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ASEAN embassies raise funds for Japanese victims
The embassies of ASEAN member countries in Germany
hosted a culinary festival on May 3 to raise money for Japanese victims of the
March 11 earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
The festival introduced a wide range of
traditional specialties from the 10 ASEAN countries.
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Photo: VOV | Vietnamese Ambassador to Germany Do Hoa Binh said
the event was a chance for the ASEAN nations to show off their culinary cultures
as well as expressing their sentiments and close relations with Japan. Organisers handed over more than 12,000 EUR
collected at the festival to the Japanese Ambassador in Germany, Takahiro Shinyo.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
44th ADB Annual Meeting of the Board of ADB
Governors opens in Hanoi
The 44th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of
ADB- the most important event in a series of seminars and conferences of the
44th Annual Meeting- officially opened in Hanoi on May 5, attracting 3,600
Vietnamese and international delegates.
This is the first time Vietnam has hosted the ADB
Annual Meeting- one of major international events. The meeting involves Prime Ministers, Deputy
Prime Ministers, Financial Ministers, Bank Governors and representatives from
major economic and banking groups in the world, non-governmental organisations
and scientists. ADB governors will focus their discussions on
issues related to economic development, inflation, efforts to cope with global
climate change and build a prosperous Asia on sustainable growth.
Vietnam, South Africa to increase two-way trade
Vietnam wants to join South Africa in raising
two-way trade to US$1 billion in the next few years, said Vice State President
Nguyen Thi Doan.
Vice President Doan made the statement during her
talks with her South African counterpart Kgalema Motlanthe in the capital city
of Pretoria on May 4. Vietnam always attaches importance to the
development of the friendship and cooperation with South Africa and other
African nations, Doan said, noting that bilateral trade value remains modest but
is increasing rapidly. South Africa is also Vietnam’s biggest trade
partner in Africa with bilateral trade rising from US$192 million in 2007 to
US$640.3 million last year, she added.
Vietnam highlighted South Africa’s role and position in the continent, in the
Non-Aligned Movement and the United Nations, affirmed the Vietnamese Vice
President. Doan took the occasion to thank South Africa for
its support to Vietnam’s full market economy and she congratulated South Africa
on its re-election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council during
the 2011-2012 term and its entry to the new emerging economies bloc, BRICS. Deputy President Motlanthe described Vice
President Doan’s visit as a vivid symbol of an enhanced bilateral relationship. He suggested the two countries’ businesses
promote investment cooperation in agriculture, the footwear industry and
environment to increase bilateral trade. Both host and guest agreed to instruct their
ministries and branches to implement concrete measures to further develop
multifaceted cooperation, particularly in security-defence, economics, trade,
culture, tourism, agriculture, science-technology and environment. Inter-governmental cooperation programmes will be
organised at the end of the year to formalise issues that were agreed by both
sides, they said. They also affirmed coordination as well as
continued mutual support at international and regional forums. Earlier, Vice President Doan attended the
Vietnam-South Africa Business Forum and toured a number of cultural and economic
establishments in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria.
Cadres grasp Party Resolution
More than 200 key cadres from 16 Central Highland
and central city and provincial Party committees and popularisation and
education commissions attended a conference in Da Nang city on May 4 which was
aimed at helping them to thoroughly grasp the Resolution of the 11th National
Party Congress.
Politburo member and Secretary of the Communist
Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC) Dinh The Huynh affirmed the
significance of the 11th Congress in the political activity of the
entire Party, people and army. Huynh, who is also Head of the CPVCC Commission
for Popularisation and Education, proposed local authorities thoroughly grasp
the Party’s revolutionary process over the past 80 years, main tasks to improve
the State’s management efficiency and effectiveness, the Party building work and
guidelines, the enhancement of the Party leadership and upholding the people’s
right to mastery as well as major solutions to economics, education,
science-technology and environment. The Politburo member asked the participants to
thoroughly grasp the fundamental contents of the Resolution to bring it to life.
