Cultural diplomacy activities reviewed

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) held a meeting in Hanoi on January 22 to review the past year of cultural diplomacy and devise tasks for 2010.

The biggest success the diplomatic sector achieved in 2009 was to make progress in raising awareness about the importance of its work. Cultural diplomacy is the duty not only of the MOFA and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism but of all agencies, localities and businesses.

The sector drew on the experience of other countries to develop its own strategy. A legal framework was gradually built to support the diplomatic sector in international integration.

Several cultural exchanges were organised, such as Vietnam Week in Myanmar and “Meet Vietnam” and the Vietnamese Cultural Space in Japan, to strengthen friendship ties between Vietnam and other countries.

In 2010, cultural diplomacy will focus on events to mark the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi, and activities to combine political diplomacy with economic diplomacy. The MOFA will also work with relevant ministries and departments to develop cultural diplomacy activities to mark the anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and 50 of its partners.

Vietnam- an important factor in India’s “Look East” policy

Vietnam is an important factor in India’s “ Look East” policy and both nations are giving fresh impetus to the process of strengthening economic cooperation, said Indian Consul General Jitendra Nath Misra at a ceremony in HCM City on January 22 to mark the 60th anniversary of India’s National Day.

The Indian diplomat said that India is happy with the strategic dialogue held in October 2009 between the two countries towards promoting cooperation in anti-terrorism, security, civil nuclear, national defense, trade, education, culture, science and technology, industry and agriculture.

Mr Misra also expressed optimism about the prospects for long-term trade cooperation. 14 major Indian trade delegations visited Vietnam last year to seek investment opportunities and India’s investment in Vietnam remains first among Southeast Asian nations. More than 50 Indian companies and two Indian banks have opened representative offices in HCM City.

India has of the highest levels of disbursed capital for investment projects in Vietnam and the country has given priority to increasing cooperation with Vietnam in education, culture and human resource development. India’s NIIT group has already trained 8,000 programmers at 34 Vietnamese training centres and it will continue to train 7,000 Vietnamese programmers each year. Meanwhile, India’s Aptech group has trained 30,000 Vietnamese programmers at 28 training centres.

Vice Chairman of the HCM City municipal People’s Council Huynh Thanh Lap stressed the importance of boosting bilateral cooperation in agriculture, fishing and maritime transport in the future and thanked the Indian business community in HCM City for their support for charitable activities and scholarships for poor pupils.

For years, the Consulate General of India has been the biggest sponsor for charity fairs of HCM City’s Consular Club.

Party organisations’ leadership role in business highlighted

A seminar to examine Party organisations’ leadership role in business was held in Hanoi on January 22 by the Hanoi municipal Party Committee and attended by politburo member and Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Phu Trong.

According to the Hanoi municipal Party Committee, State-owned enterprises (SoEs) have recently been restructured and equitised in line with a resolution adopted at the 9th congress of the 9th Party Central Committee and a resolution of the 10th National Party Congress.

By mid 2009, Hanoi had more than 1,000 Party cells in SoEs involving more than 52,000 Party members. The record suggests that Party cells in SoEs have been effective as a political nucleus, helping the SoEs to improve workers’ living standards and fulfill obligations to the State.

Participants shared their experiences in ironing out operational snags and argued that the Party should admit outstanding business employers as Party members because they have made significant contributions to national development.

They also underscored the importance of taking full advantage of information and technology to disseminate Party resolutions.

Friendship society helps boost Franco-Vietnamese ties

The Vietnam-France Friendship Association (VFFA) of Ho Chi Minh City has made remarkable contributions to boosting relations between Vietnam and France since its inception 20 years ago.

The French Consul General to HCM City, Gerard Boiniveau, said at a ceremony held in the city on Jan. 21 that bilateral relations between the two countries has taken deep roots and continued to grow and flourish.

He highlighted cooperation in economics, culture and science, adding that there are over 6,000 Vietnamese students in France, the most important community of overseas students.

He also announced that France is likely to establish an international university in Vietnam that will become the largest one of its kind in the country.

The President of the Ho Chi Minh City VFFA chapter, Duong Quang Trung, said that over the past two decades, the association has focused its activities on strengthening cooperation in education, language-learning and cultural exchange, as well as humanitarian activities.

The association has raised over US$2 million to build 18 kindergartens, 32 safe water systems and carried out 43 credit projects for the poor and a dozen other projects on education, vocational training and health care.  

Vietnam, Laos increase Party inspection work 

Officials from the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) discussed measures to boost future cooperation between their inspection commissions during talks in Hanoi on January 21.

The talks were co-chaired by Nguyen Van Chi, Secretary of the CPV Central Committee and Head of the Inspection Commission of the CPVCC, and Lao Deputy Prime Minister Asang Laoly, who is also Secretary of the LPRP Central Committee and Head of the Inspection Commission of the LPRPCC.

They briefed each other on the situation in their respective countries and focused discussions on theory and practical experience concerning Party examination, discipline and building to further enhance the leadership and combative capacity of the two parties. 

Mr Chi affirmed that the Lao delegation’s visit will help speed up the implementation of cooperation agreements between the two commissions so as to increase the leadership role of their parties in each country’s revolution and further foster the friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two nations.

The Lao official praised the CPV’s Renewal achievements and experiences, including those in its inspection work and organisational improvement. He confirmed that his commission will do its utmost to further strengthen special solidarity between Laos and Vietnam.

Quang Ninh finishes demarcation, marker planting on border with China

The northern province of Quang Ninh completed its demarcation and planting of border markers on the Vietnam-China border, said the provincial party committee secretary Nguyen Duy Hung at a conference held in Ha Long city on January 21.

The completion of this work along the entire Vietnam-China border is of great historical significance as this is the first time in history that both countries have defined their land border precisely and clearly with a modern system of border markers.

The event is considered to have laid a legal foundation for relevant agencies from both countries to manage the border more effectively in the interests of peace, friendship and expanded socio-economic cooperation between Vietnam and China.

After over nine years of implementing the Vietnam-China Land Border Agreement, Quang Ninh province has identified 101 landmarks on more than 102km of the common border.

The newly-built border markers have been handed over to border guard stations.

Algerian parliamentary speaker visits Quang Ninh 

Chairman of the Algerian People’s Assembly (NPA) Abdelaziz Ziari visited the northeastern province of Quang Ninh on January 21, continuing his trip to Vietnam.

The provincial People’s Committee Chairman Vu Duc Dam briefed him on the province’s development potential, especially in the mining and tourism industries.

He said Quang Ninh aims to become an industrial province by 2015, and to meet the target the province is working hard to pool all resources for socio-economic development, with priority given to improving its investment environment and ensuring social welfare.

Mr Ziari praised the province’s recent achievements in all fields and expressed his wish that the traditional friendship and relations between Algeria and Vietnam will be further promoted.

Later the same day, Mr Ziari and his entourage made a tour of UNESCO-recognised Ha Long Bay.

Vietnam attends annual APPF conference in Singapore

As many as 134 MPs from 21 Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) countries agreed to increase cooperation to maintain regional peace and security and weather the global economic storm at their 18th annual conference in Singapore from January 18-21.

They also agreed to join hands to minimise the adverse effects of natural disasters, address global climate and encourage dialogue amongst youths.

They discussed topics on politics& security, economics& trade and regional cooperation, and adopted 14 resolutions on issues relevant to development solutions devised by countries.

A resolution on climate change sponsored by six countries, including Vietnam, was also passed by the conference.

Vietnam put forward an initiative on ‘establishing a common cooperation mechanism in the Asia-Pacific region,’ to face climate change threats. The mechanism will comprise inter-parliamentary organisations such as the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) and the ASEAN Inter-parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) and regional organisations such as APEC and ASEAN. The initiative was warmly welcomed by the delegates.

During their stay, the Vietnamese delegation led by Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Tong Thi Phong had meetings with a number of participating delegations including China, Laos, Cambodia, Russia, Canada and Singapore.

Administrative reform to be boosted in 2010 

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung has asked the interior affairs sector to speed up its administrative reform in connection with personnel, public finance, salary and policymaking to meet the requirements for national development.

Mr Hung delivered the mandate to the Interior Ministry at a conference held in Ho Chi Minh City on January 20-21 to review its operations over the past year and set tasks for 2010.

He said in 2009 the Interior Ministry helped the government and the Prime Minister carry out administrative reform by replicating the ‘One-stop shop’ model at all levels with positive results. Provinces and cities publicised administrative procedures on their own websites as well as on the websites of relevant agencies and departments.

The Ministry worked closely with other ministries, agencies and municipal and provincial People’s Committees to iron out snags in streamlining their organisations, with 15,500 staff cut last year.

It also collaborated with relevant agencies to implement a pilot National Assembly project not to organise district and ward People’s Councils in 10 provinces and cities.

Mr Hung said in 2010 the ministry must be actively involved in drafting five-year and 10-year socio-economic development plans.

“Your primary task is to speed up administrative and apparatus reforms,” said the Deputy PM.

He asked the sector to draw up an overall plan on salary reform and personnel appraisal to ensure transparency and democracy.

“Our main goal is to make the apparatus more close-knit and efficient”, said Mr Hung.

Indonesian FM believes in Vietnam’s role as ASEAN Chair

The success of the recent ASEAN ministerial meeting in Danang is a good start for Vietnam as ASEAN Chair, says Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Netalegawa.

He made the comment  at a reception given by Vietnam’s Permanent Representative Mission to ASEAN (VPRM) on January 20 in the presence of the Association’s Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan and his deputies.

The Indonesian FM highlighted Vietnam’s thorough preparations for its term of office and expressed his belief that the country will play an important role in building the ASEAN community - a key factor in the establishment of a larger community in the East Asia and Asia-Pacific regions.

In his speech, Ambassador Vu Dang Dung, head of the VPRM, sincerely thanked other member countries for their assistance and affirmed that Vietnam will closely cooperate with other members and dialogue committees in order to fulfill its mission.

As chair of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR), Vietnam will take the initiative to improve the role of the CPR in drawing  up a plan for the establishment of the ASEAN community, Dung added.

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