Kazakhstan firms urged to invest in many fields

Kazakhstan
should soon open an embassy in Viet Nam to strengthen ties between the two
countries, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said while receiving Kazakhstan’s
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kazhykhanov Yerzhan yesterday, April 6.

While
welcoming Yerzhan, Dung expressed his delight at the developing relationship
between the two countries in many fields, especially in economics, trade and
investment.

Photo: Vietnam+

He said
Kazakhstan should support Vietnamese enterprises by investing in the country’s
oil and gas, minerals, and garment and textile sectors.

Dung
confirmed that the Vietnamese Government would create favourable conditions for
Kazak companies to invest in Viet Nam and expressed his hope that Kazakhstan
would support Viet Nam in signing the free trade agreement with member countries
of the Customs Alliance, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

He said
Viet Nam was pleased that Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev was
re-elected after gaining 95.5 percent of votes cast.

Dung
suggested the two ministers of foreign affairs co-operate in preparing for the
official visit of the President to Viet Nam, which is expected to bring the
bilateral relationship to a new height.

For his
part, Kazhykhanov Yerzhan congratulated Viet Nam for its achievements, spoke
briefly about his country’s socio-economic situation, and affirmed that
President Nazarbayev wished to visit Viet Nam in the spring.

Affirming Kazakhstan’s support for Viet Nam in signing the free trade agreement,
Kazhykhanov Yerzhan said that co-operation agreements reached during Dung’s
visit to Kazakhstan were implemented effectively, especially their agreement
regarding the oil and gas sector.

US mission visit enhances education, trade ties with
VN

The on-going visit to Vietnam by US Department of
Commerce’s Under Secretary for International Trade Francisco Sanchez is aimed at
cementing the US-Vietnam ties with the focus on boosting education and trade
cooperation.

The US official hosted at a press
briefing in Ho Chi Minh City on April 6.

He said this was the first time that
the US Department of Commerce led a mission of representatives from 56
universities, colleges, English-language institutes to a number of countries and
Vietnam was the mission’s second leg.

Sanchez said that the US saw a great
demand for education and training in Vietnam and US education organisations were
always ready to team up with Vietnamese partners.

He also stated that the two
countries have many areas for their cooperation and that the US Government
expects the two countries’ two-way trade turnover will double in the coming time
from US$19 billion recorded in 2010.

Sanchez said the US wishes to
partner with Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest economic centre, in education
and training, infrastructure development, airport construction and services.

Also on April 6, the US
UnderSecretary met with Deputy Chairman of HCM City People’s Committee Le Minh
Tri.

Tri said that cooperation in trade
and investment between the US and Ho Chi Minh City developed markedly and
effectively and affirmed to create favourable conditions for foreign investors,
including US businessmen to the city, especially those with financial capacity
and advanced technology.

During the visit from April 5-8,
Sanchez and his mission attended an education exhibition in HCM City on April 6
and another similar event in Hanoi on April 8.

Areas
of co-operation with Britain targeted

A political
consultative meeting between Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc
Cuong and the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the UK,
Jeremy Browne, was held in the capital city yesterday, April 6.

Viet Nam
and the UK signed a joint statement to establish a strategic partnership in
September 2010 during Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia
Khiem’s visit to London. At the meeting yesterday, the two sides discussed the
execution of the Viet Nam-UK Plan of Actions in 2011 and agreed to increase the
number of visits by senior officials, legislative bodies, ministries and
localities.

Their
discussion focused on measures to consolidate bilateral co-operation in the
seven priority areas: politics-diplomacy, global and regional issues,
trade-investment, socio-economic co-operation, education and training, national
security and defence, and people’s exchange.

Browne
appreciated the scheduled visit to the UK by Chairman of the Vietnamese National
Assembly in late 2011. He spoke highly of Viet Nam’s socio-economic development
achievements in recent years, particularly in poverty reduction and
international integration.

He also
committed to provide Viet Nam with more official development assistance through
the Partnership Agreement for Development from 2011-16.

The
envoys agreed to promote economics, trade, and investment co-operation to enable
Vietnamese and British enterprises to strengthen their relationships and
investment in their respective markets.

They set
targets of US$4 billion in two-way trade turnover and $3 billion in FDI before
the end of 2013. They also agreed to open direct flights between Viet Nam and
London and open a Viet Nam-UK University in central Da Nang City in late 2011.

The UK
agreed to accelerate its co-operation with Viet Nam in the fields of education
and training and scientific research. It also promised to provide more
scholarships to Vietnamese students and for the training of English teachers in
Viet Nam.

The two
sides agreed to continue their exchange in scope and scale regarding global
concerns, while stepping up their co-operation and dialogue at multi-lateral
forums, particularly at the UN, the ASEM-EU and the WTO.

The UK
promised to support Viet Nam in its efforts to strengthen its relationship with
the European Union.

The same
day the British Minister of State paid a courtesy visit to Deputy Prime Minister
and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem.

Incense offering in commemoration of Hung Kings

On April 6, State Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan and
her entourage visited the historic relic complex of Den Hung (Hung Temple) in
Phu Tho province to mark the death anniversary of Hung Kings and the Hung Temple
Festival 2011.

Secretary of the Phu Tho provincial
Party Committee, Nguyen Doan Khanh briefed Vice President Doan on the province’s
socio-economic status, preparations for the death anniversary of Hung Kings and
the Hung Temple Festival 2011 and plans to propose the worshipping of Hung Vuong
for UNESCO’s recognition as humankind’s intangible culture heritage.

Mrs Doan praised Phu Tho’s efforts
to make thorough preparations for such important events and preserve the
intangible cultural heritages of the Hung Temple complex.

The same day, Mrs Doan presented
gifts to revolutionary war veterans and heroic mothers in Viet Tri city and
attended a night festival “Vietnamese businesspeople turn their hearts to the
ancestral land”.

On April 7, the Vice President is
due to visit Au Co Temple in Ha Hoa district.

VNN/VOV/VNS