Vietnam, US hold human rights dialogue

The 17th session of the Vietnam-US Human Rights Dialogue took place in Hanoi on April 12, said Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Luong Thanh Nghi on April 17 when answering a reporter’s question relating to the dialogue.

According to the spokesperson, at the dialogue, the two sides frankly exchanged information about issues of common concern, including those relating to law-governed state, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the rights of people with disabilities and homosexuals, the implementation of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism, and the implementation and protection of human rights in Vietnam and the US.

The Vietnamese side also took the initiative in providing information and clarifying the truth about erroneous, untrue information that did not correctly reflect the real situation in Vietnam.

During their visit to Vietnam, the US delegation headed by Deputy Assistant Secretary Daniel Baer met a number of individuals of the US side’s interest.

“We believe that the maintaining of regular dialogues on issues, including human rights, between Vietnam and the US in an open, constructive, equal and mutually respectful spirit will contribute to strengthening mutual understanding and boosting cooperation for the benefit of the two peoples,” said Nghi.

Vietnam condemns all violence against innocent people

Vietnam condemns all violence against innocent people, spokesperson of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Luong Thanh Nghi said in response to reports about the deadly April 15 bombings at a marathon in Boston.

A man hold a wounded woman in a blast in Boston. (Photo: VNA) 

“We offer our deepest sympathy to US people and families of the victims, and believe that the culprits will be deservedly punished,” Nghi said.

The bombing killed three and injured many others.

High percentage of female deputies in Vietnam parliament

Women account for 24.4 percent of the total deputies in the Vietnamese National Assembly (NA), ranking it second only to Laos in Southeast Asia, reported the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

According to the UNDP’s latest Human Development Report themed “The rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World”, the top 10 countries with highest percentage of women in parliament include Rwanda (51.9 percent), Andorra, Cuba, Sweden, the Seychelles, Senegal, South Africa, Nicaragua and Iceland.

In terms of the gender inequality index, Vietnam is ranked 48th globally.

Vietnam holds political consultation with Turkey

Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Phuong Nga visited Turkey and attended the second Political Consultation with her Turkish counterpart Mehmet Fatih Ceylan from April 15 – 17.

During the visit, Nga had meetings with Deputy Minister of Economy Mustapha Serve, Deputy Minister of Customs and Trade Fatih Metin, as well as representatives of the Istanbul administration, the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and the Turkey-Vietnam Business Council. She also visited some economic establishments in Ankara and Istanbul.

At the meetings, the two sides briefed each other about the political and socio-economic situation in each country. They expressed delight of the rapid development of multifaceted relations between the two countries over the past time and agreed to boost cooperation in all fields, especially economics and trade.

They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of common concern.

Regarding orientations for the future cooperation, the two sides agreed to speed up the exchange of high-level delegations and coordinate to organise activities to mark the 35th anniversary of diplomatic ties (June, 1978 – June, 2013).

They agreed to enhance the effectiveness of bilateral cooperation in the fields of trade, labour, agriculture, education and training, investment and customs, as well as speed up negotiations for and the signing of agreements on double-tax avoidance, investment encouragement and protection, and an Memorandum of Understanding on customs cooperation.

On the occasion, an action plan between the two foreign ministries for the 2013-2015 period and a Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries’ diplomatic academies were inked.

Vietnam, Belarus hold political consultation

Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son visited Belarus and held a regular political consultation with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs V. Rybakov from April 11-12.

During the visit, Son also had a working session with Belarus Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei.

At the political consultation, the two sides briefed each other about socio-economic development in each country as well as their foreign policies.

They discussed measures to boost bilateral cooperation in a series of fields, ranging from politics-diplomacy, economics-trade and technology-defense to education-training and culture-sports-tourism.

They stressed the need to speed up negotiations for and an early signing of a free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Customs Union, of which Belarus is a member.

The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern and affirmed that they will continue to closely coordinate and support each other at international forums.

They agreed that the two foreign ministries have been cooperating with each other regularly, closely and effectively over the past time, adding that political consultation should be further strengthened in order to enhance bilateral relations.

The two sides agreed to coordinate closely to organise a successful visit by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to Belarus in the time to come.

Deputy PM meets with Vietnam Christian Mission

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has affirmed Vietnam’s consistent policy of respecting people’s rights to religious and belief freedom, and asked Christian dignitaries and followers to be more united and support each other to ensure social welfare and further develop the country.

Phuc, who is also a Politburo Member of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), made the remarks at a reception in Hanoi on April 17 for representatives of the Vietnam Christian Mission’s Executive Board.

He said that the Party, State and Government highly value the contributions of religious dignitaries and followers in general and pastors and followers of the mission in particular to national construction and defence.

He also praised the efforts made by the mission together with people nationwide over the past years in reducing poverty, building new-style cultural families and joining charitable activities.

An Executive Board representative affirmed that the mission will continue nurturing the solidarity among its believers and strictly abide by the country’s policies and laws on religion and belief.

The mission now has more than 31,000 followers, with 48 pastors, 168 missionaries, 5 churches, 83 oratories and 200 groups in 14 localities across the country.

Ambassador seeks stronger cooperation with Guangxi

Vietnamese Ambassador to China Nguyen Van Tho on April 16 held a working session with Peng Qinghua, Party Secretary and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China.

During the talks, the two sides noted with joy the development in the cooperation between Vietnamese localities and Guangxi since the signing of the land border agreement between the two countries. Two-way trade reached over 9.7 billion USD, up over 28 percent, making up 80 percent of the total trade turnover between Chinese Guangxi and ASEAN countries.

Over the past years, Guangxi and border provinces of Vietnam such as Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Cao Bang and Ha Giang continue to enjoy stable and close ties in the areas of economics, culture, society, education-training and crime prevention and fight.

Vietnamese officials and enterprises have regularly participated in and made positive contributions to the annual ASEAN-China Expo.

Ambassador Tho suggested increasing the exchange of delegations at all levels for further mutual trust and understanding, as well as people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

He also proposed that the two sides need to work out more effective measures to further boost bilateral trade and economic cooperation, facilitating projects in the framework of “two corridors one belt”, especially infrastructure connectivity and tourism cooperation among the two sides’ localities.

The Vietnamese diplomat asked Guangxi to coordinate efforts with Vietnam’s border localities in fighting trans-national crimes, maintaining social order and security in the border areas shared by both countries, and well implementing the Protocol on Border Demarcation and Marker Planting, the Agreement on Border Management Regulations and the Agreement on Border Gates and Land Border Gate Management Regulations between Vietnam and China.

On his part, Peng Qinghua highly valued the Vietnamese Ambassador’s visit, saying that he believes in the further development of the cooperation between Guangxi and Vietnamese provinces.

He said the two sides should work together for transport linkage, the establishment of the trans-border Dongxing-Mong Cai economic cooperation zone and tourism cooperation.

During his trip, Ambassador Tho also met with the party committee secretary of Guangxi University and Vietnamese students who are studying there.

Earlier, the ambassador paid fields trips to some localities in Guangxi and had working sessions with local officials.

VNN/VOV/VNA