Cuba wishes to augment socio-economic cooperation with Vietnam

The First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party Central Committee (CCPCC) President of the State Council and the Council of Ministers Raúl Castro affirmed his nation’s desire to share experience in various realms and advance bilateral socio-economic development cooperation with Vietnam.

At a June 18 reception for  Politburo member and Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi, who led a delegation of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) on an official visit to Cuba, Castro recalled  the fond memories of the faithful  and pure relationship between the two peoples of Vietnam and Cuba and compared notes on some issues of shared concern.

Nghi extended  greetings from Vietnamese Party and State leaders to Cuban Revolution leader Fidel Castro and President Raúl Castro while briefing his hosts on the results of the working visit to Cuba and reiterating the  Vietnamese people’s consistent sentiment toward Cuba as well as their determination to help bilateral ties grown and flourish in the time to come.

At an earlier working session with Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Rodrigo Malmierca, Nghi also expressed the nation’s wish to elevate economic and trade links on a par with the fine political relations between the two nations.

Minister Malmierca, who is also co-chairman of the Intergovernmental Committee between the two countries assured Cuba’s willingness to welcome Vietnamese investors to Mariel special development zone.

He said he hopes, the two sides would take more concrete steps to realize enhanced cooperation agreement between the two leaders at the forthcoming third Intergovernmental Committee.

The same day, Mr. Pham Quang Nghi and his delegation visited Mariel special development zone, 25 km from the West of Havana where there is the only deep water port that is seen as an ideal place for investment attraction in the coming years.

On June 19, the Vietnamese delegation left Havana for Hanoi, concluding their working visit to Cuba.

ASEAN vows to protect children during armed conflict

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) remains strong commitments to addressing issues that children are facing, especially in conflict situations, said Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations.

Speaking on behalf of ASEAN at the open debate of the UN Security Council on “Children and armed conflict” in New York on June 18, Nga noted that “last year, 2014, saw unprecedented challenges for the protection of tens of millions of children in countries affected by conflicts. Children continue to suffer the most, especially given the unparalleled rise of violent extremism”.

ASEAN is also alarmed by the rise of abduction as a tactic of war, she said, adding that the association, therefore, “shares the view that a comprehensive approach is needed in protecting children in armed conflicts, particularly to address the issue of abduction.”

The diplomat also stressed the need to address the root causes of hardship that children have to bear in armed conflict as well as the importance of continued efforts by the UN Security Council and the international community to handle its impacts on children.

She shared the participants that ASEAN has been stepping up efforts to tackle issues that children are faced with, both at national and regional levels, as well as on institutional and practical areas.

“In 2015, ASEAN’s priority is to strengthen our regional mechanism to materialise the high-level commitment to make progress in this issue. The ASEAN Commission for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) is now developing a Regional Plan of Action for the implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Children (EVAC) as adopted at the 23rd ASEAN Summit in 2014, including through regional outreach activities. ASEAN has also consulted and cooperated closely with UN agencies and mechanisms, including UNICEF and the Secretary-General’s Special Representatives on related issues,” she added.

At the open debate, the council’s member states adopted the resolution 2225 reaffirming commitments to carrying out specific measures to protect children in armed conflict, with the focus on child abduction.

Ukraine, Vietnam localities foster cooperation

Ambassador to Ukraine Nguyen Minh Tri has urged Lviv provincial leaders to create a niche for the Vietnamese Embassy to organise a Vietnam Day or Week to help people in this western Ukrainian province further understand Vietnam’s land and people.

Tri said during his recent visit to Lviv with the aim of consolidating friendly relations between Vietnam and western provinces of Ukraine.

During his stay, Ambassador Tri met Lviv Governor Oleg Sinhutka and Lviv city mayor Andrey Sadovoy.

Lviv leaders expressed their deep impression on Vietnam’s achievements in recent times and introduced the strength and potential of Lviv – the scientific, industrial, cultural and tourism hub in western Ukraine and an important gateway to the EU.

They wanted to spur multifaceted cooperation with Vietnamese localities, especially in trade, tourism, training, and train and public bus manufacturing.

In the initial period, the two sides should further exchange information on their countries’ land and people via mass media and cultural and trade promotion activities, they proposed.

Ambassador Tri and his entourage also met overseas Vietnamese people and students in the western region of Ukraine.