembly deputies. The number of women holding key positions in business is only 2 percent lower than men, a rather high figure compared to other countries in Southeast Asia.

For her part, ALFS President Masahiko affirmed that women are always an important issue. Over the past 40 years, ALFS has stood side-by-side with women in the Asia-Pacific region to elevate their position in the world. In particular, the association has organised many charity bazaars to heighten mutual understanding among women in the region. President Masahiko expressed her wish to contribute to strengthening cooperative relations between the two countries and learn more about Vietnamese culture and people.

During its visit to Vietnam from October 25-31, the delegation will visit Quang Ninh, Hoi An, HCM City and Tien Giang.

The Asia Pacific Ladies Friendship Society (ALFS) is an organization, which includes the wives of diplomats from 24 nations in the Asia-Pacific region and Japan. The association was established 40 years ago under the sponsorship of the Japanese government.

Since its founding, the association has contributed to strengthening friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Japan through cultural and social activities.

Foreign ministry promotes digital diplomacy

Vietnam highly values information technology (IT) and is boosting IT in State agencies, including the Foreign Ministry, said a senior Vietnamese diplomat at a workshop in Hanoi on October 27.

The workshop, jointly held by the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry and the UK embassy in Vietnam, provided a venue for nearly 100 participants to discuss the use of new internet tools such as blog, YouTube, Flickr and Twitter to strengthen information exchange between the public and government agencies.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Cuong said his ministry is trying to apply IT and internet tools intensively in its diplomatic activities as well as in promoting the image of Vietnam to the world.

UK Ambassador to Vietnam Mark Kent told the workshop that Vietnam has ‘done great’ in enhancing its reputation through people-to-people diplomacy and culture diplomacy.

He expressed his hope that the Vietnamese government will apply online communicative tools to its public relations activities more often.

Get-together marks the 60th anniversary of Vietnam’s military assitance to Laos

Nearly 200 former Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and military specialists have met with members of the Lao General Consulate and Lao pupils and students studying in Central Da Nang city to mark the 60th anniversary of Vietnam’s military assistance to Laos (October 30).

At the meeting on October 28, they relived the old days of assisting Laos during the two wars of resistance against French colonialists and US imperialists for national defence. They pledged to assist the Lao individuals and collective units who are studying and working in Da Nang to promote the traditional friendship between the two armies and people of Vietnam and Lao.

During the two wars, 20,000 Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and military specialists were killed and 60,000 others injured in Laos.

PV