Ambassador to the US engages in TPP dialogue

Vietnamese ambassador to the US Nguyen Quoc Cuong and other foreign ambassadors engaged in a dialogue on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement which was held in the US on March 28.

This was one of the first official meetings between US congress people and representatives of TPP member nations in the context that all concerned parties are accelerating negotiations to finalize legal documents on the TPP in 2012.

In his speech, ambassador Cuong highlighted the significance of the TPP agreement to the dynamic development of the Asia- Pacific region, noting that the number of the signed free trade agreements increased sharply from three in 2000 to 45 in 2010 while 84 more agreements were being negotiated.

Mr Cuong also affirmed Vietnam’s great determination in TPP negotiations and asked representatives from the New Democrat Coalition to support the US in granting the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) to Vietnam and recognizing the country’s market economy status.

Vice Chairman of the New Democrat Coalition Jim Himes affirmed his support for efforts to promote trade liberalization including the TPP and praised the ambassadors’ dialogue to help raise American public awareness of trade, investment and employment opportunities provided by the TPP.

The New Democrat Coalition of the US House of Representatives was founded in 1997, including many democrats who advocate trade liberalization. The coalition has 51 members, mostly coming from the biggest states.

Vietnam attends 8th ASEAN People’s Forum

A 20-member delegation from the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO) other mass organizations attended the 8th ASEAN People’s Forum which opened in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on March 29.

The focus of discussion will be on issues of common concern to ASEAN people such as ethnic minority people; gender and development; women’s rights, vulnerable labour groups; people with disabilities; peace and security; information and technology and the press; HIV/AIDS; maternal health and childcare; the environment, food security and State-social organization relations.  

From March 28-30, nearly 1,100 delegates from mass organizations of ASEAN member countries will make recommendations to the ASEAN Summit scheduled to be held in Phnom Penh in early next month.

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An said Cambodia, in its capacity as ASEAN’s rotating chair, will create the best possible conditions for representatives of mass and non-governmental organizations to meet with ASEAN leaders.

Initiated in 2005, the ASEAN People’s Forum has been regularly held on the sidelines of ASEAN Summits.

President appoints new diplomatic heads

President Truong Tan Sang yesterday appointed 25 diplomats entrusted to work in Vietnamese representative agencies abroad from 2012-2015.

Sang praised the capabilities of 19 newly designated ambassadors and six consuls general and stressed that Vietnamese diplomats needed to boost solidarity among overseas Vietnamese communities while taking advantage of support and assistance from the international community.

He said representative agencies should co-ordinate the implementation of national policies set out at the 11th Party Congress, and deepen the country's international integration in the fields of economy, culture, national defence and security.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh expressed his hope that the agencies would improve the country's co-operative relations with international partners in all fields and raise the country's global status.

A representative of the newly appointed diplomats said they would make every effort to accomplish the tasks entrusted in them by the Party and State.-

ASEAN financial officials meet in Cambodia

Finance and central bank deputies of ASEAN countries met in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on March 27 at the ASEAN Financial and Banking Conference.

The Cambodian Economy and Finance Ministry said the event focused discussion on financial cooperation in the ASEAN framework in order to continue expediting financial integration towards the establishment of an ASEAN Economic Community in 2015.

Participants reviewed the progress of the Roadmap for Monetary and Financial Integration of ASEAN, including Capital Market Development, Financial Services Liberalisation, Capital Account Liberalisation, and the ASEAN Capital Market Forum.

They also discussed the progress of ASEAN Finance Cooperation in the sectors of insurance, customs, taxation, countering terrorism financing, preventing money laundering and ASEAN economic surveillance processes.

The results of the meeting will be submitted for approval to the 16th ASEAN Finance Ministers' meeting, which will be held in Phnom Penh on March 30.

Speaking at the conference, Vongsey Vissoth from the Cambodian Ministry of Economy and Finance said the meeting is very important for the development of the Cambodian economy and regional economies as a whole.

Moreover, he said, the ministry will help to develop a joint policy to respond to global financial crises and risk. As chair of ASEAN, Cambodia has been seeking to promote a financial mechanism for infrastructural development, in order to narrow the development gap among member states.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Southeast Asia boosts maritime security

An international workshop on maritime security in Southeast Asia opened in HCM City yesterday.

The two-day event has gathered 30 experts and scholars from Viet Nam, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

The workshop offers experts and scholars the chance to exchange views on maritime security and seek measures to boost co-operation in the region.

