Defence officials meet in Da Lat

Viet Nam
has played a positive role and made significant contributions to promoting the
ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+) and in maintaining peace, ensuring
stability and security in the region, a senior official said yesterday, Dec 7.

Deputy
Defence Minister Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh was addressing the opening
session of the ASEAN Defence Senior Officials’ Meeting Working Group (ADSOM+WG)
in the Central Highlands resort city of Da Lat. Vinh also heads ADSOM Viet Nam.

The
meeting aims to realise the basic modalities established at the first ADMM+ this
October in Ha Noi.

Chaired
by Viet Nam’s Defence Ministry, the ADSOM-WG meeting is being attended by 18
delegations from ten ASEAN member countries and its dialogue partners, the US,
Russia, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

The
ministers identified five priority sectors for defence cooperation within the
ADMM+ frame work: humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, anti-piracy,
counter-terrorism, army medicine and peace-keeping.

This is
the last of the military-defence meetings.

Lao, Vietnamese national assemblies tighten
cooperation

A group of Vietnamese-Lao friendship
parliamentarians has met with its counterpart in Laos in an effort to strengthen
bilateral legislative cooperation.

Photo: VOV

The Vietnamese delegation was headed
by Nguyen Van Son, Head of the Vietnam National Assembly’s External Relations
Committee, while the Lao delegation was headed by Saysomphon Phomvihan, Vice
President of the Lao National Assembly.

During the meeting, the Lao side
welcomed and spoke highly of assistance from Vietnam in many areas, particularly
from the Vietnam National Assembly, including helping the Lao parliament build
its headquarters and library. They also congratulated Vietnam on its significant
achievements as well as its contributions to the region and in the international
arena.

Vietnam and Laos discussed many
important matters of mutual concern, including four measures to boost bilateral
cooperation.

Accordingly, parliamentarians from
each country will work closely with their respective External Relations
Committee and agree on action for legislation and supervision as well as in
international forums.

They will also join hands in
launching activities to promote friendship and mutual assistance in economics,
culture, technology, and to establish sister relations between organizations and
localities in both countries.

HCM City sets up ties with Kuwaiti province

HCM City and Kuwait’s Al-Ahmadi province on December
7 signed a memorandum of understanding on friendship and cooperation

The signing by Chairman of the HCM City People’s
Committee Le Hoang Quan and Al-Ahmadi Mayor Ebraheem Duaij Al-Ebraheem Al-Sabah
in HCM City made Al-Ahmadi the first province or city in the Middle East to
establish ties with HCM City, which links with 16 provinces and cities
worldwide.
Under the MoU, HCM City and Al-Ahmadi will cooperate in promoting trade,
investment, education, environment, science and technology and will also
strengthen information sharing, cultural and sports exchanges and friendly
visits.
The HCM City leader stressed that the signing of the MoU was an important
foundation for the development of the relationship between the two localities in
particular and the two countries in general.
Le Hoang Quan expressed his hope that after Mayor Al-Sabah’s visit, more
investors and businesses from Al-Ahmadi would come to HCM City to seek
investment and cooperation opportunities.
Al-Sabah said his visit aims to foster friendship and cooperation between Kuwait
and Vietnam in different fields.
He said that Kuwaiti investors are interested in the Vietnamese market and want
to get involved in infrastructure and real estate projects in the Southeast
Asian country.
Kuwait was the first Middle East nation to have opened a Consulate General in
HCM City.

Chinese Trade Unions exchange with Vietnamese
counterparts

The All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) has
sent a delegation, headed by Zhang Shiping, Director of its Audit Committee, to
meet with a delegation from the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL)
in Hanoi.

During the meeting on November 7,
VGCL Vice President Nguyen Van Ngang reiterated the long traditional friendship
between China and Vietnam. He said Vietnam always highly values its cooperative
ties with China and is willing to deepen these relations in many fields,
contributing actively to economic development, innovation, and socialist
construction in both countries.

Mr Ngang expressed his wish to
further strengthen the bond between the two trade union federations through
practical activities for the legitimate rights and interests of the workers.

Ms Shiping, who is also member of
the ACFTU Secretariat, stressed that her delegation’s trip aims to further boost
the traditional relations between the two countries as well as between the two
trade union organizations.

The two sides exchanged information
about trade unions and workers’ movements in each country and discussed
experiences in supervision and inspection, signing collective labour agreements,
and addressing the global economic crisis as well as in research and exchanges
of delegations.

Stamps mark 50th years of Vietnam-Cuba ties

The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry
of Information Technology, the Cuban Institute for Friendships with the People (ICAP)
and the Vietnamese Embassy, have issued a commemorative set of stamps to mark
50th anniversary of Cuba-Vietnam diplomatic ties in Havana on December 6.

The set of stamps, designed by Cuban
artist Ricardo Monnar, feature a green Vietnamese bamboo and a Cuban royal palm,
symbolises the heroic, resilient and indomitable fighting spirit of both
countries. On the top of the stamp are the national flags of both countries in
the shape of a rainbow representing the traditional ties between Vietnam-Cuba.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Deputy
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Gonzales reviewed the development of the two
countries’ diplomatic relations over the past five decades and thanked the
Vietnamese people for their support in asking the US to lift its embargo on Cuba
as well as praising the growing cooperation between both countries in rice
cultivation as a practical contribution to ensuring cooking security in Cuba.

She also hailed Vietnam’s
socio-economic achievements after 20 years of carrying out the renewal process
and confirmed that the Cuban Party, State and Government will continue to build
upon its good relationship with Vietnam.

Vietnamese Ambassador Vu Chi Cong,
stressed that bamboo is very closely linked to the Vietnam’s history and
culture. Vietnamese people make a lot of useful things from bamboo for their
daily use. Bamboo was also used in the fight against the invaders.

Earlier on December 2, the Vietnam
Stamp Company also introduced a new set of stamps with the lotus representing
the Vietnamese spirit and soul and the mariposa representing Cuban’s
determination to fight for freedom.

VNN/VOV/VNS