Supreme People’s Procuracy delegation visits Laos

Procurator General Nguyen Hoa Binh of the Vietnam Supreme People’s Procuracy held talks with head of the Lao Supreme People’s Procuracy Khamsan Souvong in Vientiane on December 18.

Binh is leading a delegation to Laos from December 18-20.

Both sides expressed their pleasure with the cooperation in organising activities to mark the 50 th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties, and 35 years since the signing of the Vietnam-Laos Friendship and Amity Treaty.

The two sides agreed to exchange all-level delegations to share experience and information, encourage and create conditions for regional Supreme People’s Procuracies to strengthen cooperation, enhance regular meetings between the procuracies of border districts, organise seminars on legal issues and increase cooperation in staff training.

The Vietnam Supreme People’s Procuracy will continue to help the Lao side train personnel and provide legal documents for their research.

War Veterans Association’s activities under review

The 5th National Congress of the Vietnam War Veterans Association (VWVA) opened in Hanoi on December 18, involving 510 delegates representing 2.6 million association members across the country.

The event’s attendees included Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President Truong Tan Sang, National Assembly (NA) Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee President Huynh Dang, and other former senior leaders.

Addressing the conference, VWVA Chairman Lieu.Gen. Tran Hanh said the fifth congress aims to issue objective and comprehensive assessments, acknowledge weaknesses, and draw practical lessons from the association’s experiences over the last term.

It also plans to outline orientations, tasks, targets, and solutions for the next term, as well as revise association regulations and elect a new executive committee to serve from 2012 to 2017.

Over the past five years, the association has upheld the revolutionary tradition and followed the path blazed by late President Ho Chi Minh. Its role and status have been raised, earning its classification as a socio-political organisation and a reliable mainstay of the Vietnamese Party, State, and people.

The association has effectively managed nearly VND17,000 billion, sourced from loans and the thousands of billions of VND contributed by its members in hopes of boosting socio-economic development. As a result, 5,500 small and medium-sized enterprises (SoEs), more than 1,100 cooperatives, and 35,000 farms are now owned by war veterans.

In the new term, the association will uphold its traditions and continue striving to fulfill set targets such as reaching 95 percent of strong member associations, 95 percent of exemplary members, and 90 percent of “cultural-life” families.

Party Leader Trong and VFF President Dam praised the association’s contributions to national construction and defence, urging it on to greater efforts in achieving all of the new term’s assigned tasks.

Representatives from Laotian and Cambodian war veterans associations expressed their gratitude to the VWVA and noted their faith that relations with their Vietnamese counterparts will flourish and grow.

Haitian Prime Minister concludes Vietnam visit

Prime Minister of Haiti Laurent Salvador Lamothe left Hanoi on December 18, successfully concluding his official visit to Vietnam at an invitation by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

This is the first official high-level visit to Vietnam by a leader of the republic, and is of historical significance to the bilateral relations in the context that the two countries are celebrating the 15 th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations.

Host and guest issued a joint communiqué on the visit, in which they expressed satisfaction at the development of the relations, and agreed to intensify the exchange of high-level visits aimed at further consolidating the relations of friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

The leaders affirmed their determination to further consolidate and deepen the relations in political, economic and cultural fields, and agreed on orientations and measures to strengthen the relations and cooperation in the time to come.

They also agreed to intensify the consultation and cooperation at international forums and organisations to which both of them are members.

Lamothe voiced his support to the determination of countries in the region to maintain an environment of peace and stability and to settle disputes in the East Sea through peaceful negotiations on the basis of international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Vietnam, India ties in the spotlight

A number of articles highlighting the traditional friendship and strategic partnership between Vietnam and India were released in a special issue of Indian NAM Today magazine on the occasion of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s India visit.

Dung will attend the Commemorative Summit marking the 20th anniversary of the ASEAN-India dialogue partnership from December 20-21.

In his article, Professor Patasani, an Indian parliamentarian, stressed that despite the geographical distance between the two countries, Vietnam and India are very aware of the necessary cooperation in various fields in both a regional and global scales.

Over recent years, the relationship between the two countries has developed strongly in the interest of both nations, he said. Vietnam supported India’s use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and its bids to join the UN Security Council, while India backed Vietnam’s entry into the World Trade Organisation.

The relationship with Vietnam is important from a political, economic and strategic point of view as well, he said.
According to Patasani, Vietnam is an important Southeast Asian partner to India . The two sides have closely coordinated at various forums.

The partnership will create favourable conditions for both sides to promote bilateral relations, and give strength to each country’s involvement in regional and global challenges, for the benefit of both sides without harming third parties, the article said.

The impending visit of Prime Minister Dung will affirm Vietnam’s policy of prioritising the strategic partnership with India. It will strengthen bilateral cooperation in all fields as well as at regional and international forums, the article added.

Two-way trade between Vietnam and India increased from US$50 million in 1991 to over US$2.7 billion in 2011, and hit US$1.8 billion in the first half of this year.

The two sides are striving for US$7 billion in trade by 2015. India is also an important investor in Vietnam with many businesses operating in the country.

Over recent years, Vietnam and India have fostered cultural and tourism links by organising various joint programmes.

Vietnam, Cambodia boost mass mobilisation cooperation

The Cambodian United Front for National Construction and Defence (CUFNCD) will do its utmost to maintain and lift the Vietnam-Cambodia traditional friendship to a new height.

Min Khin, Cambodian Minister of Cults and Religion and Secretary General of the CUFNCD’s National Council, made this affirmation at a reception hosted by Politburo Member Le Hong Anh in Hanoi on December 18.

Min Khin thanked Vietnam for its valuable, timely and effective support and help to the Cambodian people’s struggle against Pol Pot genocidal regime and their national construction and protection.

He informed his host of the outcomes of the talks with the Communist Party of Vietnam’s Central Committee (CPVCC)’s Commission for Mass Mobilisation, affirming that Cambodia will work closely with Vietnam to implement agreements and joint communiqués made during visits of the two countries’ high-ranking leaders.

Anh, who is also the permanent member of the CPVCC’s Secretariat, affirmed Vietnam always attaches importance to and prioritises the consolidation and development of the two countries’ neighbourliness, traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation.

He said he hopes that the two sides will closely coordinate in the exchange of experience in mass mobilisation, support each other and educate the two peoples, especially the youth, about the Vietnam-Cambodia relationship.

German Left Party leader welcomed in Hanoi

Politburo member and Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam’s Central Committee (CPVCC), Dinh The Huynh , hosted a reception in Hanoi on December 18 for Matthias Hohn, Federal General Secretary of Germany’s Left Party (Die Linke).

Huynh, who is also head of the CPVCC’s Commission for Communication and Education, praised the positive development in the Vietnam-Germany relationship, and between the CPV and Germany’s Left Party.

He affirmed that the Vietnamese Party and State will always attach significance to the friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Germany, and consider the country one of Vietnam’s leading partners in Europe.

He expressed his hope that the two parties will continue improving exchanges of information and party building experience, contributing to the two countries’ friendship and cooperation in the common interest of the two peoples, and for peace, stability and development in the region and the world.

Hohn spoke highly of Vietnam’s achievements in socio-economic development under the CPV leadership, affirming that the Left Party supports the strategic partnership for future between the two countries, and hopes to boost ties with the CPV and foster bilateral cooperation in the fields that Vietnam has demand and Germany has advantage.

During the meeting, both sides exchanged views on the situation of the two parties and two countries’ situation, as well as on regional and international issues of common concern.

Congratulations to Japanese party

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on December 18 sent his congratulations to the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan on its victory in the lower house election on December 16.

VNN/VOV/VNA