| PM
Dung praises efforts of departing US ambassador
Viet Nam
and the US would strive to bring co-operation to a new development level on the
basis of mutual interests, respect and understanding, said Prime Minister Nguyen
Tan Dung. Dung
made the statement while receiving outgoing US Ambassador to Viet Nam Michael
Michalak in Ha Noi yesterday, Dec 13. He
praised the contributions made by the diplomat, particularly his contributions
in economics, commerce, investment, education and training and responses to
climate change and rising water levels, helping to boost the countries’
multi-faceted co-operation. The
Government leader said he wished to sign a civil nuclear co-operative agreement
with the US and hoped the US would support Viet Nam in its negotiations to
become an official member of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.
Ambassador Michalak thanked the Vietnamese Government for helping him fulfill
his duties and spoke highly of the achievements made by Viet Nam as Chair of
ASEAN in 2010.
He said
official visits by high-level leaders and delegations of the two countries over
the past years contributed to developing relations. He
stressed the recent visit to Viet Nam by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,
which he said affirmed the US’s wish to lift relations to a strategic
partnership level. The US
was striving to work with Viet Nam to prioritise fields for co-operation in the
coming time, he said. The
diplomat affirmed that he would continue to contribute to developing
co-operation in whatever position he held next.
Vietnam-Tunisia Inter-governmental Committee opens
2nd session
The second session of the Vietnam-Tunisia
Inter-governmental Committee opened in Hanoi on December 13 with the
participation of Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Le Duong Quang
and Tunisian Secretary of State in Foreign Affairs, Saida Chtioui.
 | | Photo: Vietnam+ | Reviewing the result of the
Vietnam-Tunisia cooperation, both sides agreed that despite the recent
development, export revenue is not on a par with the two nation’s potential. Vietnam export turnover to Tunisia
increased from US$1 million in 2001 to US$8 million in the first nine months of
2010 while Tunisia exported goods worth US$4.23 million to Vietnam. At the session, both sides agreed to
promote multifaceted cooperation, especially in diplomacy, trade, industry,
agriculture, oil and gas, energy, investment, culture, and tourism. Regarding trade, Minister Le Duong
Quang asked Tunisia to recognize Vietnam as a full market economy. Vietnam and
Tunisia also agreed to speed up the negotiation process for an agreement on
investment encouragement and protection and a memorandum of understanding about
cultural cooperation. The two parties also expressed
appreciation for the organization of a Tunisian Film Week in Vietnam in April,
2010 and discussed a Vietnamese Week in the North Africa region. During her visit, Mrs. Chtioui had
met with Vice Chairman of the National Assembly, Nguyen Duc Kien, Minister of
Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Doan
Xuan Hung.
Mongolian delegation arrives
Speaker
of the Mongolian Parliament Demberel Damdin, accompanied by his wife and a
high-ranking delegation, arrives in Ha Noi today to begin an official visit. The
four-day visit is made at the invitation of National Assembly Chairman Nguyen
Phu Trong.
Vietnam, China to boost friendship and cooperation
The Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO)
and the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAF)
have agreed to strengthen friendship and cooperation through the exchange of
delegations, seminars, talks and visits.
This was stated in a memorandum of understanding (MoU),
which was signed by VUFO President Vu Xuan Hong and the CPAF leader Chen Haosu
in Hanoi on December 12, as part of the Vietnam-China Friendship Festival 2010.
Under the MoU, the two sides agreed to continue hosting the third People’s Forum
in Vietnam in 2011 and the fourth one in China on 2012. The Vietnam-China
People’s Friendship Festival will also be held in China on 2012.
Vietnam and China will encourage border provinces to organise Vietnam-China
border people’s friendship festivals.
The MoU also emphasised the importance of strengthening multilateral
coordination and cooperation. Both sides will actively attend the sixth
Conference of China-ASEAN People’s Friendship Organisations in Thailand in 2011.
The Chinese side will actively support Vietnam in hosting the next conference.
VUFO and CPAF agreed to strengthen education on the two countries’ traditional
friendship and encourage the implementation of development and humanitarian aid
projects.
Vietnam attends party congress in El Salvador
A delegation of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV)
attended the 27th national congress of the Farabundo Marti National
Liberation Front (FMLN) party in El Salvador’s capital city of San Salvador.
Pham Tat Thang, permanent Deputy
Editor-in-Chief of the Communist Review – the CPV’s theoretical and political
agency, presented the CPV Central Committee’s message of greetings to the
congress, which ended on December 12.
The Vietnamese delegation was received by Medardo Gonzalez, General Secretary of
the FMLN party, and Sigfrido Reyes, Politburo member and First Vice President of
El Salvador’s National Assembly. During the meetings, FMLN leaders
expressed their admiration for Vietnam’s renewal progress achievements,
describing them as valuable experiences for the FMLN party and other left-wing
parties in Latin America to learn and follow.
They also expressed their desire to boost fraternal solidarity, friendship and
cooperation between the two parties and peoples, especially in economic and
trade ties. They wished the XIth National Congress of the CPV success.
The Vietnamese delegation also met other international representatives and
diplomatic missions attending the event.
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