Bulgarian ambassador awarded friendship award

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Cuong
presented the friendship award to the Bulgarian ambassador, Georgi Konstantinov
Vassilev as he ended his term in Vietnam on November 26.

Mr Vassilev expressed his honour to receive the
order and thanked the State and Government and related ministries and
organisations that provided valuable support to his embassy. He pledged to
continue boost the traditional ties between Vietnam and Bulgaria.

President wants close ties with Mongolia

Photo: Vietnam+

Viet Nam
and Mongolia should promote economic co-operation for mutual development and the
improvement of peoples’ lives, said President Nguyen Minh Triet.

He made
the statement while receiving the Head of the Mongolian Presidential Office,
Dashjamts Battulga, in Ha Noi yesterday, Nov 25.

He said
he was pleased with developments in the bilateral ties with the signing of
several high-level agreements and the implementation of specific measures to
boost economic co-operation.

For his
part, Dashjamts Battulga affirmed that Mongolia wished to strengthen relations
with ASEAN nations, particularly Viet Nam.

He
stressed that President Triet’s official visit to Mongolia in October 2008
created new momentum for the two countries’ relationship, especially in
economics, trade, education and health.

At the
14th session of the Viet Nam-Mongolia Inter-governmental Committee on Economic,
Trade and Scientific-Technological Co-operation, the two countries set out many
measures to expand bilateral ties, he said.

At the
end of the talks, a co-operative agreement between the Presidential Offices of
Viet Nam and Mongolia was signed.

PM
send condolences to New Zealand

Prime
Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday, Nov 25, cabled a message of condolences to
his New Zealand counterpart John Key over an explosion that occurred at the Pike
River coal mine on New Zealand’s South Island on November 24.

The
massive explosion tore through the colliery and killed 29 miners, including two
Australians, two Britons and one South African, that had been trapped by an
earlier blast on the afternoon of November 19.

This has
been seen as the worst disaster in New Zealand’s mining industry in a century,
plunging the country into mourning. The last time an accident on this scale
occurred was in 1914 when 43 people died in a gas explosion at a mine in Huntly
on New Zealand’s North Island.

Mexico’s Labour Party (PT) presents Ho Chi Minh statue to Hanoi

A group of PT deputies from the lower house of the
Mexican congress has presented a statue of ‘Ho Chi Minh working in the
Presidential Palace’ to the capital city of Hanoi.

During a meeting with Secretary of
the Hanoi Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi on November 25, the head of the group
of PT deputies, Pedro Vazquez Gonzalez, announced the Mexican Labour Party’s
decision to offer the statue to the city, affirming this act shows the PT and
Mexican people’s deep admiration for the great leader of the Vietnamese people.

For his part, Mr Nghi described the
gift from the PT and the Mexican people as a symbol of solidarity between the
two parties and two peoples, and thanked the PT and the Mexican people for their
support for Vietnam’s previous struggles for national liberation.

Mr Nghi expressed his belief that
the PT will gain more victories in its struggle for justice and pledged to
further boost ties of friendship and cooperation between the two parties and two
countries.

The same day, Mr Gonzalez attended a
ceremony to present the statue of Ho Chi Minh at the office of the Hanoi City
People’s Committee, where he highlighted the great values of Ho Chi Minh thought
on the revolutionary developments in Vietnam and over the world.

On November 24, the PT delegation
met with its Communist Party of Vietnam counterpart, headed by Hoang Binh Quan,
who is chief of the Central Commission for External Relations. The two sides
exchanged views on international and regional issues of mutual concern and
discussed measures to promote cooperative relations between the two parties and
two peoples.

Vietnam, France aim for dynamic trade deals

Vietnam and France need to further boost trade
cooperation and enter into large-scale contracts to match the two sides’
potential.

This requirement was stated by both Vietnamese and
French representatives at a press briefing in Hanoi on November 25 to review the
outcomes of a recent meeting of the High-level Council for Vietnam-France
Economic Cooperation Development (HCDCE).
The meeting was co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Planning and
Investment Cao Viet Sinh and French Foreign Trade Secretary of State Pierre
Lellouche.
Minister Cao Viet Sinh said two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and France
has reached US$2 billion so far this year, noting that France has 305 projects
with a total capital of US$3 billion.
Pierre Lellouche noted that the French government and businesses were pleased
with frankness discussion at the meeting.
He said he was impressed by Vietnam’s GDP growth rate of 7 percent, and
especially the country’s bilateral trade turnover over the past two years which
has increased remarkably – by nearly 30 percent.
However, he pointed out that the French market share in Vietnam was only 1.2
percent which did not match the two sides’ potential.
Both sides also worked on measures to improve investment environments and reduce
trade barriers, practical in the future.

Deputy PM welcomes Khmer Theravada Buddhists

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong received a
delegation of 41 Khmer Theravada dignitaries in Hanoi on November 24.

At the reception, the Deputy PM affirmed that Khmer
Theravada Buddhism is a major sect of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) which
has made great contributions to the religion and the nation.
During the years of war, Khmer Theravada dignitaries and followers actively
participated in the struggles for national independence, he said, adding that
many Khmer pagodas became revolutionary bases and many Theravada Buddhists
sacrificed their lives for the country.
The nation always acknowledged and highly valued contributions made by the
Vietnamese Buddhists in general and the Khmer Theravada Buddhist sect in
particular, Mr Trong said.
Over the last years, the Party and State have paid due attention to VBS
operations as well as policies on religious freedom, national unity and
religious solidarity, he added.
The Deputy PM expressed his wish that Vietnamese Buddhism in general and the
Khmer Theravada Buddhist sect in particularly would make greater contributions
to the country.
He affirmed that the Party and State will adopt suitable policies to ensure
religious freedom and create conditions for Buddhists to practise their
religion.
On behalf of the delegation, Most Venerable Duong Nhon, Vice President of the
VBS Executive Council, thanked the Party and State for their care and attention
to Vietnamese Buddhism and the Khmer Theravada Buddhist sect.

VNN/VOV/VNS