Congratulations to DPRK’s leader

On April 14, State President Truong Tan Sang sent a message of congratulations to Kim Jong Un over his election as First Chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The election was held during the fifth session of the 12th Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The late leader Kim Jong Il was recognized as the eternal chairman of the powerful commission, said the agency.

Hanoi banquet marks DPRK founder’s birthday

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) Ambassador to Vietnam Kim Chang-il, held a banquet in Hanoi on April 13 to mark the 100 th birthday of his country’s founder, Kim Il Sung.

The National Assembly’s Vice Chairwoman, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, was one of the guests to attend the banquet.

On speaking at the event, Ngan said she hoped that the DPRK people will make even greater achievements in their national construction, development and reunification programme.

She confirmed that Vietnam always attaches a lot of importance to developing its traditional friendship and cooperation with the DPRK.

She said that Vietnam consistently supports peace, stability and a non-nuclear Korean Peninsula and called on all the concerned parties to solve their differences peacefully, through dialogues and not to take actions that could cause tension and undermine peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the region.

Deputy PM concludes Australia visit

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his delegation left Australia on April 14 for their official visit to New Zealand.

The day before, Deputy PM Phuc attended a lecture on Australia's experiences using methadone for drug detoxification and the role of the community in HIV/AIDS prevention and control.

At a meeting the same day with Paul Lorry, managing director of the Australian coal and mineral company OGL, Mr Phuc praised the company's plan to build a deep water port in the Red River Delta capable of handling ships carrying 100,000 tonnes of coal.

The Vietnamese Government has adopted measures to build thermoelectric power plants using coal imported from the southern provinces and is in favour of a plan to build a general seaport to handle 40 million tonnes of cargo in this region by 2020, Mr Phuc said.

James Burger, the chief of mining exploitation at the Rio Tinto mining group, said if the plan is carried, out his company will pour approximately US$1 billion into building the port under a build-operate (BO) model.

At the meeting with Mr Burger, Deputy PM Phuc spoke highly of Rio Tinto’s plan to invest in Vietnam's mining industry, saying that with its advanced global technology, Rio Tinto can help Vietnam improve and develop its mining industry.

Condolences sent to Algeria

State President Truong Tan Sang on April 13 sent condolences to his Algerian counterpart Abdelaziz Bouteflika over the death of former president Ahmed Ban Bella.

The first president of Algeria, Ahmed Ban Bella died following an illness at the age of 95.

The same day, President Sang sent his condolences to the family of Raymond Aubrac, a member of the French Communist Party and a close friend of Vietnam. Aubrac died in his home country, France, at the age of 97.

Vietnam, China expand ties between armies

Vietnamese and Chinese armies would do their best to promote bilateral ties to be more practical and on par with relations between the two Parties and States, said a Vietnamese high-ranking army official.

Senior Lieutenant-General Do Ba Ty, chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army made the statement during talks with Chinese Vice President Xi Jin-ping in Beijing on April 13.

Ty said the visit by Vietnamese high-ranking army delegation to China aimed to enhance political trust between the two sides as well as to expand their comprehensive strategic co-operative partnership.

Based on the spirit of comradeship and brotherhood, he said the Vietnamese People's Army expected China to continue to grow along with the Chinese People's Liberation Army's (PLA) modernisation, contributing to peace and stability in the region and the world, including Vietnam.

With China's support during the war and for Vietnam's national construction effort, Vietnam attached importance to developing neighbourly relations and comprehensive and sustainable co-operation with China. It was considered a priority in Vietnamese external relations policies, Ty said.

He also briefed the host on issues of common interest such as bringing into full play the efficiency of the dialogue channel on the national defence-security strategy at Deputy Defence Minister's level; promptly setting up a direct communication channel between the two defence ministries; promoting communication between the two navies; and exchanging information and dealing with issues on the mainland and at sea following guidelines set by the two countries' leaders.

Xi expressed his admiration for Vietnam and its people, especially after his visit to the country last December.