A legal framework for maritime security, search-and-rescue activities and environmental protection will all be discussed at the workshop.

This is the second of four workshops under the same theme co-organised by the Pacific Forum under the US Centre For Strategic and International Studies and research institutes in the Philippines, Viet Nam, Malaysia and Indonesia.

EU pledges to continue all types of assistance

State President Truong Tan Sang said yesterday that Viet Nam always highly valued its co-operation with the European Union (EU) in economic, trade and investment activities, and attached importance to the EU's assistance to the country's economic development.

He made this statement while receiving EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs who is paying a working visit to Viet Nam.

Sang asked the EU to continue providing aid to the country, especially in the fields of education, health, hunger eradication and poverty reduction.

He also expressed his belief that the EU's technical assistance in the field of trade would help the country fully implement its WTO commitments which were hampering its international economic integration.

Piebalgs said the EU pledged to continue offering official development assistance and non-refundable aid to the country. However, their nature would change because Viet Nam had become a middle-income country.

He said that he hoped the two sides would start negotiations on their Free Trade Agreement soon, and affirmed that the EU was willing to share its experiences with Viet Nam in coping with climate change.

He appreciated Viet Nam's efforts to accomplish the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals.

President Sang emphasised that the country would be a bridge for EU members to enter the ASEAN market.

He also agreed that the Partnership Agreement, Comprehensive Partnership Agreement and Free Trade Agreement would serve as a base to boost the two sides' relations in economy, trade and investment.

On the same day, receiving Romanian Ambassador Dumitru Olaru who is ending his working term in Viet Nam, Sang suggested that Viet Nam and Romania continue their tight co-operation at international forums and organisations.

He expressed his hope that Romania would support Viet Nam's nomination to the United Nations' Human Rights Council and Security Council for the 2020-21 term.

The President also expressed his thanks to Romania for its assistance to Viet Nam in the past, and sent his regards to the Romanian President.

Ambassador Olaru affirmed that the two countries' diplomatic relations had made encouraging progress in recent times, and informed Sang that the Romanian President planned to pay a working visit to Viet Nam in the near future to boost bilateral relations.

He thanked the Vietnamese Government for awarding him the Friendship Medal, and relevant agencies for helping him accomplish his tasks during his working term.

He said he hoped that his successor would further boost bilateral co-operation in his country's fields of strength, such as oil and agriculture.

Forum discusses int’l convention on human rights

A forum was held in Hanoi on March 30 to discuss the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in Vietnam.

The event was co-organised by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the United Nations in Vietnam.  

Addressing the forum, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Minh Huan said that the Government of Vietnam has made great progress in promoting gender equality and delegating rights to women through the national programme on gender equality, as well as in solving sex discrimination in education and employment. However, there remain challenges arising from gender inequality, women’s low status in society and violence within the family.

The forum offered a good opportunity for Vietnam to share information on the implementation of the international convention on human rights in general and gender equality in particular, Huan said.

Vietnam reaches development aid deal with partners

The Ministry of Planning and Investment and the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU) on March 28 signed an agreement on updated guidelines for official development assistance (ODA).

Based on the review of 2009’s cost norms, the new agreement will provide more transparent guidelines for the management of ODA projects in Vietnam, funded by UN agencies and EU member states.

The cost norms covered remuneration for project staff and consultants, as well as translation, travel, meeting costs and other related expenses.

On-going projects will be revised to take the financial changes into account.

The financing will be market-oriented and flexible in order to attract high-quality human resources and encourage development cooperation. The guidelines will also be reviewed periodically to ensure the norms follow market prices.

According to EU Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs, the updated guidelines will help improve the efficiency of project implementation by enhancing accountability, among other benefits.

The UN Resident Coordinator Pratibha Mehta added that the standards will also ensure the consistency of procedures and business practices to help reduce the cost of delivering aid.

The EU pledged to give about US$1 billion in ODA for Vietnam this year.

On the days, EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs was received by Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai who affirmed Vietnam wants to cooperate with the EU in economic issues in its focus on stabilising the economy and ensuring social welfare.

Hai expressed his belief that with persistent effort, the EU economy will soon again stabilise.

In response, the EU commissioner said leaders are seeking solutions to the on-going public debt ciris in the region.

He confirmed the EU’s unchanged ODA pledge to Vietnam and said it will cooperate with the country in its development.