Top Cuban legislator praises Vietnam’s achievements; The media urged to counter erroneous allegations; Vietnam’s role in ASEAN cooperation highlighted; President meets naval soldiers, war veterans

The President of the National Assembly of People’s Power of Cuba, Ricardo Alarcon, on December 22 praised the heroic and persistent spirit of Vietnamese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam as well as Vietnam’s socio-economic achievements in recent years.

While meeting with a delegation from the Vietnam National Assembly, which is currently visiting Cuba, Mr Alarcon also thanked the Vietnamese Party, State, National Assembly and people for having always assisted Cuba during its process of socialist construction.

For his part, Huynh Ngoc Son, who heads the delegation, congratulated Mr Alarcon on the results of the fourth session of the seventh Cuban National Assembly and expressed Vietnam’s support for Cuba, as well as asking the US to remove its economic embargo on the country.

On this occasion, Mr Son, who is also Vice Chairman of the Vietnamese legislative body, extended an invitation from National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong to Mr Alarcon to visit Vietnam.

On the same day, the Vietnamese delegation met with the President of the Jose Marti Cultural Association, Armando Hart, and the President of the Cuba-Vietnam Friendship Association, Yolanda Ferrer.

The media urged to counter erroneous allegations

A seminar on the media’s fight against erroneous allegations was held in Hanoi on December 23 by the Ministry of Information and Communication.

Representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and different media agencies throughout the country participated in the seminar.

Vietnam now has more than 930 media agencies, thousands of websites and 16,000 journalists who are granted press cards.

Vietnamese journalists are entrusted with a task of widely disseminating the Party’s guidelines and policies and the State’ legal system, and combating erroneous and hostile allegations to maintain political stability, promote the Doi Moi (Renewal) process, democratise the social life and consolidate people’s trust in the Party’s leadership and the State’s management.

The seminar underscored the need to train qualified journalists in the cause of national industralisation and modernisation and help media agencies give an insight into the fight against erroneous allegations to ensure social stability.

Vietnam’s role in ASEAN cooperation highlighted

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Gia Khiem met with ASEAN Secretary General Dr Surin Pitsuwan in Hanoi on December 23 to inform and prepare him for Vietnam’s assumption of the ASEAN Presidency in 2010.

Mr Khiem said that Vietnam is prepared to fulfill all tasks in its capacity as ASEAN President in the early days of next year and asked the ASEAN Secretary General and the ASEAN Secretariat to share information with Vietnam, enabling it to accomplish all targets set for 2010.

Next year, Vietnam and ASEAN should enhance dialogues and cooperation in dealing with issues of common concern, promote mutual trust and understanding among member countries and increase the operational efficiency of ASEAN and related forums such as ASEAN+1, ASEAN+3, ARF, EAS for the sake of peace, stability and development in the region and world, said Mr Khiem.

He also underlined the need to make joint efforts in coping with challenges such as the global economic downturn, climate change, the environment, natural disasters, epidemics, terrorism, trans-national crimes and sea security.

ASEAN should enhance links along with narrowing the developmental gap by effectively implementing the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI).

On the occasion, Dr Surin Pitsuwan and his delegation also met with PM Nguyen Tan Dung, Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang, Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Kim Ngan.

At the meetings with some Vietnamese ministries, the ASEAN Secretary General highlighted Vietnam’s role in ASEAN cooperation while expressing his hope that with political stability and a dynamic economy, Vietnam’s international role will be increasingly significant in the future.

The ASEAN Secretariat will work closely with Vietnam in 2010 to make Vietnam’s presidential term a successful contribution to the association’s common success, said Dr Surin Pitsuwan.

The ASEAN Secretary General is on a visit to Vietnam from December 22-24 to compare notes with Vietnamese agencies on priority areas in 2010 and prepare for Vietnam’s assumption of the ASEAN Presidency next year.

The Year of Vietnam’s 2010 ASEAN Presidency will begin by the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, the ASEAN Political Security Community Meeting and the ASEAN Coordination Council Meeting scheduled for Danang City from January 13-14, 2010.

President meets naval soldiers, war veterans

State President Nguyen Minh Triet received outstanding individuals in the Navy’s emulation drive during the 2004-2009 period in celebration of the 65th anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army on Dec. 22.

Talking with the naval soldiers, President Triet praised the force’s developments and contributions to the national struggle for independence as well as the national construction and defence cause.

He asked the Navy to focus on increasing its power and developing personnel to complete complicated tasks in the new context.

In his report to the President, the Commander of the Naval Force, Rear Admiral Nguyen Van Hien affirmed the naval’s determination to complete all assigned tasks to keep peace and stability in the country’s territorial waters.

He said that the Navy always attaches importance to strengthening its power and participating in social activities such as poverty reduction programmes, rescue operations from disasters, as well as in production.

The same day, President Triet also received a delegation of war veterans from the central city of Da Nang.

Talking with the veterans, President Triet stressed that the Party, State and people always honour the sacrifices and contributions by fallen soldiers and war veterans to the nation. During the present national construction cause war veterans, remain patriotic and continue contributing to the country despite that many of them are invalid, he added.

The State leader called on the veterans nationwide to further uphold the traditions of Uncle Ho’s soldiers and their patriotism and infuse them into the next generations.

On the occasion of the Army’s Day, President Triet signed a number of decisions to confer the People’s Armed Forces’ Hero title on 13 collectives and 4 individuals who made great contributions to the resistance wars against French and American invaders.

The President also decided to present the Order of Military Merit and the Order of National Defence to 32 officials and the Medal of Honourable Soldiers to over 97,950 soldiers for their contributions.

Vietnam seeks closer ties with Kazakhstan

Vietnam will do its utmost together with Kazakhstan to continue carrying out their signed agreements and deals successfully for mutual benefit.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung made the statement while receiving the Kazakhstani Deputy Foreign Minster, Nurlan Ermekbaev, who is attending the fourth meeting of the Vietnam-Kazakhstan Intergovernmental Committee for Economic, Trade, Scientific and Technological Cooperation in Hanoi on Dec. 22.

PM Dung expressed his pleasure at the ties growing in every field between the two countries and thanked the Kazakhstani Government for facilitating the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group’s exploration and exploitation activities in Kazakhstan .

The Vietnamese leader affirmed that Vietnam is ready to support and create conditions for the Kazakhstani Oil and Gas Group to explore and exploit oil and gas on Vietnam’s continental shelf. He recalled that the two countries have signed numerous important cooperation agreements in various areas during his visit to Kazakhstan in September, creating a legal framework for boosting bilateral wide-ranging ties.

To promote bilateral trade and investment cooperation, the two countries need to make a great deal of effort, PM Dung said, noting the first move being the prompt implementation of an agreement on double taxation avoidance.

The Kazakhstani official highlighted Vietnam’s growing prestige and position in the world and believed in great prospects for the two countries to further increase their friendship and cooperation in the future.

He emphasised the significance of PM Dung’s recent visit to his country, saying the visit was an important motivation for the two countries to promote the bilateral relationship.

The Kazakhstani diplomat briefed PM Dung on the agenda of the three-day meeting that convened on Dec. 21. He said the meeting has achieved initial progress towards reaching agreements on orientations for bilateral development in economy, diplomacy, culture, sports and tourism.

PV