Party leader Manh concludes Cambodia visit; Russia-Vietnam Friendship Association President visits Vietnam; Information access good for VN: UN official; President’s visit further ties with European countries

Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh left Phnom Penh for Hanoi on December 19, concluding his official visit to Cambodia at the invitation of King Norodom Sihamoni.

From the plane, Mr Manh cabled a message to the King, expressing his belief that the fine neighbourliness, traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries will further develop for the two countries’ prosperity and for the sake of peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

In a joint statement released the same day, Vietnam and Cambodia agreed to increase cooperation in various fields, especially economics, trade and investment, as well as in combating cross-border crime and illegal immigration.

Vietnamese and Cambodian leaders hailed the signing of cooperative agreements on aviation, rubber tree planting, electricity and petroleum. They reaffirmed their consistent policies of not allowing any reactionary force to use one’s territory to threaten security of the other.

They agreed that the two countries will continue to work closer together in searching, exhuming and repatriating remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who laid down their lives in Cambodia.

Both sides are determined to complete border demarcation and landmark planting by the end of 2012 to build the shared borderline into the one of peace, friendship, cooperation and sustainable development.

The leaders agreed to enhance close cooperation with Laos and other countries to develop the Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia Development Triangle into an area of peace, security and prosperity.

They also agreed to boost bilateral cooperation and cooperation with other partners within the Greater Mekong Sub-region for environmental protection and rational use of the water resource of the Mekong River.

They pledged to join efforts with other regional countries to make Southeast Asia a region of peace, cooperation, and prosperous development, and increase coordination in other regional and international forums.

Russia-Vietnam Friendship Association President visits Vietnam

Permanent member of the Communist Party of Vietnam’s Secretariat Truong Tan Sang received President of the Russia-Vietnam Friendship Association V. Buyanov in Hanoi on Dec. 18.

Mr Sang, who is also a Politburo member, spoke highly of the activities of the Russia-Vietnam Friendship Association (RVFA) in recent times, which have contributed to the development of Vietnam-Russia traditional relations.

He said he hoped that RVFA will make more efforts to boost friendship activities with Vietnam, particularly among young people.

President V. Buyanov informed his host about RVFA’s activities that look towards the 60th anniversary of the Russia-Vietnam diplomatic ties.

He also affirmed to make more contributions to enhance cooperation between the RVFA and the Vietnam-Russia Friendship Association, thus contributing to developing the traditional friendship and strategic partnership between the two countries.

Information access good for VN: UN official

Access to information is good for Vietnam, its development and its people, said United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Country Director Setsuko Yamazaki at a round-table meeting on December 17 in Hanoi.

Now is a critical time to discuss the issue of access to information because Vietnam is about to transit from a low-income to a middle-income country, said the UNDP representative.

“Certainly the current process of drafting and discussing a law on access to information in Vietnam can be seen as a positive indication of the goodwill and determination of the Vietnamese Government to improve transparency in the public sector,” said Yamazaki.

“Speeding up the drafting process would bring the benefits to society sooner rather than later,” she added.

The Vietnam Journalists’ Association (VJA) and the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) organized the meeting titled “Media and the Law on access to Information.”

Le Quoc Trung, VJA Standing Vice Chairman, said Vietnamese people have the right to access information as stipulated in the constitution.

The meeting was attended by Do Quy Doan, MIC’s deputy minister; Hoang Huu Luong, head of the Press Department under MIC; and more than 40 editors in chiefs and representatives of Government agencies.

In related news, The State President has promulgated the Law on Telecommunications and the Law on Radio Frequency which will take effect July 1, 2010, the Office of the State President announced on December 17.

RoK, Vietnam make further progress in bilateral ties

The Ambassador of the Republic of Korea (RoK) to Vietnam Im Hong Jae expressed his delight at the continuous progress in the two countries’ friendship and cooperation in 2009 at a press conference in Hanoi on December 18.

