ADB assistance for Vietnam praised

Vietnam respected the Asian Development Bank (ADB) goodwill and constructive contributions during the effective assistance and cooperation in policy consultation, macro-economic advice, technical assistance and projects, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung emphasised.

PM Dung made this statement while receiving outgoing ADB Country Director Ayumi Konishi, in Hanoi on June 17.

ADB programmes and projects had made practical contributions to Vietnam’s development in various fields, the Vietnamese PM said.

He affirmed the Vietnamese Government was ready to hold discussions with the ADB to clearly define a new official development assistance (ODA) cooperative plan.

The Vietnamese Government wanted to implement the public private partnership model to attract capital for infrastructure projects, he said, adding that Vietnam wanted the ADB to continue assisting Vietnam finalise a legal framework for the prompt development of the model.

The PM took the occasion to confirm that he would create conditions for new ADB Country Director Tomoyuki Kimura to fulfill his task in Vietnam.

Konishi proposed both sides focus on promoting the disbursement rate and completing a legal framework for the public private partnership model.

The same day, Konishi was received by Politburo member and Minister-Director of the Government Office Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Since taking the office as ADB Country Director to Vietnam on April 3, 2006, Konishi was in charge of ADB’s overall activities in Vietnam. He proposed priorities for ADB’s assistance strategy for Vietnam and compiled national assistance strategies to help Vietnam, based on ADB information.

Vietnam’s ambassador to New Zealand presents credentials

The Vietnamese ambassador to New Zealand, Nguyen Hong Cuong, presented his credentials on June 16 to the Governor-General of New Zealand, Anand Satyanand, in the capital city of Wellington.

Ambassador Cuong conveyed State President Nguyen Minh Triet’s regards and best wishes to Anand Satyanand and affirmed the Vietnamese Government and people’s desire to further develop the comprehensive partnership between the two countries.

Cuong said that he would do his best to make partnership stronger and more beneficial for both sides.

Governor-General Satyanand expressed his satisfaction with the fine development of friendly relations and multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and New Zealand.

He affirmed that the New Zealand government and people attached great importance to developing friendly and comprehensive cooperative ties with Vietnam, and maximising the potential of the two countries to raise bilateral relations to a new level.

Nation must ‘nurture strong working class'

Building a working class during the national industrialisation and modernisation period was an important task for the trade union movement and the entire political system, said Party General Secretary and National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong.

He made the statement at a working session with the Viet Nam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) on the implementation of the Party Central Committee's Resolution 20 which deals with the issue.

"Implementation of the Resolution requires efforts by branches, ministries and organisations to not only accelerate business and production development in industrial and export processing zones but also strongly build and develop the working class in order to meet the requirements of national industrialisation and modernisation," Trong said.

All goals, tasks and solutions set by the Resolution should be adapted into concrete action programmes and schemes, he said.

He stressed the need to select and devise feasible action schemes and programmes, focus on settling wages, insurance, health care, public welfare and training for workers, as well as other pressing issues.

VGCL President Dang Ngoc Tung said officials and workers nationwide believed in the Party's leadership and the Government's management.

Over the past three years, the country had established 12,333 grassroots trade unions with 1.83 million members, he said. By the end of 2010, there were almost 7.1 million trade unionists and more than 106,000 grassroots trade unions in the country.

Trade unions at all levels encouraged their members to become actively involved in production emulation movements and build a strong working class, and promoted theoretical research and trade union activities.

The Viet Nam Trade Union developed friendly relations with more than 100 international organisations and trade unions and strictly abided by the Party and State's external relations policy.

The same day, Trong visited production workshops and met with workers and the management board of the Northern Thang Long Industrial Zone and the Dong Anh Chain and Freewheel Joint Stock Company in Dong Anh District, Ha Noi.

He said implementation of the Resolution aimed not only at bringing into play the important role of the working class in production and business development but also caring for and raising the knowledge of workers in various fields, and harmonising the relationship between employers and employees and between businesses and localities.