President meets voters in HCM City

President Truong Tan Sang on October 17 met with voters in Ho Chi Minh City’s Districts 1 and 3 in preparation for the fourth session of the 13th National Assembly, scheduled for October 22.

Nearly 50 speakers representing more than 500 voters attending the meeting said they were pleased with changes in the contact between the NA deputies and voters, bringing them closer together.

Many voters applauded positive changes in the NA’s Q&A sessions, saying that they have addressed issues of people’s concerns.

However, voters said they are dissatisfied with the failure in dealing with shortcomings in education and training and violations in socio-economic management, poor land and urban management, and cumbersome administrative procedures.

These put stress on the need to further improve the supreme supervision role of the NA over the operations of the State apparatus, they said.

Taking note of voters’ opinions, President Sang stated that the criticism of the Politburo and Secretariat of the Party Central Committee in the spirit of the Resolution of the Committee’s fourth meeting was implemented seriously.

The criticism process will be done on a regular basis under the supervision of cadres and Party members nationwide, he noted, adding that the fourth session of the 13 th NA will approve a regulation on vote of confidence, which is also an effective form of supervision.

Regarding voters’ concerns about corruption, Sang said this is an extremely important issue that affects the development of the country. In addition to establishing the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Interior Affairs to be in change of anti-corruption, the Party and State will consider amendments to the Anti-Corruption Law and consolidate the Steering Committee on Anti-corruption, creating an important driving force for promoting the supervision, detection and strict treatment of violations.

The President also spoke at length about the country’s socio-economic economic situation in the remaining months of the year.

The upcoming NA session will focus discussions on measures to boost the overall development of the country at the year-end, he noted.

Vietnamese delegations pay tributes to King Father Sihanouk

Many Vietnamese delegations on October 17 paid tribute to Cambodia’s over the death of King Father Norodom Sihanouk, who passed away on October 15.

National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung led a delegation of senior officials from the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), Government, National Assembly and the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) to lay a wreath at the Cambodian Embassy in Hanoi and expressed sympathy towards the people and nation of Cambodia.

The same day, CPV General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Truong Tan Sang also sent flowers in tribute to the King Father.

Representatives of the Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs, the CPV Central Commission for External Relations, the President’s Office, Government Office and other central and Hanoi agencies, departments and branches also extended their condolences to Cambodia over the country’s loss.

In Ho Chi Minh City, Chairman of the municipal Party Committee, Politburo member Le Thanh Hai on October 17 headed a delegation of officials from the City’s People’s Council, People’s Committee and Ho Chi Minh City’s chapter of VFF, to lay a wreath for the King Father at the Cambodian Consulate General in the city.

Also on October 17, many delegations from agencies and organisations in the city visited the Cambodian Consulate General and expressed their sympathy to the country.

Writing in the funeral guest book, all the delegations expressed their sorrow over the death of King Father Norodom Sihanouk, a close friend of Vietnam, and their hope that Cambodia will overcome this loss soon and continue their cause to build a prosperous and happy country as the wish of the King Father.

Vietnam-Russia Committee meets for 15th session

The 15th session of the Vietnam-Russia Intergovernmental Committee for Economic, Commercial, Scientific, and Technological Cooperation opened in Moscow on October 17.

Committee members first reviewed activities from the previous sessions and evaluated the minutes of last November’s meeting.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Committee Co-Chair Hoang Trung Hai used his speech to highlight successes in the development of political relations between Vietnam and Russia. Upgrading the two countries’ comprehensive strategic partnership has only helped these advances.

Two-way trade turnover between Russia and Vietnam is expected to hit around US$3 billion this year. Both sides underlined the need for decisive and immediate measures promoting bilateral economic and trade cooperation. They include the early negotiation and signing of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and the Russia- Kazakhstan-Belarus Customs Alliance, and establishing a joint working group to accelerate already existing projects.

