Macedonia FM to visit Vietnam

Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki will pay an official visit to Vietnam from November 11-13.

The visit was made at the invitation of Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, according to a communiqué released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on November 9.

Vietnam and Macedonia established diplomatic ties at the ambassadorial level in 1994.

Both countries initialled an economic and commercial cooperation agreement in 2005, however, bilateral economic and trade exchanges remain low at US$1-2 million.

Macedonia mainly imports Vietnamese products through other European nations, including Bulgaria.

In 2011 the two countries exchanged views on the signing of a protocol on cooperation between their Ministries of Foreign Affairs.

Party leader visits Nam Dinh province

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on November 11 visited Hai Chung commune, Hai Hau district in the Red River delta province of Nam Dinh.

Hai Chung commune has a population of 12,700, of whom 27 percent are Catholic followers. The commune has met 13 out of the 19 standards for new-style rural area. All local households now have access to electricity and clean water.

At a working session with the local authorities, the Party leader said he is delighted with significant socio-economic progress the local Party committee, authorities and people have obtained recently.

The session focused discussions on socio-economic development tasks and the implementation of the Party Central Committee’s resolutions on agriculture, farmers and rural development, and on Party building at the grassroots level.

The Party General Secretary offered his sympathy to the commune over difficulties and losses on production and people’s life caused by the recent storm.

Also the same day, the Party leader and his entourage offered incense to the Tran Kings at the Tran temple in Loc Vuong commune, Nam Dinh city.

President joins in Unity Festive Day

President Truong Tan Sang, on November 11, joined people in ward 5, district 3, Ho Chi Minh City in celebrating the National Great Unity Festive Day.

The Day was observed on the occasion of the founding of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (November 18), which marked its 82nd year this year.

Talking with local residents, President Sang recalled President Ho Chi Minh’s thought on national unity and suggested local authorities and people follow the thinking.

He highly valued local people’s activities in response to - and participating in - movements launched by the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) and local administrations.

He asked the local VFF chapter to think of creative and effective methods to persuade more people from all walks of life to care for the beneficiaries of State policies, poor families and uphold national pride and patriotism.

On this occasion, President Sang presented gifts to two poor households in the ward.

Cambodia’s Independence Day observed in HCM City

Relations between Vietnam and Cambodia, as well as between HCM City and Cambodian localities have developed well over the years.

The view was shared by Truong Minh Nhat, President of the HCM City Union of Friendship Organisations and Sam Sammouthm, General Consul of Cambodia at a meeting on November 9 to mark Cambodia’s 59th Independence Day.

They noted that both Vietnam and Cambodia are close neighbours that have treasured the traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation, and supported each other in the struggle for national liberation.

They said cooperation between the two countries has been strengthened in various areas, with bilateral trade reaching nearly US$2.8 billion in 2011.

At present there are nearly 100 Vietnamese-invested projects in Cambodia with a total capitalization of more than US$2.2 billion, mostly in telecommunications, banking, energy, rubber planting, and farm produce processing.

Nhat and Sammouthm vowed to work closer together to lift bilateral relationship to new heights.

Vietnam, Russia boost procuracy cooperation

The two procuracy agencies of Vietnam and Russia have agreed to support each other at international forums on issues of common concern.

A delegation from the Vietnam Supreme People's Procuracy led by General Prosecutor Nguyen Hoa Binh paid a working visit to Russia on November 7-8.

It worked with some relevant agencies of the Russian procuracy sector on a cooperation programme for the next two years with a focus on promoting the exchange of visits, combating transnational crime, improving the quality of human resources and sharing experience in scientific research and law-making to revamp Vietnam’s legal system.

During discussions, Vietnam supported Russia’s initiative to extend the function of its procuracy while Russia backed Vietnam’s bid for its entry to the International Association of Prosecutors.

Both sides also pledged to protect the legitimate rights of Vietnamese citizens in Russia as well as Russian citizens in Vietnam.

They believed that the cooperation between the Vietnam Supreme People's Procuracy and the Procuracy of the Russian Federation will continue to grow and flourish in the near future.

After visiting Russia, the Vietnamese delegation will go to Ukraine.

Sympathy to Guatemala

President Truong Tan Sang yesterday sent a message of sympathies to President of Guatemala Otto Perez Molina over the human and material losses caused by the powerful earthquake on Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh cabled his sympathies to his Guatemalan counterpart Harold Caballeros.
The 7.4-magnitude quake killed at least 52 people.

‘Invest in each other' Mekong nations told

Countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) need to introduce better policies to attract investment from each other, allowing for the promotion of the advantages of each nation and the region as a whole, a forum heard last Friday, Nov 9, in Dak Lak.

The GMS Investment Co-operation Forum 2012, which is an annual event held in alternate regional countries, aimed to suggest the means in which such a boost in investment might be achieved.

Participants discussed how economic development objectives should be particularly implemented in the Mekong region and the Viet Nam-Laos-Cambodia development triangle.

Measures were suggested to remove investment barriers and promote development co-operation in the region. It was suggested that countries should be given incentives for investing in areas facing difficulties, especially those in the development triangle.

It was argued that more collaboration is needed in order to attract official development assistance (ODA) and foreign direct investment (FDI) to the region.

The forming of a large-scale materials supply zone was mooted as a way of encouraging investors to take part in constructing production and processing facilities, increasing the volume of exports and ensuring sustainable development in the subregion.

The Viet Nam-Laos-Cambodia development triangle, located in the GMS, holds a strategic position between the three countries in relation to their economic strategies.

Attracting investment will allow a further tightening of the economic co-operation between the triangle's members, and would unite the whole region and its foreign partners, the forum heard.

There have been some encouraging achievements in trade and investment between the countries in recent years.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Viet Nam has 120 projects in Cambodia with a total investment of over US$2.64 billion, including 25 projects of $1.44 billion in the triangle.

The country has also invested $3.6 billion in 218 projects in Laos, of which 50 projects worth $1.65 billion are centred in the development triangle.

VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA