Party and NA leaders receive ethnic minorities’ representatives; Latvia wants to boost cooperative ties with Vietnam; UAE, Vietnam strengthen ties; Mexico, Vietnam strengthen bilateral ties

Party and NA leaders receive ethnic minorities’ representatives

On May 10, Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh and Chairman of the National Assembly (NA) Nguyen Phu Trong received a delegation of representatives from 54 Vietnamese ethnic minority groups attending the first national ethnic minority congress in Hanoi.

The two leaders listened to their aspirations towards improving their production and business activities and other aspects of life.

The Party and State have adopted policies on socio-economic development in mountainous and remote areas, helping to improve ethnic minority people’s material and spiritual lives, said Mr Manh.

However, some areas inhabited by ethnic minority people still face difficulties due to poor infrastructure and training and ineffective use of ethnic minority workforce.

Mr Manh underlined the need to develop a proper policy aimed at training a contingent of qualified ethnic minority cadres, reducing poverty and narrowing the development gap between regions.

The Party leader called on all ethnic minority groups to speed up economic development and strengthen great national unity.

At the meeting, NA leader Trong said he was very happy to meet representatives from the 54 ethnic minority groups while emphasising that ethnic minority population play an important role in carrying out tasks of national construction and defence.

The Party and State’s long-term strategy is to care for and improve ethnic minority people’s living standards, Mr Trong said.

The two leaders wished that the congress would give fresh impetus to common national development among the ethnic minority population.

Latvia wants to boost cooperative ties with Vietnam

On May 9 a senior level delegation, led by Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet, began an official visit to Latvia, after attending the 65th anniversary of the Victory over Fascism.

The Vietnamese Head of State visited the Russian oil group, Zarubezhneft and the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia after laying a wreath at the monument to Ho Chi Minh in Ho Chi Minh Square in central Moscow. He later met with Latvian President Vanis Zatlers.

At this meeting with the Vietnamese President, Mr. Zatlers said that Latvia wants to boost its cooperative ties with Vietnam in some of the nation’s key sectors including garments, seacooking, education, culture, pharmacy and foodstuff.

President Triet hailed the great victory against Fascism, which paved the way for oppressed peoples, including Vietnam to liberate their countries and achieve national independence, freedom and development.

Mr. Triet also expressed his gratitude to the Russian and Latvian people for the practical support they gave Vietnam during its wars of resistance.

He stressed that Vietnam is always keen to promote multi-faceted relations with Latvia and will give preferential conditions to Latvian businesses who invest in the country.

UAE, Vietnam strengthen ties

A delegation from the Vietnam National Assembly visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from May 3-8 at the invitation of the UAE Federal National Council (FNC).

On May 6, the delegation, led by Nguyen Minh Thuyet, Vice Head of the Committee for Culture, Education and Children, met with a FNC delegation, headed by Sultan Saqer al Suwaidi, who is President of the Committee for Education, Youth, Information and Culture.

Both sides briefed each other on their respective country’s situation and discussed ways of stepping up cooperation in this field.

During their stay in the UAE, the Vietnamese delegates visited various economic and cultural establishments in the capital city of Abu Dhabi and the city of Dubai, including the country’s largest university – Sharjah.

At Sharjah, they were warmly welcomed by the lecturers and students from the Faculty of Technology. They met with some female students who had come to Vietnam to help build houses for poor people in My Tho in 2009.

Both the lecturers and students at the university said they would like to set up links with Vietnamese colleges and universities.

Nam Dinh promotes advantages of developing human resources

Nam Dinh should promote the advantages of human resources to accelerate the application of advanced technologies in production and quickly develop industry, agriculture and high-quality services.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung made the statement during a working session with Nam Dinh provincial leaders on May 10.

He praised Nam Dinh province’s socio-economic achievements in recent years, such as the annual economic growth rate of 10 percent, industrial and services proportion of more than 70 percent and the number of poor households at 6 percent. This is a significant result but the province should not be selective, Mr Dung said, as its average per capita income and competitiveness are still low and there are no key products.

PM Dung asked provincial leaders to make a breakthrough in the next years. In the initial period, the province must fulfill set socio-economic development targets for 2010, step up industrial and agricultural production and services, and continue to develop handicraft industry. PM Dung said leaders should encourage all economic sectors to invest in industries of high added value, such as electronics, and accelerate disbursement of investment capital as well as better carry out social welfare policies and administrative reform. They should also make careful preparations for organisation of Party congresses at grassroots level.

Also on the same day, PM Dung made fact-finding tours of a project to build a new road linking Nam Dinh and Phu Ly, and a landslide on the Dao River. The province is asking the Government to provide around VND200 billion to build the 8km-embankment of the Dao River.

Mexico, Vietnam strengthen bilateral ties

Mexico and Vietnam will continue to strengthen their ties of friendship and cooperation in many fields, especially legislation, according to a recent political reference session in Mexico between the Vietnamese and Mexican Ministries of Foreign Affairs.

The delegation from Vietnam, headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, visited the Latin American country on May 7-8 at the invitation of Mexico.

Participants in the session agreed that the ties between Vietnam and Mexico have grown stronger in recent years. Two-way trade has steadily increased and reached over US$700 million in 2009 and could hit $1 billion this year. They also cooperated in other areas including agriculture, healthcare and pharmacy, education and training, and coping with climate change.

The two sides agreed to coordinate and assist each other in international institutions and at multilateral forums such as the UN, WTO, APEC, and the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC). They also discussed international and regional issues of mutual concern.

In the future, both countries will join hands to celebrate their major anniversaries, including Vietnam Week in Mexico from May 25-29.

The Vietnamese delegation met with the Vice President of the Mexican Senate, Artuno Nuez Jimenez, and the Chairman of the Mexican Senate’s External Relations Commission, Carlos Jimenez Macias. They also held talks with representatives of the Mexican Ministry of the Economy.

Leaders of the Mexican Senate expressed their admiration for Vietnam’s past struggle for national independence and its current achievements in the process of Doi Moi (renovation). They recalled the Mexican people’s solidarity with the Vietnamese people in their previous war of resistance against the US aggressors, and affirmed to boost multifaceted cooperation between the countries and their parliaments.

During their stay in Mexico, the Vietnamese delegation laid a wreath at the Monument to President Ho Chi Minh in Mexico city.

PV