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He was welcomed by Speaker of the Belgian House of Representatives Andre Flahaut at Zaventern International Airport.
The same day, NA Chairman Hung and his entourage visited Brussels Town Hall and paid a courtesy visit to the Mayor of the city, Freddy Thielemans.
The legislative chief thanked the Mayor and people of Brussels for their sentiments. He also said that Brussels is not only the pride of Belgium but also the cultural, political and economic hub of the European Community.
Mayor Thielemans said he was happy at the constant development of the relationship between Belgium and Vietnam in various domains, particularly culture and trade.
He suggested both countries focus on promoting cooperation between their leading socio-economic localities, laying a firm foundation for the fine development of the two countries’ cooperation.
NA Chairman Hung said Vietnamese people have exerted tireless efforts in national construction and development, despite the difficulties and challenges of overcoming the consequences of war.
He said he hopes the Mayor will visit Vietnam to promote cooperation between the two capitals Brussels and Hanoi as well as between Belgium and Vietnam.
Fresh impetus for Cambodia-Vietnam ties
General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong will pay a state-level friendship visit to Cambodia from December 6-8 at the invitation of King Norodom Sihamoni.
This will be Mr Trong’s first visit to Cambodia as Party chief, in the context of growing solidarity, friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.
Vietnam and Cambodia have agreed to strengthen their close ties and maintain bilateral cooperation in various fields at central, local and business levels.
The two sides have successfully organized a trade and investment promotion conference, and the 12th session of their joint commission, defining 25 fields of cooperation.
Vietnam has invested more than US$2.2 billion in 98 projects in Cambodia and ranks second among the 50 countries currently investing there.
Many Vietnamese-invested projects have proved highly effective and have been appreciated by the Cambodian government and people, especially those related to telecommunications, aviation, rubber cultivation, and banking.
Bilateral trade revenues hit US$1 billion in 2010 and are expected to more than double to US$2.4 billion this year.
In addition to bilateral cooperation, Vietnam and Cambodia have also boosted cooperation within ASEAN, the Mekong River Commission, and the Greater Mekong Subregion, as well as the program to develop poor areas along the East-West Corridor and the Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia Development Triangle.
The upcoming visit to Cambodia by General Secretary Trong reaffirms that Vietnam attaches great importance to its ties with neighbouring countries and wants to continue developing ties of friendship and comprehensive cooperation with Cambodia.
The visit also confirms Vietnam’s wish to continue the effective implementation of agreements between the two countries and create favourable conditions for border demarcation and border marker planting.
Vietnam, Russia boost auditing ties
Oil and gas joint ventures between Vietnam and Russia have been operating effectively, bringing great benefits to both countries, says Sergei Vadimovich Stepashin, Chairman of the Russian State Audit.
The Russian official made the statement at a reception held by State President Truong Tan Sang in Hanoi on December 5.
Mr Stepashin recalled his previous visit to Vietnam three years ago, saying that he was impressed by the Southeast Asian nation’s recent achievements.
He also thanked Vietnam for creating more favourable conditions for these joint ventures to bring in full play their strength.
For his part, President Sang appreciated the close cooperation between the State audit agencies of the two countries, saying he hopes Vietnam and Russia will have more large-scale cooperative projects in the near future.
Mr Sang thanked the Russian Government and people for the valuable support they have given to Vietnam in the past, and during its current development process.
He said he believes Russia’s upcoming presidential elections will be a great success.
Earlier, the Vietnam State Audit and its Russian counterpart signed the 2010 joint audit report on the use of the State budget to inspect the quality of the country’s exported seafood as well as the 2011 joint audit results of their oil and gas joint ventures.
Committee on judicial reform discusses five-year plan
The Central Steering Committee for Judicial Reform discussed a focal programme for the next five years at its second working session in Hanoi on December 4.
President Truong Tan Sang, head of the committee, said the programme needs to thoroughly grasp and implement guidelines set in the documents of the 11th National Party Congress while sticking close to Politburo Resolution 49-NQ/TW on the judicial reform strategy up to 2020.
He asked committee members to complete the drafts on Criminal Law, Civil Law and Judicial Procedures Law, clearly define their power to organize the apparatus of judicial offices, and formulate policies to train judicial staff.
The President also requested committee members to speed up amendments and supplements to the 1992 Constitution.
Bringing Vietnam-Belgium relations to a higher level
Vietnam and Belgium have promoted bilateral cooperation in politics, economics, science and technology, culture and national defence, most notably in trade and investment.
On December 5, a high-ranking delegation of the National Assembly (NA) led by Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung started their official visit to Belgium at the invitation of the President of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives Andre Flahaut.
The first visit to Europe by NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung aims to lift cooperative relations between Vietnam and Belgium to a higher level.
Vietnam and Belgium established diplomatic ties in 1973. Since Vietnam opened its embassy in Brussels in early 1991, bilateral cooperation has grown substantially.
The 2000-2008 period saw a rapid and steady growth in two-way trade turnover, from US$395.4 million in 2000 to US$1.369 billion in 2008. Vietnam was always in trade surplus in this period. However, two-way trade turnover has fallen in recent years, to just US$1.1-1.2 billion in 2009 and 2010 due to the impact of the global economic downturn. Up to September this year, two-way trade was estimated at nearly US$1.2 billion.
Belgium is currently Vietnam’s sixth biggest export market in the European Union (EU) after Germany, UK, the Netherlands, France and Spain. Vietnam’s exports to Belgium are mainly footwear, garments and textiles, seafood, coffee and bags, but also next in line are other items such as wood, rubber, plastic, stone and precious metal.
Vietnam’s imports from Belgium include machines, equipment, spare parts, iron and steel, chemicals and pharmaceuticals products.
Belgium ranks 38th among 91 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with 39 projects capitalized at more than US$100 million of which more than three-quarters are allocated to industrial areas in southern cities and provinces.
Vietnam and Belgium started to implement cooperation and development agreements in 1977. Vietnam is the only Asian nation to receive the official development assistance (ODA) from Belgium.
From 2007-2010, Belgium provided Vietnam with US$37.5 million Euros in support of priority areas such as human resources development, water resource management, environmental protection and health care.
The European nation has carried out 20 small and medium-sized projects within the framework of the Vietnam-Belgium cooperation program for the 2007-2010 period to assist Vietnam in economic development and poverty reduction.
In the middle of this year, the Vietnam-Belgium Joint Committee for Economic Cooperation met in Hanoi for the first time under the agreement reached by the two sides during the Belgian Foreign Minister’s visit to Vietnam in 2009 with a view to promoting economic cooperation at government level.
NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung’s visit to Belgium is of great significance, showing the Party and State’s consistent external policy of strengthening relations with other countries as well as their wish to promote all-round cooperation with Belgium.
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