Hanoi, Jakarta seek to expand cooperation in urban planning

Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen The Hung has suggested Hanoi and the Indonesian capital of Jakarta expand cooperation in urban planning, smart city construction, public transport and environmental protection.

Hung made the proposal at his reception on March 27 for a delegation of urban planning officials from Jakarta.

He said that the two cities are facing similar challenges in urbanisation, environment and public transport.

The vice chairman expressed his hope that the Jakarta delegation’s visit will connect the two sides’ enterprises, thus deepening bilateral relations.

Vietnam, Hungary augment ties in judicial manpower training

A delegation of the Supreme People’s Court of Vietnam has paid a working visit to Hungary during which they held talks with Hungarian agencies, agreeing to step up cooperation in specialised training and applying IT in legal procedures.

The delegation, led by Chief Justice Nguyen Hoa Binh, met with leaders of the Hungarian Prosecution Service, the National Office for the Judiciary and the Ministry of Human Resources.

During talks with Prosecutor General of Hungary Peter Polt, Binh affirmed that the two countries have carried out several cooperation programmes in the field of prosecution. Since 2013, the Hanoi-based Procuratorate University has sent five students to study law in Hungary.

Polt agreed with Binh’s proposal on creating more favourable conditions for Vietnamese students who study law in the country to practice at local prosecution agencies.

He added the Hungarian Prosecution Service is ready to share its experience with the specialist staff of Vietnam in areas that Hungary is strong in like anti-economic, cyber and securities crimes.

The two sides also discussed security measures in using IT in legal procedures and trials.

Chief Justice Binh also held talks with President Hando Tunde of the National Office for the Judiciary, an independent ministry-level agency specialising in ensuring the funding, infrastructure and manpower training for Hungary’s court system.

He asked Tunde to support Hungary’s assistance for the Vietnam Court Academy in building a contingent of judges meeting international standards.

The Hungarian official promised that the National Office for the Judiciary will create conditions for Vietnamese students to practice in local courts. It also welcomes the Hungarian Ministry of Human Resources’ helping Vietnamese court workers to study in the country.

At a meeting with Zita Horvath, Deputy State Secretary for Higher Education at the Hungarian Ministry of Human Resources, Binh lauded the Hungarian Government’s look east policy, which allocates 45 million EUR for human resources training for Asian countries, including Vietnam.

He asked the ministry to expand the training of bachelors of law and give five of the 200 scholarships it gives to Vietnam each year to the court sector. He also applauded his host’s proposal to boost cooperation between Vietnamese and Hungarian universities.

HCM City leader receives Indonesian Consul General

Ho Chi Minh City always welcomes foreign investments, including those from Indonesian businesses, in transport infrastructure, environment and tourism, said Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong. 

In a reception on March 27 for new Indonesian Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Hanif Salim, Phong noted that trade promotion programmes should be held to boost trade between the Vietnamese city and Indonesia.

Phong congratulated the Indonesian diplomat on his new position and expressed his hope that Salim will help increase two-way trade to 10 billion USD soon.

Hanif Salim, for his part, said that he will continue working to link Indonesian investors with Vietnamese partners to increase bilateral trade.

Indonesia has 30 projects with total capital of 26.8 million USD in Ho Chi Minh City so far, ranking 32nd among 96 countries and territories investing in the city.

Ambassador vows to deepen Vietnam-Israel defence ties

Newly-appointed Ambassador of Israel to Vietnam Nadav Eshcar has pledged to do his utmost to promote the cooperation between the two countries, including the elevation of the defence partnership to a new height.

He made the remark at a meeting with Defence Minister General Ngo Xuan Lich in Hanoi on March 27.

General Lich expressed his belief that the ambassador will have a successful tenure in Vietnam and contribute to increasing friendship and defence cooperation between the two countries.

Vietnam and Israel established diplomatic ties on July 12, 1993. 

Trade links have grown stably, meeting the demand of both nations’ markets, with Israel one of the countries recognising Vietnam’s full market economy.

In recent years, the two sides have signed various agreements and, including the framework agreement on economic, science, technical, agriculture and trade cooperation in 1996, the agreement on double taxation avoidance and contraband prevention targeting taxes levied on incomes and properties and the memorandum of understanding between the two Ministries of Science and Technology on sci-tech research cooperation in 2009.

Vietnam and Israel also inked a protocol on the establishment of a joint intergovernmental committee in 2013, and a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between their ministries of Foreign Affairs.

Cuban media highlights Party General Secretary Trong’s State visit

Cuban media has extensively covered the State visit to Cuba from March 28-30 by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong. 

