Vietnamese, Lao provinces enhance cooperation

The Lao province of Khammouane wants to expand cooperation with southern
Vietnamese localities, particularly Ho Chi Minh City.

At a meeting with Vice Secretary of HCM City ’s Party Committee Nguyen Van Dua
on Dec. 17 in HCM City, Khammouane Governor Khambay Damlath affirmed, may
opportunities for bilateral cooperation, especially in investment, trade and
industry.

Khambay Damlath, who led a Khammouane province delegation to visit the southern
Long An province and HCM City from Dec. 14-17, spoke highly of strong and
impressive development of the city.

Vice Secretary Dua thanked the Party, Government and local authorities of Laos
for creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese businesses, including those in
HCM City , to invest and do business in Laos .

The city has cooperated and supported the Lao sides in human resource
development and facilitated Lao students’ studying in the city over the past
years, he said, adding that HCM City is willing to support other Vietnamese
localities to expand cooperation with Lao provinces, including Khammouane.

Khambay Damlath also visited agricultural production establishments in Long An
province, where, he said, offered opportunities for cooperation in he field
between the two provinces.

Khammoune province has attracted 1.8 billion USD from foreign investors,
including those from Vietnam and HCM City , mainly in mining and
hydroelectricity, Khambay Damlath said.

On this occasion, he invited the HCM City authorities and representatives of
businesses to visit and seek opportunities for investment and cooperation with
his province.

Khammouane province, which borders with Vietnamese provinces of Ha Tinh and
Quang Binh, has set up relations and cooperation with a number of central
provinces , including Quang Tri province and Da Nang city.

Vietnam boosts legislative ties with AIPA member

Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee for External Relations Ngo
Duc Manh has led a delegation to visit Thailand to boost ties with the Thai
parliament.

The visit, which ended on Dec. 17, aimed to increase and develop friendship
between Thai and Vietnamese legislative bodies, and exchange common issues in
order to boost cooperation in the framework of ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary
Assembly (AIPA), Manh said before leaving Bangkok for Myanmar .

During the three-day visit, the Vietnamese delegation met with the Thai deputy
National Assembly President, worked with Thai Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation
Committee and the Vietnam-Thailand Friendship Parliamentary Group and met
scholars of the Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok .

The delegation will visit Myanmar from Dec. 17-19 and Singapore from Dec. 19-22
to discuss measures to boost inter-parliamentary cooperation within ASEAN which
aims to establish an ASEAN community by 2015.

VN-RoK cooperation undergoes development

Cooperation between the parliaments of Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK)
will continue to be boosted through important development steps, said National
Assembly Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong.

Vice Chairwoman Phong made the remark while receiving her RoK counterpart Chung
Ui-hwa in Hanoi on Dec. 17.

She said the two parliaments have responsibilities to create a legal corridor
and a favourable environment for the development of multifaceted cooperation
between the two countries and expressed her hope that RoK parliamentarians would
help strengthen cooperation with Vietnam and create favourable conditions for
the Vietnamese community in their country.

She also asked the two sides to accelerate works to promote the people, culture
and land of each country in order to boost cooperation in tourism.

Vice Speaker of the RoK parliament Chung Ui-hwa expressed his interest in the
prospect of cooperation between young people of the two countries, which he said
would make important contributions to long-term development of the RoK-Vietnam
ties.

He shared the same view as his host on boosting ties between the two legislative
bodies at bilateral and multilateral levels.

Chung Ui-hwa expressed hope that there would be many more delegations from the
National Assembly of Vietnam to the RoK to boost exchange and share experiences.

State President sends condolence to Venezuela, Colombia

State President Nguyen Minh Triet on Dec.17 sent messages of condolences to his
Venezuelan and Colombian counterparts Hugo Chavez and Juan Manuel Santos over
the recent natural disasters in the two southern American countries.

Heavy rain and landslide have caused severe losses of lives and property in the
two countries.

Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity in spotlight

A two-day seminar designed to promote the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity
opened in Ho Chi Minh City on December 17.

The workshop is seen as an opportunity for the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) to collect suggestions from the bloc’s partners and facilitate
the realisation of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity.

“We would like to share all of the information about the Master Plan and listen
to all recommendations from delegates to improve our mechanism. We hope that the
Master Plan will create a firm foundation for a broader regional connectivity in
East Asia in the future,” said Pham Quang Vinh, Assistant to the Vietnamese
Foreign Minister and Chairman of ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting 2010.

The Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity was adopted at the 17 th ASEAN Summit in
Hanoi on October 28, 2010. It identifies strategies and specific actions to
speed up regional connectivity in three spheres: infrastructure, institutions
and people.

In the field of infrastructure connectivity, the most important and necessary
issue is to ensure smooth linkages in terms of transport, energy, information
and communications, said Nguyen The Phuong, Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of
Planning and Investment and Head of the High-Level Task Force on ASEAN
Connectivity.

Meanwhile, a wide range of strategies will be undertaken to accelerate
implementation of already signed agreements on the facilitation and
liberalisation of trade in goods, services and investment, Phuong added.

Regarding people connectivity, the deputy minister said that measures to
facilitate movement of people among ASEAN countries will be put forward, along
with enhancing educational and cultural exchanges and tourism promotion.

The seminar is co-hosted by the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the
High-Level Task Force on ASEAN Connectivity and the Economic Research Institute
for ASEAN and East Asia .

As many as 130 delegates from ASEAN member nations, ASEAN dialogue partners –
China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the US, Russia, India, Australia, New
Zealand and the European Union – regional and international organisations,
business councils and companies’ from Southeast Asia and East Asia attended the
event.

Source: VNA