During the three-day conference, the participants
will discuss important documents adopted at the 11th Congress,
including the Platform for National Construction during the transitional period
towards socialism (supplemented and developed in 2011), the Socio-economic
Development Strategy for the 2011-20 period, the Political Report of the CPVCC
(the 10th tenure) and the Party Statute (the 11th tenure). The conference will focus on new points and
theoretical and ideological foundations of the documents and combining practical
examples with the current ideological and political struggle.
Kuwait wants to promote ties with Vietnam
Kuwaiti Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has
told Vietnam’s new Ambassador Bui Quoc Trung that he is committed to promoting
all-around bilateral cooperation with Vietnam.
At a reception in Kuwait on May 3, the Kuwaiti
leader said he would visit Vietnam at an appropriate time, at the invitation of
President Nguyen Minh Triet. Ambassador Trung expressed his hope that he would
receive the assistance of the Kuwaiti Emir, Government and people to fulfil his
mission to help promote friendly and cooperative relations between the two
countries. He conveyed President Nguyen Minh Triet’s best
regards to the Kuwaiti Emir and thanked Kuwait for supporting Vietnam’s current
national construction and development.
Vietnam, Russia strengthen inter-parliamentary
cooperation
A Vietnamese delegation led by Vice Chairman of the
National Assembly of Vietnam Nguyen Duc Kien is on a working visit to Russia
from May 3-7.
On May 4, Mr. Kien met with Ivan Melnikov, Vice
President of the Russian Federation Duma and First Vice President of its
Communist Party. Concerning traditional relations, the two sides highly
appreciated the results of inter-parliamentary cooperation over the years.
Mr. Melnikov confirmed that the strategic
partnership between the two countries is developing positively, especially in
politics. The exchange of visits by high-ranking officials, particularly
President Medvedev’s visit to Vietnam in October, 2010 led to the signing of
many agreements and documents. He praised the current visit of the Vietnamese NA
delegation as another step towards closer cooperation between the two sides. NA Vice Chairman Kien sincerely thanked the
Russian people for supporting Vietnam’s national construction. At the talks, the two sides focused on sharing
experiences in law-building and other legal activities, discussing effective
measures to promote bilateral cooperation in economic, financing and other
fields.
Dien Bien needs to boost NA election dissemination
National Assembly Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong
visited northern Dien Bien province on May 3 and 4 to inspect preparations for
the elections to the 13th National Assembly and the People’s Council at all
levels for the 2011-2016 term.
She urged the province to speed up dissemination
of information on the upcoming NA election in ethnic minority languages to help
H’Mong, Dao and Thai people understand the significance of the event and
exercise their rights. As Permanent Vice Chairwoman of the Election
Council, Phong praised Dien Bien’s active efforts to prepare for the elections
in accordance with law. Dien Bien has 10 candidates to run for seats at
the National Assembly, including two nominated by central agencies, and 77
candidates for the provincial People’s Council.
Red carpet greets S. African businesses: stateswoman
Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan assured South African investors of good
conditions to gain success in Vietnam at a business forum in Johannesburg on May
3.
Doan, who is on an official visit to South
Africa, told 40 businesses from Vietnam and over 100 local businesses that the
Vietnamese Government always welcomes and provides the best available conditions
for investors from South Africa to make profits in Vietnam. She pointed out some major advantages such as
political stability and increasingly transparent and opening investment climate,
which will create fair opportunities and level playground for all foreign
investors. Doan called on the two countries’ business
circles to further tap potential in trade, investment, labour, tourism,
agriculture and education to match political relations. “Businesses from the two countries should take
initiative in grasping information and conducting market surveys so as to issue
appropriate investment policy in the future,” said the vice president. She added that the two Governments would take
stronger measures to increase two-way trade revenues to US$1 billion. South Africa is Vietnam’s leading trade partner
in the black continent with two way trade revenues reaching the all time high
level of US$640.31 million in 2010, representing a year on year increase of 26.7
percent, Vietnam’s export revenues to South Africa
multiplied from just US$1.2 million in 1992 to US$487.6 million in 2010.
VNN/VOV/VNA | 
