Hieu told Thai Minister of Defence Prawit Wongsuwon during their meeting in Bangkok as part of his visit to Thailand from March 24-26 that the two countries have enjoyed fine development in military cooperation over the years.

Thai Minister Prawit congratulated Vietnam’s Defence Ministry for successfully holding military and defence meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2010, especially the first ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting plus (ADMM+).

During their stay, the Vietnamese delegation visited the centre of bomb and mine action and several famous sites of cultural relics in Bangkok.

Legislators aim to boost economic development

Deputies at the 12th National Assembly's 9th session on Saturday discussed a report on the implementation of plans for socio-economic development and the State budget last year and the first months of this year.

The discussion, chaired by National Assembly Vice Chairman Nguyen Duc Kien, focused on targets and measures to boost growth and curb inflation and stabilising the macro economy.

Finance Minister Vu Van Ninh said all countries in the world faced increased inflation last year. Europe's inflation rose by 2-2.5 times the set target and that of China and India increased by more than two times the target.

Ninh said world prices kept rising and affecting domestic prices. He admitted that the country's macro-economy balance remained unstable.

Changes in gold and foreign currency prices, high interest rates and the tense foreign exchange all had impacts on the consumer price index, Ninh said.

A number of commodities whose production followed market prices in the short-term had been forced to have prices adjusted, notably petrol and electricity, he said.

Regarding up-coming measures, Ninh said the balance of supply and demand must be maintained, the distribution system must be rearranged and prices managed in accordance with the market.

Ninh also said world petrol prices would influence local retail prices.

He said it was necessary to maintain social welfare, especially for poor workers, and low income earners, when regulating petrol prices.

He asked for a tighter co-ordination between localities and ministries to boost production, trade and distribution, fight fakes and low quality products, and control prices.

State Bank Governor Nguyen Van Giau said the Government was determined to contain this year's credit growth at 20 per cent on 2010.

Giau said that foreign exchange operations have resumed at thousands of bureaus opened by commercial banks across the country, especially in HCM City and Ha Noi.

As for gold trading, Giau said there were proposals to promulgate a decree on gold trading to better manage trading.

During their stay in Vietnam, the delegation laid a wreath at the Monument to Heroic Martyrs and at President Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum in Hanoi.

They met with State President Nguyen Minh Triet and held talks with a high-ranking Vietnamese military delegation led by Defence Minister, General Phung Quang Thanh.

The delegation also visited the Vietnam Military History Museum, the Army Telecommunications Group, Viettel, and some Vietnam People’s Army units as well as Ha Long Bay.

Gen. Tran Thai Binh, Director of the Institute for Military Strategy under the Defence Ministry said on March 25 that these measures include boosting dialogues and bilateral and multilateral cooperation, improving the role of regional forums such as the ASEAN Regional Forum and Shangri La dialogue, and promoting human resources training and science application along with sharing experiences.
He added that some countries need technical support and experiences in building laws on preventing and combating terrorism.
Held for the first time in Jakarta from March 23-25, the event drew the participation of 1,300 delegates from 34 countries throughout the world.
The event aims to gather military leaders, experts and policy makers from the Asia-Pacific region to foster regional stability in the future, to promote cooperation among governments to deal with international and regional security threats as well as create a strategic model for defence and security.