Mr Hai and his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanovic Shuvalov congratulated the two sides after signing a roadmap for implementing a joint action plan on economic, trade, and investment cooperation until 2015.

During the session, they also discussed ways to further cooperation between Vietnamese and Russian localities in the energy, industry, and science and technology sectors. Agreement was reached on the need for additional collaboration in agriculture, finance and banking, information and communication, and healthcare.

Vietnam attends first Asia Cooperation Dialogue Summit

Deputy Foreign Minister Le Luong Minh led the Vietnamese delegation to the first Asia Cooperation Dialogue Summit in Kuwait from October 15-17.

Addressing the forum, Deputy FM Minh called on Asian countries in general and ACD members in particular to enhance their adaptability in order to cope with challenges facing the region and the world as a whole.

He said the countries should tap into their own internal strength, renew their growth model and boost regional trade and cooperation in finance. The region should also focus on dealing with the three challenges of causal relationship, which are water resource security, food security and energy security. At the same time, the region should increase their connectivity in terms of both “hard” and “soft” infrastructure.

Vietnam believes the ACD cooperation framework can play a bigger role in connecting Asian countries in the future, the Vietnamese representative said. He presented several proposals with a view to enhancing the effectiveness of ACD cooperation activities.

As a founding member of ACD, Vietnam currently acts as a coordinator and co-coordinator in ACD cooperation in poverty reduction and human resource development.

On the sidelines of the event, Deputy FM Minh held meetings with Kuwait’s Finance Minister Neyef al-Hajraf and Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Suleiman al-Jarallah. Minh praised Kuwait for its initiative of organising the first ACD summit and its pledge to contribute 300 million USD to the support programme for ACD development projects. He affirmed that Vietnam attaches importance to the friendship and cooperative ties with Kuwait.

Deputy FM Minh also met with Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and Japan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Naoki Zakawa to discuss bilateral ties.

President asked for improved judicial training

President Truong Tan Sang emphasised the importance of judicial training reforms and the key role played by major law universities in this task at the seventh meeting of the Central Steering Committee for Judicial Reform in Hanoi on October 16.

The committee’s members suggested mobilising sources in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City law universities so they can succeed in training well-qualified judicial officials for state agencies.

They also proposed adjusting goals, measures, training scales, teaching staff, content and methodology in the reform process of training officials in these sectors to ensure its feasibility, contributing to the success of judicial reform strategy.

Regarding the draft report submitted to the Political Bureau on allocating the training and recruitment tasks for judicial and legal officials, the members stressed the necessity to specifically assess the Judicial Institute’s training activities for judges, procurators and lawyers.

Forecasts on the recruitment needs of relevant agencies in this sector should be made, they said.

Sang, who is also Head of the Central Steering Committee for Judicial Reform, highlighted the importance of raising the quality of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City law universities’ training activities, especially with regard to international law.

He also asked the two universities to update their teaching content, re-evaluate the quality of students and gauge the demands of judicial agencies to build suitable development strategies.

He said the strategy of judicial reform towards 2020 is consistent so that shortcomings can be repaired to meet changing situation.

Closer economic links with Bulgaria on the agenda

Viet Nam always attached importance to strengthening friendship and comprehensive co-operation with nations in Central and Eastern Europe, including Bulgaria.

Minister of Finance Vuong Dinh Hue made the statement at a meeting with Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov yesterday, Oct 17.

Hue said Viet Nam was keen to forge a closer relationship with Bulgaria in the fields of finance and economics.

The two ministers discussed issues of common concern, including the public debt crisis in Europe. They also mentioned the macroeconomic situation in both countries and plans for closer links between the two ministries.

Dyankov said he was delighted at the development in co-operative ties between the two countries, expressing his hope that Viet Nam's Ministry of Finance would serve as a bridge to promote bilateral co-operation in all fields.

He also confirmed that Bulgaria would create the right conditions for more co-operation in economics, trade and investment.

VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA