VN commits to facilitation of foreign investors

Vietnam committed to further creating favorable conditions for foreign investors in Vietnam, including those from the US, said President Nguyen Minh Triet.

The President made the remark while working with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Ho Chi Minh City chapter and meeting with a number of US investors in the city on Feb. 24.

The President praised VCCI’s operations, which helped protect the just and legal interests of the business community and employers in Vietnam .

He affirmed that, despite the global economic crisis, Vietnam registered good growth with security and political stability that attracted many foreign investors to the country, with those from the US always leading the way.

He hailed investors for their large projects in Vietnam , particularly the USD2 billion project to build the Happy Land Park in the southern province of Long An.

He expressed his hope that the project would be successful and completed in 2014 to be the country’s largest and most beautiful entertainment complex with international standard services.

At the working session, US Consul General to Ho Chi Minh City An Le and representatives from the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) Walter Blocker and Binh Nguyen expressed their pleasure to witness big changes in Vietnam and expressed their firm belief that US investors would be successful with their projects.

The same day President Triet paid a visit to the construction site of the East-West corridor and the tunnel through the Saigon river.

The work, carried out by Obayashi of Japan, is scheduled to open to traffic by the end of the third quarter.

The President also visited the newly built 68-storey Bitexco Financial Tower building in the city. The building has a height of 262m and is the highest in Vietnam at present.

Education helps interpret Party resolution

A senior Party official urged the popularisation and education sector to urgently work with other related agencies to put the 11th Party Congress resolution into life as soon as possible.

Truong Tan Sang, a Politburo member and permanent member of the Party Central Committee Secretariat, said the sector needs to craft programmes and plans to meticulously carry out the implementation of the resolution to fulfil the requirements of society’s actual situation.

He was speaking at a conference held in Hanoi Thursday to review popularisation and education work in 2010 and launch the work in 2011.

Sang urged popularisation and education agencies at all levels to continue renewing themselves to better the popularisation and education of Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thoughts, as well as the Party’s viewpoints and guidelines and the State’s policies and laws.

The popularisation and education work needs to have higher quality to competently fight wrong and distorted viewpoints, plots and “peaceful evolution” that hostile forces have used to undermine the Party, the State, socialism, and the people’s revolutionary cause, Sang said.

The work also needs to play a proactive role in preventing and combating such menaces as excessive bureaucracy, corruption, and waste, he noted.

Sang urged the popularisation and education sector to coordinate closely with Party committees at all levels and State management agencies in the fields of culture, literacy, arts, education and training, science and technology, healthcare, press and publication to promptly detect newly arising problems in order to better their operation.

At the conference, major orientations for the popularisation and education sector in this year and the 2011-2015 period are to focus on studying, spreading and deploying the implementation of the 11th Party Congress resolution along with other Party Central Committee resolutions, instructions and conclusions adopted by the Party’s Politburo and Secretariat, and the 13 th National Assembly’s resolutions.

In 2010, the popularisation and education system effectively disseminated information relating to the 11th Party Congress and took an active part in political and ideological preparations to contribute to the Congress’ success.

It has also contributed to making positive changes in press, publication, culture, literacy, arts, science, environment, education and training and helped Party committees at all levels deploy the campaign: “Learning and following the moral example of President Ho Chi Minh” far and wide.

Party General Secretary’s envoy visits Cuba to boost co-operation

The special envoy of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has emphasised Viet Nam’s consistent and top priority policy to enhance solidarity, friendship and co-operation with Cuba.

Hoang Binh Quan, who is also a member of the Party Central Committee and head of its Commission for External Relations, made this statement at the talks with Politburo member and Vice President of the Council of the State of Cuba Esteban Lazo Hernandez in Havana on Thursday.

Quan provided Cuban leaders with detailed results of the 11th National Party Congress, the content of the documents adopted at the congress as well as Viet Nam’s achievements in its socialist construction and national defence over the 25 years of renewal, 20 years of implementing the 1991 Party Platform, 10 years of implementing the 2001-10 socio-economic development strategy and five years of implementing the 10th National Party Congress Resolution.

He also briefed the hosts on the targets to make Viet Nam a modern and industrialised country, a prosperous people, a strong nation and a democratic, just and civilised society to firmly advance toward socialism by 2020.

Hernandez expressed his thanks to Party General Secretary Trong for sending his special envoy to promptly inform Cuban Party leaders of the results of the 11th National Party Congress which, he said, reflected the trust between the two Parties.

Despite hostile forces’ recent sabotage, the relationship between the two Parties and States had been consistently consolidated and developed, he said.

Fostering special solidarity between Vietnam and Laos

The visit to Vietnam between February 28 and March 2 by Laotian Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong underlines Laos priority of boosting ties and solidarity with Vietnam.

