Leaders send greetings on US Independence Day

President Truong Tan Sang and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday sent greeting messages to US President Barack Obama on the occasion of the 237th Independence Day of the United States of America (July 4, 1776).

Also on this occasion, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung sent his congratulations to President of the US Senate Joe Biden and Speaker of the US House of Representatives John Boehner.

UN praises VN's human development

Viet Nam ranked 127th out of 187 countries in terms of human development for 2012, according to the United Nation's global 2013 Human Development Report released yesterday, July 3.

Viet Nam ranked 127th out of 187 countries in terms of human development for 2012, according to the United Nation's global 2013 Human Development Report released yesterday, July 3.

According to the report of the United Nations Development Programme, titled The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World, Viet Nam was among 40 developing countries identified to have done better than expected in human development in recent decades.

The report attributed the achievements to efforts in improving public health and education services, implementing innovative poverty eradication programmes and the increased level of engagement with the world economy.

Viet Nam's human development progress had increased by 41 per cent in the past two decades, the report said.

Speaking at the launching ceremony yesterday, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son said Viet Nam always considered its people as the centre of its policies and driver of the development process.

"Viet Nam has achieved many Millennium Development Goals ahead of schedule, particularly those on poverty reduction, universal primary education, and maternal health and reduced mortality rate of children under five," Son said.

UN resident co-ordinator Pratibha Mehta highlighted the need for the country to invest in people. "Without investing in people, returns from global markets – or foreign direct investment – will remain limited," she said.

She identified regional and geographic disparities as obstacles for Viet Nam progressing to higher levels of human development.

Lao press hails completion of building of border markers

Many newspapers in Laos on July 2 and 3 carried articles welcoming the completion of the building of border markers along the Laos-Vietnam border line, describing it as a significant event in the two countries’ political-social life.

They said as Vietnam and Laos are expected to hold a grand ceremony to celebrate the accomplishment of the building of border markers and the inauguration of border marker No. 460, the Prime Ministers of the two countries will attend the event.

This meaningful event takes place when the mutual traditional friendship, solidarity and multi-faceted cooperation between the two nations have been increasingly consolidated and deepened, the newspapers said.

Vietnam and Laos share 2,067 km of border line, which is also the longest border line of Laos with a neighbouring country.

The Lao press also reported that the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs will hold a press conference to announce the plan of the celebration ceremony.

Farmers’ Union Chairman re-elected

The sixth national congress of the Vietnam Farmers’ Union (VNFU) closed in Hanoi on July 3 after four days of intensive work, re-electing Nguyen Quoc Cuong as Chairman of the sixth VNFU Central Committee.

The congress voted for the approval of 11 key targets for the 2013-2018 term and supplements and amendments to union regulations.

The Union’s Central Committee agreed upon its personnel structure, with one chairman and five vice-chairpersons.

The congress approved 11 targets and seven key tasks for the next term, with a focus on enhancing VNFU’s role in developing agriculture, building new agricultural facilities and supporting the peasantry over the 2010-2020 period while promoting farmers’ patriotic emulation movements.

Millennium Goal successes receive international acclaim

Viet Nam has won plaudits from the international community for its achievements in fulfilling many of its United Nations Millennium Development Goals ahead of schedule.

During the Annual Ministerial Review of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSCO), which is taking place in Geneva from July 1-4, delegates from countries such as Laos, the Republic of Korea and Mozambique praised Viet Nam's success in the field.

As one of the three countries selected to voluntarily share their experience and progress in national development, Viet Nam told the meeting that by 2012, the country had reached many of the goals it had committed too.

In 10 years the country has halved the number of poor people and continues to make encouraging progress in the first goal to eradicate hunger and poverty. The poverty rate has dropped from 58.1 per cent in 1993 to 10.7 per cent in 2010.

In 2000, the country achieved universal high-standard primary education and by 2012, the net enrolment rate for primary education reached 97.7 per cent.

Remarkable progress has also been seen in promoting gender equality and empowering women, as well as improving child and maternal health.

The country has obtained significant achievements in establishing global partnerships for development, helping mobilise foreign investment flow and official development assistance (ODA) while taking advantage of opportunities offered by trade liberalisation to spur economic growth and poverty reduction.

However, a substantial proportion of the population is in danger of falling back into poverty, as Viet Nam is one of the countries that are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Vet Nam has, so far, fulfilled three goals ahead of schedule, with three more expected to be reached by 2015.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen The Phuong, who led the Vietnamese delegation to the event, told the Vietnam News Agency that two others millennium goals, including ensuring environmental sustainability and restraining the growth rate of HIV, still faced an array of challenges.

This year, the ECOSOC Annual Ministerial Review has put the spotlight on the role of science, technology and innovation in the promotion of sustainable development.

Phuong noted that a legal framework had been created to promote the development of Vietnamese laws, such as the Law on Technological Transfer and the Law on Intellectual Property.

Meanwhile, the country is actively partnering with the UN in devising the post-2015 Development Agenda, he said.

Brunei seeks closer military ties with Vietnam

Defence Minister Genaral Phung Quang Thanh hosted a reception for visiting First Admiral Haji Mohd Hanifa, Commander of the Royal Brunei Navy, in Hanoi on July 2.

First Admiral Haji Mohd Hanifa briefed General Thanh on his work with Vietnam’s Navy High Command. The two navies will boost bilateral cooperation through many exchange programmes and the establishment of a hotline to address maritime issues of mutual interest, he said.

General Thanh highly valued the growing relations between the two ministries and navies, and stressed that their defence relationship has facilitated the development of bilateral ties in many other areas.

He said in the coming time the two sides’ military and naval forces will strengthen exchanges of all-level delegations, young officer exchanges, cooperation in search and rescue training, anti-terrorism and piracy.

VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA