Party chief praises voters’ constructive opinions

Attention, support and constructive comments given by voters serve as a great source of encouragement and a firm mainstay for each National Assembly deputy, civil servant and party member to fulfil their tasks assigned by the Party and people.

The remark was made by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong during a meeting with voters from Hanoi’s inner district of Ba Dinh on October 16.

A majority of voters showed their delight at changes in the National Assembly’s activities, especially the touch of pressing social issues at the law-making body’s regular sessions and open Q&A sessions.

They, however, asked for further bettering supervision over the implementation of National Assembly resolutions and national policies and plans relating to the organisation and operation of State-owned enterprises, land use, and financial and banking activities.

The voters gave applaud to the results of criticism and self-criticism drive in the spirit of the fourth Party Central Committee’s Resolution though saying these were just initial and lot of works need to be stringently addressed in the future.

They raised the need to continue implementing the fourth Party Central Committee’s Resolution on “urgent issues on Party building at present” in a serious manner to make the Party stronger and healthier, underlining that the issue is vital to the existence of the Party as well as the nation’s prosperity.

Party General Secretary Trong agreed with the voters’ views, saying more works, as set in the fourth Party Central Committee’s Resolution, will be carried out following the criticism and self-criticism drive.

Welcoming the voters’ frank, knowledgeable and constructive viewpoints on a wide range of issues, the Party chief shared with them how to promote democracy, heighten the Party’s leadership and renew its leading mode when the Party’s leadership covers all activities of the National Assembly, the entire political system and the entire State apparatus.

He assured the voters that the law-making body will continue renovating its overall operation to meet trust and aspiration of voters nationwide.

Vietnam, Mongolia hold fourth political consultation

Vietnam and Mongolia agreed on a series of measures to continue strengthening and stepping up their friendship and traditional cooperation in different fields and at international forums.

These were reached at the two countries’ 4th deputy ministerial-level political consultation in Hanoi on October 16, which was co-chaired by Deputy Foreign Minister Ho Xuan Son and Mongolian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Dambyn Gankhuyag.

The situation of each country was briefed and views on regional and international issues of mutual concerns exchanged at the consultation.

The same day, the visiting Mongolian official paid a courtesy visit to Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, who said he was pleased with fine developments in the two countries’ friendship and cooperative ties over the past nearly 60 years.

Minh suggested continuing to ratchet up bilateral cooperation in all fields based on the spirit of the Vietnam-Mongolia Friendship and Cooperation Treaty to meet the interests and aspirations of the two peoples, for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

Vietnam concerned about funding for UN development operations

Vietnam is concerned about the decline in funding for UN operational activities for development, which poses challenges to the operation of the UN development system, especially at the country level where programming activities in development take place.

Vietnam’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Le Hoai Trung made the statement at the UN General Assembly’s debate on October 15 on operational activities for development of the Second Committee.

“We urge that development partners would continue their commitment to ODA pledge to promote the realisation of internationally agreed development goals,” he said.

The ambassador stressed that Vietnam believes that strengthening and intensifying development cooperation is in the interest of all countries and critical to the attainment of other purposes of the United Nations.

He affirmed that Vietnam is strongly committed to enhancing coherence, efficiency and effectiveness of the UN development system.

"Vietnam volunteered to be one of the 8 pilot countries of “Delivering as One” (DAO). It is the continuation of the “One UN” reform in Vietnam which was in fact initiated before DAO. The “One UN” primarily stemmed from Vietnam ’s policy of making the most efficient use of all resources, in line with our view that internal resources are decisive and external resources are important,” he said.

According to the ambassador, while the Government of Vietnam highly appreciates the comparative advantages of UN organisations, which contributed significantly to the country’s socio-economic development throughout the post-war reconstruction and reform periods and in our course of international integration, the Government of Viet Nam, the UN Country Team and many development partners believe that to be relevant, efficient, effective and given the limited resources, UN development cooperation activities in Vietnam need to be more coherent in purpose, more coordinated and focused in action and more harmonised in management.

He went on to say that the important factors in the promotion of the One UN-DAO in Vietnam are the Government ownership, active participation of UN organisations, especially the Country Team, support from development partners and hard efforts to deal with various technical issues.