He said noteworthy in bilateral ties were the official visits by the two countries’ leaders, including the RoK visit by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Vietnam visit by RoK President Lee Myung-Bak. The two countries’ leaders agreed to turn bilateral ties into the strategic cooperative partnership for the sake of peace, stability and development.

The Ambassador was optimistic about the two countries’ relations in the fields of trade and investment in 2010, saying that the two sides’ economies are expected to grow quite well next year as they both successfully managed the economic crisis in 2009.

He said RoK businesses remain interested in investing in Vietnam and they will actively contribute to Vietnam in the fields of health care, education and scholarship provision.

Mr Im Hong Jae added that the RoK has pledged to provide the Official Development Aid worth US$270 million to Vietnam next year and is considering donating non-refundable aid to various projects in Vietnam. In the coming time, the RoK will deploy three projects in environment and public transportation in the Southeast Asian nation.

By the end of November, the RoK invested US$20.4 billion into nearly 2,300 projects in Vietnam and the two countries are trying their best to raise two-way trade up to US$20 billion by 2015.

President’s visit further ties with European countries

State President Nguyen Minh Triet’s recent visits to Italy, Spain and Slovakia – important members of the European Union have opened a new phase of the relationship between Vietnam and these countries, said Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem when he granted an interview to the press.

Vietnam and the three European countries reached mutual understandings and a high unanimity on issues of the bilateral relations and the world. During the meetings, the three countries’ leaders and businesses expressed their admiration for Vietnam’s great achievements during the renewal process, especially in economics.

They also spoke highly of Vietnam’s increasing position, role and prestige in the international arena and expressed wishes to develop cooperation with the country in all fields.

The three countries’ leaders affirmed to closely cooperate with Vietnam at international forums and organisations.

President Triet and the Italian, Spanish and Slovak leaders reached consensus on a number of specific and practical orientations and measures to further develop ties between Vietnam and the European countries in the coming time.

During the visit, Vietnam and Spain agreed to establish the “Strategic Partnership towards the Future” to be realized in the two countries’ joint action programme.

Vietnam and the three countries also agreed to boost the exchange of high-ranking delegations.

The Italian and Spanish Prime Ministers and the Slovak Parliament Speaker affirmed to visit Vietnam in 2010. Vietnam will open its embassy in Slovakia next year.

Strengthening the economic-trade and investment cooperation was the focus of discussions between the leaders during the visit. They also agreed to boost cooperation in other fields such as tourism, education and training as well as in organizing cultural and sports exchange activities, especially those to mark the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi scheduled for October 2010.

A huge number of cooperative agreements were signed during the visit, helping consolidate the legal foundation for the multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and the three countries.

President Triet’s meetings with representatives of Italian, Spanish and Slovak businesses showed that the countries’ business communities are keen on seeking partners and long-term investments in Vietnam.

On the occasion, Vietnamese businesses signed cooperative agreements and economic contracts worth hundreds of millions of US$ with Italian, Spanish and Slovak counterparts.

During his stay in Italy, President Triet met with Pope Benedict XVI. He conveyed to the Pope a clear message of Vietnam’s religious policies in general and those for the Catholicism in particular, as well as the Vietnamese State’s viewpoints on the relationship with Vatican.

Meeting in Hanoi marks Vietnam-Venezuela diplomatic ties

A meeting was held in Hanoi on December 18 to mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Venezuela.

The event was attended by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Doan Xuan Hung, Chairman of the Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) Vu Xuan Hong, Venezuelan Ambassador to Vietnam Jorge Rondon Uzcategui and representatives from different agencies.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Hung and Mr. Jorge Rondon Uzcategui reviewed the results of diplomatic and economic cooperation between the two countries over the past 20 years.

Bilateral trade turnover between the two countries has seen a significant increase, reaching US$45,6 million in 2008, twice as much as in 2007, and US$36 million in the first ten months of 2009. The two countries have successfully carried out many important economic cooperation projects and organised different cultural events like “Vietnamese week in Venezuela” and “Venezuelan week in Vietnam” in order to promote their mutual understanding and friendly cooperation.

PV