The visit will be Thongsing Thammavong’s first official visit to a foreign country since his became Laos Prime Minister, showing the appreciation of the Laotian People’s Revolutionary Party, the Government and Thongsing Thammavong himself of their relationship with Vietnam.

Relations between the two Parties, States and peoples of Vietnam and Laos have been constantly strengthened in recent time. Cooperation between various ministries, sectors, localities and businesses from both countries have also expanded.

Cooperation in education and training has been a major factor in the special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos. Generations of Laotian students have studied in Vietnam and this has deepened bilateral relations.

Vietnam receives about 650 Laotian students annually. At present, nearly 5,000 Laotian students are studying in Vietnam. In addition, both countries are working together to complete a project to improve the quality and effectiveness of cooperation in education and human resources development during the 2011-2020 period.

Cooperation in transport, healthcare, culture, sports and tourism have also seen progress. Both countries also have great potential for cooperation in energy, mining, forestry, transport, postal services and telecoms, oil and gas exploration, aviation and tourism.

Vietnam is one of the largest foreign investors in Laos with 252 projects valued at nearly US$2.8 billion.

Trade turnover between the two countries has also increased annually. In 2010, the value of imports and exports hit US$490 million.

Beside bilateral cooperation, both countries have exchanged information and worked closely together in regional and international issues and at regional and international forums and organisations.

During this visit, which is made at the invitation of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, both leaders will discuss socio-economic development in their respective countries and work out ways of boosting bilateral ties as well as exchanging views on regional and international issues of mutual concern.

Japan helps Vietnam with judicial reform

On February 25, Vietnam and Japan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a project under which, Japan will provide Vietnam with technical support for legal and judicial reform (second phase).

Signatories were representatives from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Vietnam Ministry of Justice, the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuracy and the Vietnam Lawyers’ Association.

Started in 2007, the project aims to increase central judicial agencies’ supervisory and guidance capacity.

In the first phase, Japanese experts helped the Ministry of Justice compose the Law on Civil Procedures Prosecution and the Law on State Compensation. The two laws were adopted and promulgated by the National Assembly in 2008 and 2009.

Following these positive outcomes, Vietnam and Japan agreed to continue into the second phase of the project, which will be carried out in four years, from April this year, at a cost of US$ 4 million, funded by the Japanese Government.

JICA Chief Representative Tsuno Motonori said, ”Vietnam is becoming a middle-income nation. In the process of comprehensive integration into the world economy, the country needs to reform its legal and judiciary system. Japan is ready to share its experience and assist Vietnam in building a legal system in line with the socialist-oriented market economy and a contingent of judicial cadres capable of dealing with new challenges.”

In his speech at the signing ceremony, the Head of the Department for International Cooperation under the Ministry of Justice, Vu Khanh Ngoc, praised the effective cooperation between the two countries in legal and judicial fields over the past 15 years. The project will enable Vietnam to further reform its legal and judicial system, Mr Ngoc added.

JICA and Vietnam began the legal and judicial cooperation in 1996. Since then, many cooperation programmes in this field have expanded rapidly, with a focus on composing legal documents, raising the capacity of legal experts, judicial cadres at central and local levels.

Strengthening friendship ties with Cuba

The special envoy of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has emphasised Vietnam’s consistent and top priority policy to enhance solidarity, friendship and comprehensive cooperation with Cuba.

Special envoy Hoang Binh Quan, who is also member of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC) and Head of the CPVCC Commission for External Relations, made the statement at the talks with Politburo member and Vice President of the Council of State of Cuba Esteban Lazo Hernandez in Havana on February 24.

Quan provided Cuban leaders with detailed results of the 11th National CPV Congress, the core content of documents adopted at the congress as well as Vietnam’s experiences and important achievements in the socialist construction and national defence over the 25 years of renewal, 20 years of implementing the Party Platform in 1991, 10 years of implementing the 2001-2010 socio-economic development strategy and five years of implementing the 10th National Party Congress Resolution.

He also briefed the hosts on orientations and targets to make Vietnam basically become a modern-oriented industrialised country, a prosperous people, a strong nation and a democratic, just and civilised society to firmly advance toward socialism by 2020.

The special envoy expressed his delight at the achievements recorded by the Cuban people under the leadership of the Communist Party of Cuba (CPC) led by Fidel Castro and Raul Castro in construction and defence of their socialist country.

He said he believed that the upcoming 6th Cuban Party Congress will be a success.

E. L. Hernandez expressed his thanks to Party General Secretary Trong for sending his special envoy to promptly inform Cuban Party leaders of the results of the 11th National CPV Congress which, he said, reflects the trust between the two Parties.

Despite hostile forces’ recent sabotage, the relationship between the two Parties and States has been constantly consolidated and developed in depth and width, he stressed.

He affirmed that the Cuban Party, State and people will join the Vietnamese Party, State and people in bringing further sustainable development to the two countries’ relationship for the two peoples’ interest and for peace and stability in the world.

