Vice State President visits Hoa Binh social work centre

Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan on July 10 paid a visit to Social Work Centre in the northern province of Hoa Binh.

The Vice President spoke highly of the great works that centre’s staffs had given to homeless people, orphans, and disabled people while expressing her hope that the centre will provide further social works for the needy.

Earlier, the Vice President visited and presented gifts to families of war heroes and Agent Orange victims in the province.

State President receives former Soviet military expert

Former Soviet’s military assistance to Vietnam during the war is a symbol of friendship between Vietnam and the former Soviet Union including Kazakhstan, State President Truong Tan Sang told Tadiyev Flyur, former Soviet military expert, in Hanoi on July 10.

Tadiyev Flyur trained many Vietnamese pilots during the war. His work received praises from both Vietnamese and the then Soviet military leaders. Upon return to his homeland in Kazakhstan as Lieutenant Colonel, he continued to do his positive part to the friendship between the two countries.

The guest expressed his pleasure at Vietnam’s rapid development and thanked Vietnamese government for arranging his visit to Vietnam, where he spent young days with his fellows.

German papers highlight Party chief’s US visit

A number of German papers recently ran stories highlighting Vietnam–US cooperative prospects on the occasion of the first US visit by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

The article “Vietnam and US inching closer together” by Rodion Ebbighausen on the e-newspaper Deutsche Welle described economic engagement as the "basis and engine" for bilateral ties through the comprehensive partnership agreement signed in 2013.

It said the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal would form the centrepiece of the partnership, citing Peter Petri, an economist at Massachusetts' Brandeis University, as saying Vietnamese exports are estimated to jump by as much as 30 percent to 300 billion USD once the TPP agreement is completed. At the same time, foreign direct investment (FDI) is projected to climb two percent.

Despite their differences, Vietnam is a country of huge strategic importance for Washington D.C. since Obama's announcement of a US "pivot" to Asia, Erwin Schweisshelm of the German NGO Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Hanoi was quoted, adding that Vietnam wants to safeguard its foreign policy independence and does not intend to enter into a formal military alliance with another nation.

The article concluded that the visit would strengthen the foundation of US-Vietnamese relations.

The daily “Die Tageszeitung” also published an article by Sven Hansen portraying the visit as an opportunity to make economic and strategic breakthroughs, particularly in TPP negotiations.

Military logistics department honoured with first class order

The General Department of Logistics under the Ministry of Defence received the first-class Military Exploit Order and celebrated the 65 th anniversary of the traditional day of the Army’s logistics (July 11, 1950) on July 10 in Hanoi.

State President Truong Tan Sang, who presented the order to the department, lauded the progress over the past 65 years and urged it to continue upholding its traditional values and apply advanced technology to its works.

He underscored its primary duty of building and protecting the nation, particularly in the context of ongoing territorial disputes in the East Sea, adding that it needs to ensure sufficient logistics supply in any circumstances.

Late President Ho Chi Minh established the General Department of Logistics in July 11, 1950 to manage the logistics of supplying food, medicine, fuel and army necessities during the war against the French, Chief of General Logistical Department Lieutenant General Duong Van Ra said in his opening remarks.

Ra recalled the department’s history from the historic battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 to logistics operations along the Ho Chi Minh trail during the American war in Vietnam, and post-1975 wars to protect the country’s southwest and northern borders.

US ceremony marks 50 years since start of Vietnam War

US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, congressional leaders and hundreds of war veterans attended a recent ceremony marking 50 years since US ground troops arrived in Vietnam.

The July 8 event in Washington D.C. was also participated in by House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The Vietnam War taught Americans many lessons, "many hard-won, some difficult to swallow," Carter said.

He noted the Defense Department has more than 650 employees devoted to accounting for those missing-in-action from US wars, including the 1,627 service members still missing from Vietnam.

Former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, himself a Vietnam veteran, told the crowd that "there is no glory in war, only suffering".

He also described the night his personnel carrier was ambushed, leaving his brother and others wounded. As they waited for medical evacuation by helicopter, Hagel swore to himself that he would work to make war a last resort for resolving disputes between countries.

Regarding the historic meeting between General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong and US President Barack Obama at the White House on July 7, Hagel said the talks were not meant to recall the past but work towards the future, adding that the US learned many lessons from the Vietnam War, and will work to avoid repeating them in the future.

Party journalists visit India

A delegation from the Nhan dan (People) newspaper, the organ of the Communist Party of Vietnam, paid a working visit to India from July 3–11 at the invitation of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

The delegation was led by Editor-in-Chief Thuan Huu, who is a member of the Party Central Committee and Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association.