Granma, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of Cuba and the biggest daily in the country, ran an article by Marta Rojas Rodriguez featuring the past struggle for national liberation of Vietnamese people and the role of late President Ho Chi Minh in the world’s progressive movements. 

Rodriguez, a retired reporter who worked in Vietnam and visited the southern battlefield, also recalled sentiments of Cuban national hero Jose Marti towards Vietnam, and her memories for President Ho Chi Minh. 

Meanwhile, the Prensa Latina News Agency had interviews with Vietnamese Ambassador to Cuba Nguyen Trung Thanh and Cuban Ambassador to Vietnam Lianys Torres. 

The diplomats agreed that Party General Secretary Trong’s visit will be a historical milestone in the Vietnam-Cuba relationship.

The visit helps carry forward relations while opening up new opportunities for cooperation between the two countries, especially in economy, the ambassadors said. 

Additionally, Prensa Latina published several articles by its correspondents in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi, highlighting achievements Vietnam has recorded in the Doi Moi (Renewal) process. 

Vietnam and Party General Secretary Trong’s Cuba visit also made headlines in major television and radio channels, dailies and e-newspapers of Cuba.

The Vietnamese leader’s visit is made at the invitation of First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba’s Central Committee and President of the Councils of State and Ministers Raul Castro Ruz.

This is the first high-level meeting between the two countries after the passing away of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro Ruz in 2016, and the Vietnamese Party chief’s first visit to Latin-America following the 12th National Congress of the CPV the same year.

President Tran Dai Quang (R) and Chairman of the Presidential Office of Laos Khammeung Phongthady.

President Tran Dai Quang hailed productive cooperation between the Presidential Offices of Vietnam and Laos, saying it has contributed positively to enhancing the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.

He made the remarks at his reception for Khammeung Phongthady, Chairman of the Presidential Office of Laos, who is on working visit to Vietnam at the invitation of Chairman of the Presidential Office Dao Viet Trung, in Hanoi on March 27.

President Quang spoke highly of the cooperation between the two offices, noting that visit exchanges are significant to maintaining and bolstering the special relations between the two offices.

He spoke highly of the achievements made by Lao people and expressed his belief that they will continue reaping more immense attainments to successfully build their country of peace, independence, democracy, and prosperity.

The President said he was glad to see developments in the Vietnam-Laos relations, citing the successful Vietnam-Laos Solidarity and Friendship Year 2017 and the fruitful organization of the annual meeting of the two Political Bureaus and the 40th meeting of the Vietnam-Laos Intergovernmental Committee in Vientiane in February 2018.

He said he believes that built on the productive outcomes of the 2017 Vietnam-Laos Solidarity and Friendship Year, 2018 will be favourable for the countries to reinforce their traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation towards new heights.

Vietnam always gives the top priority to consolidating and enhancing the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation with Laos, he stated.

He asked the two sides to make greater effort to deepen their political ties, boost the efficiency of the exchange of visits at all levels, continue launching communications campaigns on bilateral ties targeting young generations, and increase and diversify the sharing of experience between sectors and localities.

The two countries need to speed up the implementation of reached agreements, he said, asking the two offices to do more to bolster the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.

Khammeung Phongthady expressed his hope that following the visit, the relations between the two offices will be tightened.

He thanked the President for his evaluations of Lao people’s achievements, saying these achievements had important contributions by Vietnam.

He expected that during the visit he would learn experience from Vietnamese officials to improve consulting services for Lao leaders.

Vietnam, Madagascar beef up cooperation

National Assembly Vice Chairman Phung Quoc Hien (second from right) shakes hands with President of Madagascar Hery Rajaonarimampianina. 

The visit to Madagascar by a high-ranking delegation from the Vietnamese National Assembly will contribute to tightening the bilateral relations and open up new cooperation opportunities between the two countries, especially in the field of economy.

President of Madagascar Hery Rajaonarimampianina made the statement at a meeting with National Assembly Vice Chairman Phung Quoc Hien in Antananarivo on March 26.

He underlined the special traditional relations between Vietnam and Madagascar through historical periods. 

The two countries have strengths and great cooperation potentials in agricultural production, he said, adding that Madagascar boasts vast cultivation land and abundant labour forces while Vietnam has experience and high agricultural technology.

The President called on Vietnamese enterprises to invest in Madagascar and said the Economic Development Board of Madagascar (EDBM) will be responsible for promoting investment between the two countries.

For his part, Hien thanked Madagascar people for their valuable assistance for Vietnam in the cause of national liberation, building and development.

Vietnam always treasures its ties with Madagascar via promoting high-level delegation exchanges, he said, adding that this is the first time a high-ranking delegation from the National Assembly has visited Madagascar, which will mark a new milestone in the bilateral traditional relations.

He also informed the outcomes of his earlier meetings with senior officials from Madagascar, including the top legislator, the minister of trade and consumption and the foreign minister.

The two sides affirmed the sound political relations between Vietnam and Madagascar and mutual support at multilateral forums. They also reached consensus on a number of issues, including cooperation potentials in various fields, particularly agriculture, seafood, telecommunication and education.

Regarding trade, Hien suggested the two sides exchange commodities of their strengths. For example, Vietnam will export rice to Madagascar while importing cashew nuts and vanilla from the market. 

With strength in information-technology and telecommunication, notably the military-run group Viettel which is investing in many countries around the world, including African nations, there is a plenty of room for Vietnam and Madagascar to cooperate in this field, he said.

He also proposed a number of measures to promote investment partnership such as signing agreements on double tax avoidance, inter-bank payment, and investment encouragement and protection.

The same day, NA Vice Chairman Hien met with Madagascan Prime Minister Olivier Mahafaly Solonandrasana, in which he informed the host of Vietnam’s socio-economic development in the past time as well as cooperation potential for the two countries in various sectors, including the collaboration between the two law-making bodies.

The Madagascan government leader said that the bilateral cooperation must be concretised by the implementation of specific plans like the signing of a free trade agreement between the two nations.

Earlier, the Vietnamese official had a meeting with Speaker of the Parliament of Madagascar Jean Max Rakotomamonjy on March 23. Both sides reached consensus on bolstering parliamentary ties and considering the establishment of the friendship parliamentarian group.

During their stay in Madagascar from March 23-27, Hien and the Vietnamese high-ranking delegation met with the President of the Senate, the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, the Minister of Commerce and Consumption, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister at the Presidency in charge of Agriculture and Livestock. 

The delegation paid a floral tribute to late President Ho Chi Minh at his statue in Antananarivo and visited the Vietnamese community in the country.

VN, Malaysia celebrate 45 years of diplomatic ties in Kuala Lumpur

Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia Le Quy Quynh shakes hands with Malaysian Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan bin Kassim. 

A ceremony took place in Kuala Lumpur on March 26 to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Vietnam-Malaysia diplomatic ties (March 30, 1973).

The event was attended by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan bin Kassim and Deputy Secretary General for Bilateral Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nushirwan Bin Zainal Abidin from Malaysia alongside Vietnamese expats in Malaysia and business leaders from both countries.

In his remarks, Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia Le Quy Quynh said he was pleased with significant outcomes the two countries have obtained over the past 45 years in all areas, from politics-diplomacy, security-defence, and economics to education, culture and tourism.

With regard to politics, Vietnam and Malaysia have maintained regular exchange of visits at all levels, he said, mentioning trips to Malaysia by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Do Muoi (1994), President Tran Duc Luong (1998), Prime Minister Phan Van Khai (1998), Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (2007 and 2015). Meanwhile, Malaysian top leaders – King Tuanku Jaafar, King Mizan Zainal Abidin and PM Najib Razak – paid visits to Vietnam in 1995, 2009 and 2014, respectively. The two nations lifted their ties to Strategic Partnership in August, 2015, he added.

Substantial progress has been seen in trade and investment in the last four decades. Malaysia is now Vietnam’s 8th largest trade partner and ranks 7th out of 125 foreign investors in Vietnam. The two-way trade exceeded 10 billion USD in 2017 and is expected to hit 15 billion USD by 2020 while cooperation in the fields like tourism, education and science-technology are flourishing, the ambassador said.

For their part, Minister Shahidan bin Kassim and Deputy Secretary General for Bilateral Affairs Nushirwan Bin Zainal Abidin highly spoke of what Vietnam and Malaysia have achieved since they set up diplomatic ties 45 years ago. They shared a view that the bilateral ties have benefited not only the two countries but also ASEAN, and there is potential for them to continue to unlock.

They expected that the ties would grow further in the time ahead to benefit their people and to consolidate peace, stability and prosperity regionally and globally.

Justice Ministry urged to cut, clarify regulations

Participants at the meeting (Source: VGP)

The Ministry of Justice must continue to review business conditions and eliminate overlapping and unnecessary regulations, said Minister and Chairman of the Office of the Government Mai Tien Dung during a meeting between the Government’s working group and the ministry on March 26.

Dung, who leads the working group, said that vague business conditions for enforcement officers to create difficulties for the people they regulate. 

For example, the regulation on lawyers’ apprentice period does not specify the minimum time required. Another regulation requires lawyers to have experience in international legal consultation but does not say how many years of working are necessary before the lawyer is considered experienced. Other requirements related to “having good health”, “having good ethics” and “being responsible, honest” are also vague.

Cutting business conditions does not mean “totally opening the door” and it should still ensure national security, protect people’s health and conserve the environment, he said.

The justice ministry currently has 98 business conditions in six laws and four resolutions. The ministry plans to reduce 43 of the 98 conditions in the coming time.

He said that the ministry should pay attention to the training of the next generation’s personnel.

“In the context of global integration, legal consultants must be competent at not only domestic legal affairs but also international laws,” he said.

Addressing problems arising from investment, institutions and international lawsuit disputes requires officials to be knowledgeable and competent, he said.

The ministry has been asked to improve local legal systems and quality of registrars and take measures to address issues related to civil status and criminal records.

Dung said that State management of lawyers has been loosened at some localities. Local justice departments and bar associations must work together to tighten supervision of lawyers’ activities.

The Minister and Chairman of the Government’s Office pointed out unsolved civil judgment executions, saying that the justice ministry needs to report these cases to the Government and National Assembly for further solutions.

The ministry must work with sectors at all levels to set up technical barriers to protect Vietnam’s exported products.

On the management of legal documents, the ministry has been urged to ensure the laws’ feasibility and remove their shortcomings, he said.

On the occasion, Dung hailed the ministry for its reforms, especially in accomplishing institutions and working with the Government office and other ministries to accelerate the compilation and submission of draft laws, elaborating documents and ordinances for approval. 

Ho Chi Minh City leader receives US Senate Staff Assistants

Standing Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Thanh Liem (R) and Natalie Rogers, Chief of Staff to Senator Cory Gardener

Ho Chi Minh City is calling for foreign investors, including those from the United States, especially in addressing salt intrusion and flood and turning waste into energy, in order to serve the city’s rapid and sustainable development.

Standing Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Thanh Liem made the call at his reception on March 26 for a delegation of US Senate Staff Assistants, led by Natalie Rogers, Chief of Staff to Senator Cory Gardener who is Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations’ Subcommittee East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy.

Acknowledging US Senate Staff Assistants’ interest in the city’s challenges in economic development, Liem stated that the city is facing difficulties in dealing with climate change consequences, increasing urban population, traffic jams, and waste treatment.

He affirmed that Ho Chi Minh City always welcomes US Senators and their assistants to visit the city to learn from its socio-economic situation and strengthen dialogue between the two sides.

Rogers stressed that visiting US Senate Staff Assistants, from both Democratic Party and Republican Party, share the common target of boosting the US-Vietnam relations.

The US is now running almost 400 investment projects worth approximately 900 million USD, ranking 10th among the 93 nations and territories investing in the city.

VFF asks for Lao front’ support in searching for martyr remains

President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Tran Thanh Man (R) and  Vice President of the Lao Front for National Construction Nhotkeomany Suphanuvong

President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Tran Thanh Man has asked the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC) to support Vietnam in searching for and repatriating remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who laid down their lives in Laos during the wartime. 

While receiving a delegation from the LFNC led by its Vice President Nhotkeomany Suphanuvong in Hanoi on March 27, the VFF leader urged the two countries’ front agencies to further promote their cooperation in the coming time. 

He affirmed the Vietnamese Party, State, National Assembly, and people always attach importance to reinforcing and strengthening the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation with Laos – the valuable assets of both nations.

He expressed his joy at the flourishing development of the bilateral relations, especially in successfully organising anniversary activities in 2017, saying that those contributed to educating people from all walks of life, especially youths, on the time-honoured relations. 

The VFF-LFNC collaboration has reached effective achievements through their signed cooperation programmes, he noted. 

The agencies will continue to closely work on the implementation of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on their cooperation and their joint communiqué on the outcomes of the international conference on building Vietnam-Laos borderline of peace, friendship and comprehensive cooperation for mutual development for 2017-2020, Man said. 

He also asked the Lao Party and State to create favourable conditions for Vietnam community living, working and studying in Laos. 

For her part, Nhotkeomany Suphanuvong expressed her belief that the delegation’s working visit will help the LFNC learn from the VFF’s theory and historical practices, contributing to the time-honoured relations between the two countries.-