Also on Feb. 24, Quan had a detailed discussion with Vice President of the Cuban Council of Ministers, Ricardo Cabrisas on a number of contents of Vietnam’s socio-economic development strategy for the 2011-2020 period and orientations for the development of the two countries’ economic ties.

While in Cuba, special envoy Quan will have working sessions with the CPCCC Commission for Organisation on Vietnam’s experiences in organising the 11th National CPV Congress and Cuba’s preparations for its 6th Party Congress, as well as with the CPCCC Commission for External Relations on orientations to boost the relationship between the two Parties and commissions.

Quan will also visit a number of agricultural production establishments in Cuba.

Vietnam, Cambodia strive to complete demarcation

Vietnamese and Cambodian officials on border issues have affirmed a resolve to complete land border demarcation and landmark erection by 2012 as the two countries’ leaders agreed.

At the fifth round of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committee on Border Demarcation in Phnom Penh on February 24-25, officials agreed to increase cooperation to fulfill six main tasks this year.

The tasks include defining of at least 100 landmark positions, delineating 500km of border line, completing the switch to the UTM map on the 1/50,000 scale from the current use of the Bone map on the 1/100,000 scale, and identification of landmark positions on the map in March.

The two sides also agreed to join hands to fulfill publication of a set of the Vietnam-Cambodia land border terrain maps and speed up compilation of a protocol on land border demarcation between the two countries.

In 2010, the two sides identified 72 positions, built 73 positions and demarcated 155 km of border line.

The Vietnamese delegation to the meeting was led by Ho Xuan Son, Deputy Foreign Minister and head of Vietnam’s Joint Committee on Border Demarcation. The Cambodian delegation was headed by Var Kimhong, Senior Minister and head of Cambodia’s Joint Committee on Border Demarcation.

Religious practices facilitated in 2010

Religious practices by dignitaries and followers in Vietnam were conducted normally in 2010 in line with laws and with help from the authorities at all levels.

This statement was made by the Government’s Committee for Religious Affairs at a conference evaluating State management over religious affairs in 2010 and launching works for 2011, in Hanoi on February 25.

The religious situation was basically stable, the conference chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan was told.

Nhan spoke highly of State management over religious affairs in 2010, affirming that the stable and right-on-track religious work contributed importantly to promoting economic development and social stability.

Nguyen Thanh Xuan, Vice Head of the Government’s Committee for Religious Affairs, said major events organised by various religions had positive effects on the people’s spiritual life as well as on the local and foreign public.

According to him, training courses were provided for more than 18,700 dignitaries and clergymen in 2010.

State-authorised agencies granted certificates of registration to Cao Dai Vietnam (Binh Duc), the representative board of the Brahman community in the central province of Binh Thuan, and the provisionary council of Cham Brahman dignitaries.

As many as 1,160 people were ordained and over 1,600 others were appointed as dignitaries and clergymen.

Up to 506 places of worship were newly built while 558 others were upgraded.

The popularisation of the law on belief and religion to dignitaries, believers and officials in charge of religious affairs were carried out well, according to the official.

Many religious organisations, dignitaries and followers organised humanitarian activities and participated in charitable events in their localities.

They raised thousands of billions of VND for poor families, those who rendered services to the revolution, orphans and homeless elderly.

The religious organisations and individuals were helped to boost their external ties.

In the year, 240 dignitaries and clergymen went abroad for training courses and other related activities.

For 2011, the Committee for Religious Affairs will focus on grasping thoroughly the 11th Party Congress’s resolution on religious affairs and implementing instructions of the Government, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Home Affairs.

It will look to fight the abuse of religion and human rights in the information front and encourage dignitaries and others to counter those who misuse the freedom of religions and belief to establish opposite factions in religions and sow divisions among dignitaries and believers.

Vietnam, Japan cooperate on environment technology

It was necessary for Vietnam to enhance environmental protection, mitigate the effects of natural calamities and deal with climate change, said Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai at a forum on environmental and technological cooperation between Vietnam and Japan on February 25.

Speaking at a forum on environmental and technological cooperation between Vietnam and Japan on February 25, Hai stressed the importance of low-waste technology cooperation and transfer between the two countries.

He said that Vietnam has been facing significant challenges from increasing levels of industrial waste and water pollution. Within the recent decade, Vietnam was impacted by 8-10 storms each year, which caused serious damage to infrastructure and the environment.

According to Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam, Tanizaki Yasuaki, Vietnam is one of the countries likely to be most affected by global warming, which brings increases of heavy rainfall and salt contamination through rising sea levels, seriously constraining agricultural production, especially in the Mekong Delta region.

As a result, Vietnam should implement policies to reduce emissions.

On the occasion, Tanizaki Yasuaki undertook that Japan would transfer low-waste technology as well as its experience on environmental protection to Vietnam by cooperation projects between the two countries.