In a working session with Indian Minister of State V.K. Singh and officials from the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, the two sides informed each other on their respective country’s current political context, highlighting the sound development of friendship and bilateral cooperation.

They noted that collaboration on the press, information and communications was not yet on par with their strategic partnership.

Minister of State V.K. Singh spoke highly of the accomplishments Vietnam achieved during its nation building, adding that the delegation’s visit would help promote the alliance and affiliation between the two countries.

Congratulating India on its recent achievements, Thuan Huu stressed that Vietnam appreciated the South Asian nation’s assistance during its struggle for national liberation in the past as well as during today’s development process. He expressed his firm belief that their traditional friendship and strategic partnership would continuously flourish.

During their visit, the Vietnamese delegation also met with officials of the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, as well as representatives of the Confederation of Indian Industry, and the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.

It also held working sessions with representatives of major local media outlets, including Doordarshan Television, NDTV Television, PTI News Agency, the “New Age” newspaper – the Communist Party of India’s media channel and the “People’s Democracy” newspaper – the Marxist Communist Party of India’s media channel.

Cambodian PM appreciates Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship Association

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen praised the Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship Association (VCFA)’s efforts to promote friendship between the two countries in recent years.

During a meeting with a delegation on July 9 from the VCFA led by Vu Vuong Viet, Vice President of the association, PM Hun Sen said that the visit is highly significant and contributes to promoting the traditional and friendship cooperation between the two countries.

The PM spoke highly of the VCFA’s achievements in cooperation activities with the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Association (CVFA).

He underlined that besides State-level diplomatic meetings, people-to-people exchanges in which the two friendship associations play key roles would increase friendship and cooperation activities in economics, culture, and science-technology.

Viet thanked the PM for the reception and pledged that the VCFA would do all it can to cement and develop the friendly relationship between the two countries.

Previously, the delegation visited the Monument to Vietnamese Voluntary Soldiers in Phnom Penh and met with a delegation from the CVFA led by Men Som On, Vice President of the CVFA.-

Int’l media coverage of Party leader’s official US visit

Several newspapers in the US, Australia and India ran articles on the historic official visit to the US by Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

On July 7, The Washington Times dedicated part of its front page to feature the significance of the visit and US-Vietnam relations, emphasising that “despite the bitter past and ideological differences, Vietnam and America are now poised to embrace one another in an expanded comprehensive partnership.”

“The evolving partnership provides a mechanism to facilitate cooperation in political and diplomatic relations, trade and economic ties, science and technology, education and training, environment and health, war legacy issues, defence and security,” it wrote.

The article, titled “A new era in US-Vietnam relations: Arrival of Party Chief signals importance of partnership”, also highlighted that two-way trade has increased from 450 million USD 20 years ago, when the two countries restored their bilateral relations, to almost 39 billion USD in 2014. The average annual income in Vietnam has increased six-fold from 560 USD in 1988 to 3,354 USD today. Furthermore, the 17,000 Vietnamese nationals studying in the US reinforce the educational cooperation between the two countries.

According to the newspaper, Vietnam exports more goods to the US than to any country in ASEAN at present. With its population of 90 million - with one third under the age of 20 - and an average GDP growth rate of 7 percent over the last 25 years, US businesses consider Vietnam one of the most promising markets in Southeast Asia.

US-based “The Huffington Post” posted an article by Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken with the title “A strategic opportunity to advance US-Vietnam relations” on July 7.

Blinken wrote that Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s visit would commence a new chapter in the two countries’ joint history.

He stressed that over the past two decades, Vietnam lifted millions of people out of poverty through market-oriented reforms and made concrete progress towards a more open society. The country has also integrated itself into the international community and is becoming an active and constructive player in the global arena.

He also mentioned the negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a 12-nation trade deal. Besides economic dividends, the agreement, once reached, will provide strategic opportunities for the entire region, unleashing the countries’ potential and improving citizens’ lives.

Meanwhile, Australia’s “The Sydney Morning Herald” cited Alexander Vuving, a security analyst at the Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies in Hawaii, saying that the visit “underscores the converging interests of the two countries”.

On July 9, the Indian magazine “Political Events” ran an article titled “US-Vietnam relations entering a new era”, written by Vinod Anand, a Senior Fellow at the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF).

According to Anand, the Vietnamese Party General Secretary’s visit, the first visit by Vietnam’s top Communist Party leader to the US, indicates “the distance both countries have travelled over the years to forge a mutually beneficially relationship despite differing political systems”.

He suggested the two sides continue to promote the development of economic cooperation and trade, with the specific objective of completing the negotiations on the TPP.