Vietnam attends SOMRI 11 in Malaysia

Vietnam attended the 11th Senior Officials Meeting Responsible for Information (SOMRI 11) held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on February 27-28 with the participation of 10 ASEAN member countries.

Photo: VOV

In the context of ASEAN’s efforts to build an ASEAN community by 2015, the media plays an important role in raising public awareness and promoting the images of the ASEAN community in the region.

Senior information officials discussed the tasks of ASEAN media agencies to help realize plans for an ASEAN community with the three pillars, namely the ASEAN Political-Security Community, the ASEAN Economic Community and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.

They agreed on coordinated efforts to help people better understand the concept of the ASEAN community and promote the connectivity and friendship between member nations.

Speaking at the meeting, Duy Ngan Ha, Head of the Vietnamese delegation and the International Cooperation Department under the Ministry of Information and Communication, briefed SOMRI officials on communication activities in Vietnam.

She highlighted efforts to strengthen coordination among ASEAN media agencies, specifically AMRI, SOMRI and coordinating agencies in promoting communication activities.

As a coordinator for ASEAN-China relations, Vietnam dwelled on the initial results of cooperation in the framework of the ASEAN-China plan for information and communication technology (ICT) cooperation in the 2011-2015 period including the successful organization of the ASEAN-China media manager forum held in Beijing in 2010 and the ASEAN-China project in 2011 to exchange reporters, masters of ceremonies and TV progamme producers.

The meeting also discussed ICT cooperation between ASEAN and its partners, including the ASEAN-SOMRI+1 (China) and ASEAN-SOMRI+3 (Japan, China, the Republic of Korea) and preparations for AMRI 11 with these partners slated for March 1.

Party chief hails Vietnam-Chile relations

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has expressed his pleasure at the rapid development of Vietnam-Chile relations, especially in economics, trade, and investment.

Speaking at a February 29 reception for Chilean Senate President Guido Girardin Lavín, Mr Trong congratulated Chile on its achievements in national construction and development. He thanked the Chilean people for their assistance and sentiment for Vietnam during its past struggle for national independence and present national construction and defence.

The Party leader also expressed his wish that the two legislative bodies will further strengthen ties, contributing to consolidating the equitable comprehensive partnership for mutual benefit and for peace, stability, cooperation and development in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the world as a whole.

President Lavín said he believes that Vietnam will fulfil its target of building a nation with “a rich people; a strong country; and a democratic, equitable and civilized society”.

He reaffirmed Chile’s policy of fostering the traditional friendship and solidarity with the Vietnamese National Assembly, State, and people.

Vietnamese, Lao Red Cross Societies cooperation highlighted

Chansy Phosikham, head of the Lao People’s Revolution Party Central Committee of the Party Organization Commission, has praised the cooperation between the Laos and Vietnam Red Cross Societies (VRC and LRC).

Speaking at a February 29 reception for VRC President Tran Ngoc Tang in Vientiane, Phosikham expressed his hope that the two Red Cross societies will strengthen ties and effectively implement joint projects, especially in their border localities.

He said he believes that the VRC will be able to help its Lao counterpart in various fields such as poverty reduction, natural disaster prevention, contributing to boosting traditional relations between Laos and Vietnam.

For his part, Tang informed his host of the results of the working session between the two societies and said the VRC is eager to share its experience in consolidating its organization, raising funds, training human resources, and improving people-to-people diplomacy.

On the occasion, the VRC presented the LRC with US$100,000 to help it implement its “cow bank” project in provinces sharing the border with Vietnam.

Danish Parliament Speaker to visit Vietnam

Morgen Lykketoft, Speaker of the Danish Parliament, will pay an official visit to Vietnam from March 4-7.

According to the National Assembly’s Committee for External Relations, the visit will be made at the invitation of NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung.

VN, Japanese scholars meet for regional security talks

Vietnamese and Japanese scholars gathered at a seminar in Hanoi on Feb. 29 to discuss the current situation in East Asia and Southeast Asian and peace and security in the Asia Pacific.

Participants heard about changes in policies of major countries and their influence on regional security, as well as measures including the cooperative orientation to boost the strategic partnership, bilateral and multilateral relations between Vietnam and Japan and other countries in the region.

At present, Asia Pacific faces many security challenges as traditional security problems increase and non-traditional security issues such as maritime, water resource, food and internet security have arisen. Meanwhile, the region has not yet developed a suitable cooperative mechanism to effectively cope with these problems.

Maritime security is an issue attracting much concern from participants. They agreed that recent disputes in the East Sea caused tension and threatened peace, stability and security in the region and the world.

On the Vietnam-Japan relations, scientists agreed that it is necessary to deepen the strategic cooperation between the two countries, set up mechanisms for information exchange and policy consultation on urgent issues, including maritime security, nuclear safety and natural disasters, as well as training military officers and technicians and developing sea forces.

OECD highlights Vietnam’s achievements

Vietnam is one of the countries which have obtained many socio-economic achievements and made considerable changes in various areas, said the Director of OECD Development Centre (DEV) Mario Pezzirri.

Pezzirri made the assessment on the occasion of the Vietnamese delegation’s upcoming attendance of the high-level meeting to mark the 50 th anniversary of the establishment of DEV, which coordinates activities of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and developing countries. Vietnam has been one of the 17 DEV member countries since 2008.

Pezzirri emphasised that the OECD could help Vietnam lay the foundation to achieve further success and share its experiences with other nations.

However, he said, Vietnam should address hindrances to sustainable growth rate to enable long-term development.

OCED is not a capital provider but can help Vietnam outline a suitable roadmap for development, he said.

Vietnamese Ambassador to France Duong Chi Dung, who is also head of the Vietnamese delegation, will deliver a speech at the high-level meeting’s discussion on the OECD’s new development strategy on March 1.

With opinions collected from members of OECD and DEV, the draft on the strategy will be finalised prior to submission to the OECD Ministerial Meeting for approval next May.

VNN/VOV/VNA