“Now the One UN-DAO in Vietnam has passed the stage of setting in process and moved into the stage of working more for results. It has put in place a framework for the possible reforms towards effective and efficiency in Vietnam-UN development cooperation. However there remain considerable challenges, including those related to the shortage of resources and effective implementation of what has been agreed upon. It thus requires further support from headquarters of UN organisations and development partners,” the ambassador said.

In conclusion, the Vietnamese representative emphasised that efforts to promote the effectiveness, efficiency and relevance of UN development operational activities cannot substitute the greatly needed resources and must not alter the principles guiding UN development cooperation.

“These efforts are needed to enhance development cooperation, which can have both immediate and profound impact on lives and rights of people but at the same time regrettably has not always attracted the level of attention it deserves in the work of the United Nations,” Trung said, adding that the delegation of Vietnam looks forward fruitful discussions on the various aspects of UN development cooperation.

Vietnam urges more int'l efforts to address Palestine issue

Vietnam strongly urges an immediate end to the current blockade against the Palestinian Territory and for continued efforts in facilitating negotiations between all parties concerned, in order to resume Israeli – Palestinian negotiations as soon as possible.

"It is high time that the international community, including the Security Council, intensified efforts to address the afore-mentioned crisis, a just, lasting and comprehensive peaceful solution of which is long overdue," said Ambassador Le Hoai Trung, Vietnam's Permanent Representative to the UN, at the Open Debate of the UN Security Council on "the Situation in the Middle East, including the question of Palestine", in New York on October 15.

The ambassador noted that the Middle East is facing growing and unprecedented complex developments over the last couple of years, while change has yet to come regarding the question of Palestine that has always been at the core of the situation in the Middle East.

In this context, Vietnam reiterates its principled support for the courageous struggle and rights for the Palestinian people over more than 60 years, in particular the right to self-determination, said Trung.

He added that any solution must take into account legitimate security concerns of parties concerned, be based on relevant UN resolutions, the Madrid terms of reference, the Arab Peace Initiative and the Quartet Roadmap, of which the principle of land for peace and the right of all states in the region to live in peace and security are the critical element.

"The solution to pressing issues in the Middle East lies also in greater efforts aimed at creating a Middle East environment of mutual trust, peace, and coexistence. An important step to that end is the upcoming conference on the establishment of a Middle East Zone free of nuclear weapons and other types of weapons of mass destruction. We are convinced, however, that visible progress towards a lasting and just solution to the Palestinian – Israeli conflict would be also a strong reassurance to every government and every people about the genuine feasibility of peace and prosperity for all in the region and, thus, peace for the world as a whole," he said in conclusion.

People's Police Academy honoured with heroic title

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has presented the Hero of People’s Armed Forces Title to the People’s Police Academy in recognition of its positive contributions to the police sector.

In his speech at the October 16 award ceremony, PM Dung praised the outstanding achievements the academy has recorded over the past 45 years, saying that as a leading training centre of the police sector, the academy needs to develop into a high-quality scientific research centre and a key university under the national project on multi-sectoral training with three education levels: bachelor, master and doctor.

He asked the academy to renew training methods and programmes, promote international cooperation to increase the quality of training and build a contingent of qualified managers and lecturers who will play a crucial role in developing the police sector.

Experiencing nearly 45 years of construction and growth, the academy has developed steadily with 1,000 cadres, teachers and employees including professors, doctors, masters and people’s teachers.

To date, it has trained 40,000 officers at tertiary and post-graduate education levels and upgraded its facilities to meet growing demand for high quality human resources.

Vietnam-Argentina Committee to meet in late October

The third session of the Vietnam-Argentina Intergovernmental Committee will be held in Hanoi later this month by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Argentinian side.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked relevant ministries and sectors to coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade in preparing contents relating to their cooperation with Argentina in various fields.

Since establishing diplomatic ties in 1973, the two countries have signed nearly 30 cooperation agreements and documents, including the intergovernmental agreements on economic and trade cooperation, investment encouragement and protection, and agricultural and industrial cooperation.

VNN/VOV/VNA