Twinning with French court to aid consensus

The Viet Nam Supreme People's Court and the Court of Cassation of France have established a twining relationship to create a legal foundation and favourable conditions for co-operation between the two countries legal and judicial sectors.

An agreement was signed by Chief Judge of the Viet Nam Supreme People's Court Truong Hoa Binh and his French counterpart Vincent Lamanda in Paris, as part of Binh's visit to France last week.

Under the agreement, the two sides will discuss measures to enhance co-operation between the two courts and regularly exchange delegations of judges and court officials at various levels.

A secretariat headed by the two chief judges will be set up to supervise the implementation of co-operation programmes, which will be built annually under a consensus reached by the two chief judges.

The signing of the agreement marks an important starting point in the close co-operation between the two courts and judicial sectors, said Vincent Lamanda.

At the meeting, Binh invited Vincent Lamanda to visit Viet Nam, suggesting the best time for the visit is during 2013's French Cultural Year in Viet Nam, organised to mark the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two nations.

Speaking to a Vietnam News Agency correspondent in Paris, Binh said the signing of the agreement was the greatest success of his visit, which aimed to learn more about the French legal system's organisational model and other issues.

President inspects measures to cope with sea level rise

President Truong Tan Sang is currently paying a working visit to the Mekong Delta, inspecting efforts being made to cope with rising sea levels.

President Truong Tan Sang talks with dragonfruit growers in Tien Giang Province's Cho Gao District about the impacts of the sea level on their activities.

Sang visited the Go Cong sea dyke in Tien Giang Province yesterday, March 31. The 21km sea dyke plays an important role in protecting the 54,400ha Go Cong fresh water zone that houses a 40,000ha production area on which thousands of locals earn their living.

The Go Cong protective forest is widely-considered an effective shield to protect the 21km dyke from saline water intrusion.

However, roughly 3km of the section from Vam Lang to Tan Thanh have been damaged by salinity.

The President asked relevant agencies to speed up projects to prevent salt-water intrusion and reinforce the sea dyke and irrigation systems to serve production and the local population.

He also toured the 28.6km Cho Gao canal which connects Tien Giang, Ho Chi Minh City and other Mekong Delta provinces.

On Saturday, the President visited the Ba Tri sea dyke in Ben Tre province which is forecast to be one of the localities hardest hit by climate change.

According to climate change predictions, 272sq.km of agricultural land or 12.24 percent of Ben Tre's total area will be submerged if sea water rises 12cm.

The 31km sea dyke was built with an investment of VND222 billion (US$10.65 million), of which VND146 billion was a World Bank loan ($7.8 million), VND58 billion ($2.78 million) came from the State budget and the remainder from the local budget.

The President also toured the Ba Lai dam and sewage system, which are being built to prevent salt-water intrusion in northern Ben Tre.

Sang urged the province to focus on coping with climate change and increasing the efficiency of investment sources.

The President also said it was imperative to improve the existing sea dykes and irrigation systems to boost agricultural development.

He called on the province to take better care of social beneficiaries and continue to reduce poverty and restructure the local economy.

Hoang Sa island district’s e-portal launched

The People’s Committee of Hoang Sa (Paracel) island district in Danang City has launched its e-portal at: www.hoangsa.danang.gov.vn.

The website contains updated political, economic, and national defense information related to the Hoang Sa Islands and the East Sea, including their geographical location, natural conditions and the history of Vietnam’s sovereignty over the archipelago.

It will also provide information on the Hoang Sa district People’s Committee activities and legal proof of Vietnam’s sovereignty over its sea and islands according to international law and historical documents and maps with articles and images proving that the Hoang Sa Islands are part of Vietnam.

Dang Cong Ngu, Chairman of Hoang Sa district People’s Committee said he hopes the website wouldserve as a forum for researchers and other friends to discuss various issues related to Hoang Sa.

Legal alliance with Cuba strengthened

A high-ranking delegation from the Viet Nam Supreme People's Procuracy (VSPP) led by Procurator General Nguyen Hoa Binh visited Cuba last week to strengthen friendship and co-operation between judicial agencies.

During the visit, Binh held talks with head of Cuba's Procuracy Dario Delgado Cura. The two sides highlighted similarities in their operational models and discussed crime fighting and work on bringing peace and social stability to the people.

Dario Delgado Cura said the VSPP's experience was very precious to Cuba in the context that the country was on a new period of development with many challenges ahead, especially in executing procuracy activities against new types of crime.

Binh and his Cuban counterpart discussed the two agencies' future co-operation plans and agreed to continue increasing the exchange of delegations and the sharing of experience.

The two sides signed a bilateral co-operation agreement as a foundation for concrete co-operation programmes and projects to be implemented in the time to come.

During his visit, the VSPP leader talked with key officials of the Cuba Procuracy and the procuracies of La Havana, Mayabeque and Artemisa provinces.

Binh paid a courtesy visit to Jose Ramon Balaquer, Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba's Central Committee, and head of its External Relations Commission.

He also met with Minister of Justice Maria Esther Reus, President of the National Lawyers' Association Ariel Mantecon and Chief Judge of the Supreme People's Court Ruben Remigio Ferro.

Vietnam attends military meetings in Brunei

A high-ranking military delegation led by Deputy Defence Minister, Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh is participating in the ASEAN Defence Senior Officials Meeting (ADSOM) and the ASEAN Defence Senior Officials Meeting Plus (ASDOM+) in Brunei.

During the meetings, from March 31-April 5, participants discuss preparations for the agenda of the seventh ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (ADMM-7) slated for May this year and the second ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+) to be held in October of the same year, according to the Quan doi Nhan dan (People’s Army) daily.

The participation in these meetings shows Vietnam’s proactive, energetic and responsible role in ADMM and ADMM+ cooperation and also reflects the country’s continuous efforts to protect national interests as well as the interest of the region as a whole.

The ADMM is the highest defence mechanism within ASEAN, which aims to promote mutual trust and confidence through greater understanding of defence and security challenges as well as enhancement of transparency and openness.

Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi hosted the Inaugural ADMM-Plus on October 12, 2010, during which the defence ministers agreed on several areas of practical cooperation to pursue.

Can Tho establishes ties with Cambodian province

The Mekong delta city of Can Tho and Cambodian province of Battambang have signed a memorandum of understanding on economic commerce, investment, and tourism.

The MoU was signed between Prach Chann, head of Battambang province, and Nguyen Thanh Son, Chairman of the Can Tho Peoples’ Committee, on March 29.

The two sides will create favourable conditions for businesses from the two localities to cooperate in areas like processing of farm produce, goods distribution, investing in processing plants for farm and aquaculture produce, animal husbandry, and tourism.

Can Tho has the best infrastructure in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam with an international airport, a deep-water port, and personnel training capabilities, and it has businesses with experience in processing and exporting farm produce.

Several Can Tho businesses are seeking opportunities to cooperate with their Battambang counterparts to purchase and process paddy and rice for export.

Located in the north west of Cambodia nearly 300km from the capital Phnom Penh, Battambang has a population of over 1 million, of whom 81 percent are farmers. The province harvests 2 million tonnes of rice a year and has innumerable ponds and lakes suitable for aquaculture.

At the signing ceremony, Chann sai agricultural produce from Battambang had been exported, mainly in semi-processed form, to several countries for the last couple of years.

The province is thus seeking investment in processing plants from Cambodian and foreign partners and to better develop distribution networks, promote exports, and improve financial, tourism, and training services, he added.

Youth unions strengthen friendship

The Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and the Lao People's Revolutionary Youth Union have agreed to launch more activities to help deepen the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive co-operation between the two Parties, States and peoples.

A memorandum to this effect was signed last week at a conference in Nha Trang City, the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa, which gathered young people from the two countries' border provinces.

The two sides also agreed to encourage and create conditions for provincial and municipal youth unions, especially those of border provinces, to foster their direct co-operation while taking part in the protection of their border line.

Asia Co-operation Dialogue eyes peace

Viet Nam commits to closely co-operating with other Asia Co-operation Dialogue member countries to have peace and prosperity in the region.

The commitment was made by Ambassador Nguyen Quoc Dung, head of the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry's Economic Affairs Department, at the 11th ACD Ministerial Meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, from March 28-29.

Dung took the occasion to share Viet Nam's viewpoints on sustainable development and put forth some proposals for future ACD co-operation.

The meeting drew the participation of representatives from 32 ACD member countries under the chair of the host country's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi.

With the theme "Towards Economic Growth, Stability and Prosperity in Asia through Sustainable Development", the event aimed to promote the role of the Dialogue, currently the only transcontinental organisation, as well as enhance its co-operation in supporting the sustainable development of member countries and maintaining peace, harmonisation, stability and prosperity on the continent.

Participants discussed major issues such as poverty reduction, public health care, food security, energy, water resource protection, climate change adaptation, natural disaster prevention, human resources training, social equality and religious harmony.

Vietnam, Malaysia celebrate 40-year diplomatic ties

The Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia and the Malaysian Foreign Ministry jointly held a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on March 29 to celebrate the 40 th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties.

Addressing the event, Malaysian Deputy Foreign Minister A. Kohilan Pillay expressed his pleasure at the continuously developing relations between Vietnam and Malaysia since they se up diplomatic ties on March 30, 1973.

Both countries are now ASEAN members and become each other’s important economic partner, he said.

According to Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia Nguyen Hong Thao, over the past 40 years, together with the common development of the region and the world, the Vietnam-Malaysia relationship has seen new progress, both bilaterally and multilaterally.

Since the two countries signed the joint statement on the comprehensive cooperation framework in 21 st century, their relations have ceaselessly developed in various fields, including politics, economics, defence and security, he added.

Many visits have been paid by the two countries’ high-ranking leaders, especially the Malaysia visit of President Truong Tan Sang on September 2011 and the Malaysian King’s visit to Vietnam in March 2009.

Despite the global economic downturn, two-way trade between Vietnam and Malaysia hit over 9 billion USD in 2012, a rise of 25.27 percent compared to the previous year’s figure.

By 2012, Malaysia had more than 400 projects in Vietnam with a total registered investment of over 10 billion USD, ranking seventh among Vietnam’s investors.

In addition, bilateral cooperation in education and training, culture, sports and tourism has also recorded encouraging results. Last year, 200,000 Vietnamese visited Malaysia while the number of Malaysian tourists to Vietnam was 300,000.

On the occasion, President Truong Tan Sang, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh extended their greetings to Malaysian King Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and Foreign Minister Anifah Aman.

They expressed their belief that the two countries’ relationship will further develop in the future for the interests of both peoples as well as for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA