Prime Minister welcomes Bulgarian defence chief

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung received the Chief of General Staff of Bulgarian Armed Forces, Simeon Hristov Simeonov, in Hanoi on November 26.

At the reception, Dung hailed the strong development of the traditional friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Bulgaria over the past time, saying that it has brought practical benefits to the common development of both nations.

He affirmed that Vietnam attaches importance to strengthening its multi-faceted cooperation with Bulgaria, including in defence.

The Prime Minister suggested the two sides early sign a memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation, through such forms as the exchange of delegations and experience in international peace keeping activities, military medicine and technique.

For his part, the Bulgarian Chief of Defence said his visit aims to increase the cooperation between the two armies, especially in training officers and military medicine.

HCM City welcomes Malaysian navy ship

The Malaysian Navy Ship KD-PKHTH with 90 crew members docked at Ho Chi Minh City Port on November 25.

The crewmen, led by Rear Admiral Abdul Rahman bin Hj  Ayob,  will pay a floral tribute at Ho Chi Minh Statue, meet with leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, 7th  Military Zone Command and the southern Navy Command.

They will also take part in friendly volleyball matches with the Naval Technology High School.

The five-day visit aims to strengthen friendship and cooperation as well as mutual understanding between Vietnam and Malaysia and their two armies.

Vietnam, Palestine audit cooperation

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh met the President of the State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB) of Palestine, Samir A.O Abuznaid, on November 26 in Hanoi.

Ninh applauded the outcomes of the talks between the high-ranking delegation of Palestin ’s SAACB and the Government Inspectorate and other relevant agencies of Vietnam.

He highly valued the cooperation between the two countries in various fields, saying that there is still great potential for Vietnam and Palestine to further their cooperation, especially in economics.

The Deputy PM confirmed Vietnam’s stance to share the difficulties that Palestine faces, and support the country in its struggle for independence and national construction.

In response, Samir Abuznaid thanked Vietnam for supporting Palestine’s struggle for independence and national construction.

Palestine has a lot in common with Vietnam and has studied Vietnam’s fight to protect itself and its process of national construction and development, he said.

He expressed his hope that in the future, Palestine’s SAACB and Vietnam’s Government Inspectorate will work towards a cooperation agreement in areas of mutual concern.

Vietnam attends communist and worker parties meeting

A delegation of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) attended the 14 th International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties, which took place from November 22-25 in Lebanon’s capital of Beirut.

The Vietnamese delegation, led by Standing Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Communist Review, Pham Tat Thang, presented to the meeting the CPV ’s experiences in building and defending the socialist country in the context of globalization and international integration.

The meeting attracted more than 80 delegates from 60 parties in 44 countries, who discussed the international and regional situations, especially the crisis in Middle East-North Africa and the increasingly serious crisis of capitalism.

They called on communist and workers parties worldwide to uphold their leading role in the struggle for changes of practical benefit to the people and for a socialist society.

During their stay, the Vietnamese delegation was received by Lebanese Communist Party General Secretary Khaled Hadad and held meetings with several participating parties.

Vietnam, Japan hold first strategic defence dialogue

Deputy Defence Minister, Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh and his Japanese counterpart Hironori Kanazawa co-chaired the first Vietnam-Japan strategic defence dialogue in Hanoi on November 26.

The two sides agreed that Vietnam-Japan relations have deepened in all fields, of which defence cooperation continues to see positive development, meeting strategic partnership agreements between the two countries’ leaders.

The sides have built mutual trust and understanding with all-level delegation exchanges, driving effective and practical defence cooperation.

To meet future objectives, the two sides agreed upon measures to strengthen defence cooperation in the fields of delegation exchange, training, peacekeeping experience sharing, mine clearance, naval medical care and non-traditional security management.

In frank debate, they reached a common perception in participating, consulting and supporting each other at multilateral forums, including the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM+), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and solution of sea and island disputes by peaceful means in accordance with international law.

They agreed to build a roadmap and dialogue mechanism to implement the initiatives and bilateral defence cooperation reached between the two Defence Ministers in October 2011, contributing to a deepening strategic partnership between the two countries.

The same day, Kanazawa paid a courtesy visit to Defence Minister Phung Quang Thanh.

Party leader visits southern Vinh Long Province

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong paid a working visit to Long My commune, Mang Thit district, Vinh Long province on November 26 during his ongoing working tour to southwestern provinces.

Trong praised Long My’s achievements in socio-economic development.

Thanks to crop diversification, the lives of local residents have improved with the rate of households living below the poverty line dropping to 4.1 percent and 100 percent of school-aged children attending school. The commune has now fulfilled 12 out of 19 criteria in developing rural areas.

The Party chief heard recommendations from local people and officials to better the implementation of Party and State guidelines and policies.

He also listened to practical working methods and experience in economic and cultural development, education, vocational training, job creation and poverty reduction as well as the Party building and rectification in the locality.

On November 25, the Party leader offered incense in remembrance of the late Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Pham Hung, at his monument in Long Ho district, and the late Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet at his monument in Vung Liem District.

He visited and presented gifts to Major-General and Hero of the Armed Forces, Pham Phi Hung, in Vinh Long City.

Party officials attend ICAPP’s general assembly

A delegation from the Communist Party of Vietnam has joined representatives from 59 political parties in Asia in a conference to discuss peace, security and reconciliation in the region.

Hoang Binh Quan, head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations, proposed measures to secure peace and stability in Asia at the event, which was the seventh general assembly of International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) held in the Azerbaijani capital city of Baku from November 21-24.

On the sidelines of the event, Vietnamese officials held talks with leaders of the New Azerbaijani Party and met with leaders of the National Assembly and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the host country. It also met with representatives of other participating political parties to exchange measures to boost cooperation.

Participants to the general assembly approved the ICAPP’s amended Charter, agreed to expand the ICAPP’s Standing Committee membership to 22, and adopted the Baku Declaration.

The declaration affirmed the importance of peace and security to the region, applauded positive results of the process of reconciliation and democratisation in some Asian countries over the past times, and showed worries about risks of growing conflicts and violence at many places in the region.

The general assembly supported the settlement of territorial disputes based on international law and principles of the United Nations Charter and rejected the use of force or threat to use force. It called for boosting cooperation to achieve nuclear disarmament, fight poverty and promote sustainable development.

It also suggested the early holding of the first conference between political parties of Asia, Africa and Latin America in the second half of 2013.

Born 12 years ago, ICAPP now gathers 336 political parties from 54 Asian countries to the motto “unification in diversity”.

Mexican Labour Party keen to cooperate with VNA

The Labour Party of Mexico (PT) wants to expand cooperation with Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and other relevant Vietnamese agencies in the coming time.

The Labour Party’s Secretary General, Alberto Anaya Gutierrez, made the statement at a working session with VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi in Hanoi on November 26.

Gutierrez, who is also President of the Mexico–Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarian Group, highly valued the cooperation between the PT and VNA over the past 15 years, which according to him, has actively contributed to promoting cooperation between the two countries.

Loi thanked PT for the gift of a statue of President Ho Chi Minh working at the Presidential Palace it presented to VNA at the inauguration ceremony of the VNA headquarters, saying that it is evidence of the friendly cooperation and solidarity that exists between Mexicans and VNA.

He highlighted the growing cooperation between VNA and PT in recent years, including PT’s assistance in training Spanish-speaking staff as well as printing and distributing publications that feature Vietnam, its culture and people in Latin America.

The VNA leader said he hopes the two sides will better implement the agreements signed in 2010 on training, printing and publishing Vietnam Pictorial issues, and successfully hold a photo exhibition next year.

At the working session, Loi presented the insignia “For the cause of VNA” to the PT leader.

VNN/VOV/VNA