Vietnam eyes e-government development

The Government of Vietnam has targeted national projects and programmes towards the development of information technology infrastructure and wide application of IT in state agencies, with a view to creating a basis for building e-government architecture and raising labour productivity, as well as reducing operational costs.

These remarks were made by Nguyen Minh Hong, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, at FutureGov Forum Vietnam 2011, in Hanoi on June 14.
The national projects and programmes also focus on providing online information and public services, making state agencies’ operations more transparent and providing better services for people and businesses, he said.
The Deputy Minister spoke of solutions being taken in Vietnam, such as digital signatures in transactions and completion of national database on population and land, and application of new technologies. The country is building e-government architecture to enhance services and as the new mode of harnessing public-private human resources.
At the forum, representatives from the ministries of industry and trade, health, and finance shared models of applying IT and orientations for development, in order to improve the efficiency of online public services in the management system.

Deputy PM boosts relations with Cuba

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong said Viet Nam was committed to deepening its close ties with Cuba during his meeting with the Vice President of the Cuban Council of State, Gladys Bejerano Portela, in Havana yesterday.

He reiterated Viet Nam’s support for the revolutionary cause of the Cuban people and suggested the two countries make every effort to boost bilateral economic co-operation.

“In 2010, bilateral trade between the two countries stood at a modest US$250 million,” Trong said.

“It is imperative both countries explore new areas of co-operation which suit their respective conditions and circumstances. This is the way to deepen our comprehensive, practical and effective co-operation.”

He called on Cuba to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese businesses, particularly in the fields of oil and gas, tourism, services, electronics and tele-communications.

Trong said he highly appreciated the work done by the Viet Nam-Cuba Inter-government Co-operation Committee in recent years. He informed Portela that the Vietnamese Government was in the process of preparing for the committee’s 29th meeting in the fourth quarter of this year.

Meanwhile, Portela said she would also like to see further economic co-operation with Viet Nam in agriculture, culture, education, marine exploitation and cooking security.

“Cuba wants Viet Nam to support it at international forums, particularly the United Nations general assembly, and when Cuba has a seat on the UN Human Right Council (from 2013-16), the UN Economic and Social Development (2012-14) and the Non-aligned Movement,” Portela said.

While in Cuba, Trong attended the Viet Nam-Cuba Business Forum which was also attended by the Vice President of the Cuban Council of Ministers, Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, and nearly 100 representatives from Vietnamese and Cuban enterprises.

Trong asked Vietnamese and Cuban businesspeople to take the opportunity to build trade links.

An action programme to stimulate ties between Vietnamese and Cuban businesses and an agreement between the two countries’ chambers of commerce were also signed during the meeting.

On the same day, Trong and his entourage laid floral tributes at the Ho Chi Minh Monument and the statue of Cuban national hero Jose Marti in Havana.

Trong also held a meeting with Jose Ramon Balguer, director of the External Affairs Department of the Cuban Communist Party Central Committee.

He also met diplomats and staff at the Vietnamese embassy in Havana.­

Vietnam, Cambodia boost legislative exchanges

Vice National Assembly Chairman Uong Chu Luu has affirmed the consistent policy of the Vietnamese Party, State and People to enhance the fine neighbouring relations, traditional friendship and comprehensive, long-lasting cooperation with Cambodia.

Vice NA Chairman Luu made this affirmation to visiting Chairwoman Ty Borasy of the Cambodian Senate’s Commission on Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, Propaganda and Information (CFAICPI) at a reception in Hanoi on June 14.
The Vietnamese NA Office and the Cambodian Senate Secretariat have actively carried out cooperative programmes in cadre training, information technology, media and popularisation which, Luu said, were practical activities to help deepen the relationship between the two legislative bodies.
He took the occasion to propose a close collaboration between the Vietnamese NA Committee for External Relations and CFAICPI in acting as counsellors to the two countries’ leaders and assisting bilateral cooperative activities.
Both sides should consider the signing of cooperative agreements to secure legal foundations for implementing cooperative activities, to bring the relationship between the Vietnamese NA and the Cambodian Senate to a new height.
Ty Borasy congratulated Vietnam on the success of the elections of deputies to the 13^th NA and People’s Councils at all levels.
She informed the host of her delegation’s working session with the Vietnamese NA Committee for Social Affairs, saying that experiences of Vietnam’s legislative agencies would be applied in Cambodia.
The Cambodian delegation was later received by Chairwoman of the Hanoi People’s Council Ngo Thi Doan Thanh, who said Hanoi and Phnom Penh have held regular exchanges in economics, culture, education, healthcare, tourism and other fields.
However, Thanh said, the economic development cooperation between Hanoi and Phnom Penh failed to match the two countries’ traditional relationship.
The Cambodian Senator expressed her belief that the visit would help to further the relationship between the two countries and between the Vietnamese NA and Cambodian Senate.

Vietnam, Indonesia boost agricultural cooperation

On the sidelines of the 2011 World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia in Indonesia, a delegation from the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) met with representatives from the Indonesian Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF) and Ministry of Trade (MoT).

At the working session between MARD Minister Cao Duc Phat and MMAF Minister Fadel Mohammad, the two ministers discussed cooperation on seafood exploitation and processing and resolving some incidents related to fishermen arrested for violating other country’s sovereignty based on respect for both countries’ laws ASEAN solidarity spirit.

They also discussed the implementation of a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the seafood sector signed by both countries in Hanoi in 2010. Minister Mohammad expressed hope that Vietnam will boost its investment in the Indonesian seafood sector.

Minister Phat also had a working session with Paul Polman, the CEO of the Unilever during which they discussed a project to increase the output of Vietnamese tea. Polman agreed to buy up to 30,000 tonnes of Vietnamese tea, or 30 percent of his group’s total purchasing volume.

At another meeting between Vietnamese MARD Deputy Minister and Indonesian Trade Deputy Minister, the two sides discussed issues of mutual concern, potential in various cooperation fields, the Public-Private Cooperation with the participation of transnational enterprises, as well as cooperation in agriculture and trade.

US ‘Pentagon Papers’ on Vietnam officially declassified

The public will be able to access the US government’s top-secret documents on the American War in Vietnam as of June 13.

All 7,000 pages of the ‘the Pentagon Papers’ can be read at the Richard Nixon Library in California or found online.

Entitled ‘United States-Vietnam relations, 1945-1967: A study prepared by the Department of Defence’, the documents record in detail the US military and political involvement in Vietnam during this period.

VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA