VN sends condolences to Russia

President Truong Tan Sang sent a condolence message on Friday to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev after a tragic jet crash in Yaroslavl left dozens of people dead and wounded on Wednesday.

At least 44 people were killed when a jet carrying a Russian professional hockey team to its first game of the season crashed shortly after take-off from Russia's Yaroslavl airport.

French paper features President Ho Chi Minh

The French daily newspaper La Marseillaise has run an article on President Ho Chi Minh on its front page on the occasion of 100 years since his arrival in the southern coastal city of Marseille, as part of his journey for national salvation. 

The article featured President Ho Chi Minh’s activities in Marseille as well as his viewpoints on class, colonialism and socialism in an interview with Nguyen Van Bon, Vice President of the Overseas Vietnamese Association in France.
Regarding Vietnamese people’s activities in France, especially a photo exhibition entitled, “Uncle Ho with France”, Bon underlined Vietnamese people’s pride in President Ho Chi Minh and the fine friendship and solidarity between the Vietnamese and French people, especially the sentiment and support of the French communist youths to Vietnam’s independence in the past.
The article also quoted Hélène Luc, President of the France – Vietnam Friendship Association (FVFA) as saying that the exhibition on President Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary life contributed to promoting and developing values of the France – Vietnam solidarity.
Luc affirmed that FVFA would continue supporting Vietnam in its national construction and development and proposed initiatives for the fight for justice for Vietnamese Agent Orange/dioxin victims.

US ambassador looks to boost trade

New United States Ambassador to Viet Nam David Bruce Shear said his top priority during his term of office was to boost economic co-operation between the two countries.

At a press conference held in Ha Noi on Friday to mark the beginning of his term, Ambassador Shear said that since the two countries established diplomatic ties 16 years ago, Viet Nam-US relations had seen progress based on mutual understanding.

Since the Viet Nam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement took effect in 2001, two-way trade had risen from around US$1.5 billion to $18.6 billion in 2010, a year-on-year increase of around 20 per cent, he said.

He vowed to maintain the two-way trade growth and facilitate US business activities in Viet Nam.

During her visit to Viet Nam in October 2010, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton proposed the development of a strategic partnership between the two countries, said Shear, adding that his job was to clearly define the strategic partnership which began with building confidence.

He committed to doing all he could to build trust with Vietnamese partners.

Shear said he would continue to place educational co-operation as one of his top priority tasks and would work with Vietnamese partners to promote bilateral co-operation in education.

The ambassador visited Da Nang city on the central coast immediately after taking office in Viet Nam. He attended the repatriation ceremony for the remains of US servicemen and visited an Agent Orange/dioxin clean-up site at the Da Nang airport.

Ambassador Shear said he and his family visited Viet Nam as tourists in 2007, and said that they were attracted to Ha Noi and Viet Nam by the hospitality and cuisine.

Guangdong and Viet Nam conference to review ties

Vice Governor of China's Guangdong province Zhao Yufang visited Viet Nam from September 4-9 to attend a conference reviewing co-operation between her province and Vietnamese ministries, agencies and localities.

At the conference, the second of its kind, the two sides agreed that together with the Viet Nam-China comprehensive strategic co-operative partnership, the multi-faceted co-operation between Viet Nam and Guangdong had seen positive developments, especially in the exchange visits, economics, and trade and investment co-operation. Encouraging results were also seen in the culture, education, agriculture and tourism sectors.

In the economic field, Guangdong has led Chinese localities in trade with Viet Nam with a total turnover of more than US$5.83 billion in 2010, up 31.9 per cent against the previous year. The figure reached $3.56 billion in the first six months of 2011, representing a year-on-year increase of 40 per cent.

Guangdong businesses have invested in many projects in Viet Nam, particularly the An Duong Industrial Park project in the northern port city of Hai Phong, with a registered investment of $4 billion.

In 2010, about 100,000 Guangdong tourists visited Viet Nam, soaring 40.6 per cent, and more than 180,000 Vietnamese visitors chose Guangdong as their destination, up 31.7 per cent over the previous year.

VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA