Assembly deputies to meet for final session

Four
more bills are likely to be ratified at the coming eight-day National Assembly
meeting starting next Monday, deputy chairman of the NA office Nguyen Sy Dung
announced at a press conference yesterday, march 17.

The
bills include the Independent Auditing Law, the Anti-human Trafficking Law, the
Capital Law and a law amending several clauses of the current Civil Procedure
Code.

A report
assessing the implementation of Viet Nam’s socio-economic plans for 2010 and
early 2011 as well as the use of the State budget last year will also be
discussed by National Assembly deputies.

The
final meeting of the 12th tenure of the National Assembly will also focus on
reports summarising the achievements of the 2007-10 terms of the Assembly, the
State presidency, the Government, the presidency of the People’s Supreme Court
and the People’s Supreme Procuracy.

Discussions on gender equality, management of the social insurance fund and
re-investment of PetroVietnam’s 2010 profit of VND3.5 trillion (US$167 million)
will also be on the Assembly’s agenda.

Addressing reporters’ question on whether the construction of Viet Nam’s first
nuclear power plant project in Ninh Thuan would be on the NA schedule in the
wake of Japan’s on-going nuclear crisis, NA office chairman Tran Dinh Dan said
there had been no other ideas.

The
decision over that issue had been made following careful considerations, he
said.

“The
Vietnamese Government will give safety the first priority when building the
power plant,” he said.

Viet
Nam, Cambodia boost legislative ties

Photo: Vietnam+

The Viet
Nam National Assembly would make all-out efforts to preserve and develop
traditional relations between Viet Nam and Cambodia, a senior legislator said.

NA Vice
Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong made the commitment at a reception for a delegation
from the Cambodia-Viet Nam Friendship Parliamentarians Group (CVFPG) in Ha Noi
yesterday, March 17.

The
delegation, headed by its president Men Sam On, who is also Permanent Deputy
Prime Minister of Cambodia, is on a visit to Viet Nam at the invitation of the
Viet Nam-Cambodia Friendship Parliamentarians Group (VCFPG).

Phong
expressed her delight at the development of co-operation between the two
legislative bodies, saying it brought practical benefits for both, especially in
economy, trade, agriculture, industry and post and telecommunications.

She
suggested the two bodies continue exchanges and work closely with each other at
inter-parliamentary forums in the region and the world.

Men Sam
On stressed that the close ties between Cambodia and Viet Nam had assisted each
country in its own cause of national construction and defence.

She said
the CVFPG would continue to partner the VCFPG in bolstering relations between
the two countries and their legislative bodies.

Vietnam
continues to aid Japanese quake victims

Vietnam Red Cross (VRC) has received over VND1
billion from organisations and individuals to support Japanese victims of the
March 11 powerful earthquake and tsunami.

VRC President Tran Ngoc Tang said the donations were raised in only one day
after the association launched the campaign to raise funds for Japanese victims.

As of March 17 afternoon, the Hanoi Red Cross, the Vietnam Fatherland Front
Central Committee, Vietnam Television, Radio the Voice of Vietnam and the
Foreign Ministry, offered a total of VND875 million, of which VND200 million
coming from the Foreign Ministry.
The fundraising campaign, which will run until April 15, has been carried out in
63 cities and provinces across the country.
Vietnam Symphony Orchestra (VNSO) has also handed over all proceeds, worth
nearly VND83 million, collected from concerts held on March 12 and 13, to the
Japanese Embassy in Vietnam to help natural disaster the victims.
The concert saw the participation of famous Japanese pianist Yamashita Yosuke
and conductor Honna Tetsuji, who could not contact their relatives before the
concerts started.

ASEAN Chair experience helps int’l integration

The ASEAN Chair experience of Vietnam will
facilitate the nation’s cooperation in ASEAN as well as in regional and
international integration, affirmed a diplomatic official.

Deputy Foreign Minister Dao Viet
Trung made the statement at a workshop to review the nation’s experiences as
ASEAN Chair 2010, in Hanoi on March 17.

Trung highlighted the achievements
of Vietnam while taking the ASEAN Chair in 2010 and stated that the country
fulfilled the role excellently, contributing to speeding up the process to build
the ASEAN Community, boosting solidarity in the bloc and regional linkages,
operating the new apparatus of the ASEAN Charter and boosting relations between
ASEAN and its partners.

He said through those achievements,
Vietnam’s position in the international arena has improved markedly.

Trung also affirmed that the success
of Vietnam as the ASEAN Chair in 2010 was a result of efforts and high
determination by the whole Party, State, ministries, sectors, localities and
people.

Thailand, Cambodia to resume talks

Cambodia
and Thailand are expected to resume their bilateral negotiations on a disputed
border area on April 7-8 in Bogor city of Indonesia’s West Java province.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said in an interview with the
Japanese media on Wednesday that Indonesia will attend the negotiations as
stated in the ASEAN informal foreign ministers’ meeting held in Jakarta on
February 22.

Indonesia, as the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN), was tasked by the UN Security Council to mediate the border conflict
between Cambodia and Thailand.

At the
above-mentioned meeting, participating nations issued a joint statement,
emphasising the commitments of both Cambodia and Thailand to implement peace
principles in dealing with disputes and not use force, as prescribed in the
ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Co-operation, the ASEAN Charter and the UN Charter.

The
statement also backed the promises of Cambodia and Thailand to avoid armed
conflicts, as agreed by both sides on February 19, and welcomed the two nations’
request to Indonesia in its capacity as ASEAN Chair to send observers to the
disputed area.

Cambodia
and Thailand have been at loggerheads over their rival claims to 4.6sq.km of
land around a temple on the border. Since the temple was registered as a World
Heritage Site in 2008, several rounds of border clashes have occurred.

ASEAN
groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.

VNN/VOV/VNS