UN expert hails Vietnam’s achievements

Vietnam has made a lot of effort into socio-economic development to improve
people’s living conditions, said Cephas Lumina, UN Independent Expert on foreign
debts and human rights.

The UN expert
made the remark at a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister
Pham Gia Khiem in Hanoi on March 28.
Cephas Lumina thanked the Vietnamese Government for creating favourable
conditions for his visit to Vietnam from March 21-29.
He also welcomed Vietnam’s policy of increased international dialogue and
cooperation, including cooperation with the United Nations and development
partners, and affirmed the inseparable link between human rights and
development.
He valued the usefulness of his current visit to Vietnam, saying that Vietnam’s
valuable experiences will be a lesson for UN members whose circumstances are
similar to Vietnam’s.
Deputy Prime Minister Khiem said the Vietnamese Government always pays attention
to the goal of promoting and protecting human rights.
He stressed that Vietnam attaches importance to international dialogues and
cooperation on human rights, especially with the UN.
During his visit to Vietnam, Cephas Lumina had working sessions with the
National Assembly’s committees, ministries and agencies in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh
City.
He also met and discussed with research agencies, financial institutions, donors
and foreign non-governmental organisations operating in Vietnam.

Viet Nam,
Norway look for stronger legislative ties

Photo: Vietnam+

Viet Nam and Norway
should expedite state visits and information and experience exchanges between
legislators to boost co-operation between the countries’ legislative bodies,
said National Assembly Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong.

Viet Nam asked Norway
to support the country in coping with climate change, forestation, clean and
renewable energy development and encourage Norwegian businesses to invest in
Viet Nam, she said while receiving visiting Chairwoman of the Norwegian
Parliament’s Standing Committee of Family and Cultural Affairs yesterday.

Phong expressed her
thanks for Norway’s valuable assistance that it provided to Viet Nam when the
country was fighting for national independence and for the Official Development
Assistance it’s given to the country that has helped reduce poverty.

Gunn
Karin Gjul said she would work to boost relations and co-operation between the
two countries and national assemblies and hoped Norway would support Viet Nam as
the country combats the effects of climate change, rising sea levels and natural
disasters.

Welcome for head of
Sachsen State

Prime Minister Nguyen
Tan Dung yesterday, March 28, received Governor of German’s Sachsen State,
Stanislaw Tillich, who brought Sachsen enterprises to Viet Nam to study
investment opportunities in the country.

The Prime Minister
said he hoped the two countries would boost co-operation in education and
training, adding that the birth of the Viet – Duc University was a symbol of the
bilateral relationship.

Dung thanked the
German government as well as the state authorities for creating favourable
conditions for Vietnamese people to live, learn and do business in Germany.

He said he hoped the
Sachsen State would continue sharing with Viet Nam its experience in education
management, science and combating corruption.

Dung suggested the
countries co-operate in solar energy, construction and mining.

Stanislaw
Tillich stressed that despite the geographical distance, Viet Nam has always
been important to the German state’s development strategy. The state
would create favourable conditions for businesses to invest in Viet Nam, he
said.

The Vietnamese
community has become ambassadors for the friendship between the two nations and
it was they who would boost co-operation programmes in the future.

Germany is Viet Nam’s
largest European trade partner with two-way trade reaching US$5.8 billion last
year.

Party General
Secretary to boost ties with Laos

Viet Nam will do its
utmost, together with Laos, to develop the relationship between the two nations.

Party General
Secretary and National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong made this statement
while receiving Lao Deputy Prime Minister Thoongloun Sisoulith, Special Envoy of
Lao Party General Secretary and State President Choummaly Sayasone, who came to
convey the results of the 9th National Congress of the Lao People’s
Revolutionary Party (LPRP) in Ha Noi yesterday.

Trong congratulated
Laos on a successful 9th LPRP National Congress, saying that the success is not
only significant for Laos, but also great encouragement for Viet Nam in its
renewal and national construction and defence.

He expressed his
belief that under the leadership of the LPRP headed by Choummaly, Laos would
make greater achievements in its renewal process to build a peaceful,
independent, democratic, united and prosperous country.

Deputy PM Thoongloun
Sisoulith, who is also head of the LPRP Central Committee’s Commission for
External Relations and Foreign Minister, stressed that the LPRP would pursue its
renewal policy with national construction and defence being two strategic tasks,
striving to bring Laos out of underdevelopment status by 2020.

He said the Lao
party, state and people would continue to maintain and promote the friendship,
solidarity and co-operation between the two countries.

Overseas Party
Committeemarks 50th anniversary

The Overseas Party
Committee held a celebration to mark its 50th anniversary in Hanoi yesterday.
The actual event falls on Thursday.

On behalf of the
Political Bureau, Truong Tan Sang, Permanent member of the Party Central
Committee’s Secretariat, acknowledged the efforts of the Overseas Party
Committee during the past 50 years.

Overseas Vietnamese
representative offices have upheld a leading role in directing Overseas
Vietnamese to adopt a political role, contributing to implementing the Party and
State’s foreign policy, he said.

The Overseas Party
Committee has made efforts to lead a popularisation task to support Overseas
Vietnamese in stabilising their lives and making contributions to the national
struggle, industrialisation and modernisation process as well as increasing
Vietnam’s prestige and position in the international arena, Sang added.

He also said that the
committee’s efforts had helped consolidate and develop friendship and
cooperation between the Vietnamese Party, State and people with other ruling and
political parties, states and people of other countries throughout the world.

VNN/VOV/VNS