He reviewed the traditional fine relations of the two nations, particularly since 1991 when relations were normalised.

He also said the successful resolution in land border demarcation and delimitation in the Gulf of Tonkin had resulted in practical benefits for the two peoples.

Relations between the two armies was also growing well, Xi said. He also informed the Vietnamese delegation about the achievements of the Communist Party of China and emphasised the consistent lessons to be learnt from Marxism, which he said wanted to share with Vietnam.

Vietnam, Russia news agencies boost cooperation

Official news agencies of Vietnam and Russia should promote the exchange of information about political and socio-cultural areas economic cooperation between the two countries.

The remarks were made by General Director of Vietnam News Agency (VNA) Nguyen Duc Loi and Deputy General Director of Russian News Agency ITAR-TASS Alyaudinov Farit, in Hanoi on April 13.

At the meeting, General Director Loi briefed Deputy General Director Alyaudinov Farit on VNA’s operations regarding the improvement of traditional information service quality and development of multimedia products like online newspaper, news on mobile phones and television broadcast, meeting the demand for information in Vietnam’s new situation.

He praised the good performance in the two agencies’ recent cooperation in exchanges of information, high-ranking delegations and reporters and support for activities of their correspondents.

He affirmed that along with information provided by VNA correspondents in Moscow, ITAR-TASS’s news sources on Russia, post-Soviet Union situation and important international issues are used effectively by VNA news units.

Deputy General Director Alyaudinov Farit said ITAR-TASS always attaches importance to promoting traditional relations with VNA.

He said he wants the two news agencies to expand their relations and proposed the two sides organise a 3-D photo exhibitions to introduce the land and people of both countries.

Mr Alyaudinov Farit said that anyone who develops the fastest way of disseminating information to users will be the winner of the current competition for information dissemination.

He said his agency is focusing on developing multimedia products to provide to media in Russia.

At the meeting, the two leaders agreed to consider the possibility of signing an agreement on the exchange of multimedia and training in the Russian and Vietnamese languages for their reporters in the coming time.

The same day, ITAR-TASS Deputy General Director Alyaudinov Farit and his entourage were received by Standing Deputy Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists’ Association Ha Minh Hue, who highly valued the assistance of the Soviet journalists’ association to the Vietnam Journalists’ Association in the past and expressed his wish to resume relations with press organisations of the Federation of Russia in future.

ITAR-TASS Deputy General Director Alyaudinov Farit is on a working visit to Vietnam from April 11-18 at the invitation of VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi.

President urges Son La to care for those in need

President Truong Tan Sang on April 13 called on leaders of Son La province to work out measures to help local residents throw off the shackles of poverty and lead rewarding lives.

During his two-day trip to the northern mountain province, Sang visited a number of major sites including the ongoing Son La Hydro-power plant and Tay Bac (North-East) University and worked with local agencies.

Provincial Party Committee Secretary Thao Xuan Sung told the President that Son La, home to 12 ethnic minority groups, is still struggling with poverty. Five out of 10 districts are categorised as poor and 89 communes are particularly cash-strapped.

Over the past few years, the province has shifted to growing tea and dairy farming, which has helped lift the province's economic growth.

Sung also reported the province has been successful in resettling residents to make way for the construction of the Son La Hydro-power plant. It has relocated all 12,500 households to more than 250 resettlement sites and financially supported them to live stable lives.

He also said that the province's external relations with neighbouring Laos provinces has been tightened.

Sang lauded the province's efforts but suggested local authorities offer resettled residents more technical and agricultural support to stabilise their lives.

He also noted that when the plant is completed, Son La should take the chance to develop aquaculture.

Sang also asked local leaders to raise the quality of its cadres and pay more heed to disaster-prone people.

Earlier, the President worked with the provincial People's Court and People's Procuracy over judicial reforms.

Referring to Tay Bac University, the training hub for the region, he urged the school's lecturers and students to pay more attention to the quality of training and research, particularly in the conservation of the local culture, and to expand its relations with prestigious universities within the region.

VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA