ASEAN, China talk on East Sea

Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung joined senior officials from other ASEAN countries and China at the ninth meeting on the implementation of the Declaration on the Conducts of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) held in Tianjin city yesterday.

The event was co-chaired by Permanent Secretary of Thailand 's Foreign Ministry, Noppadon Theppitak, and Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin.

Besides reviewing the realisation of the DOC, officials discussed measures to speed up consultations between ASEAN and China towards the formation of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

They also prepared discussion content for the ASEAN-China Ministerial Meeting and Post Ministerial Conference slated for August.

Vietnam, Moscow ramps up investment projects

Vietnamese Ambassador to Russia Nguyen Thanh Son hosted a reception at the embassy on July 28 for Governor of the Moscow region Andrey Vorobyev to discuss bilateral cooperation prospects between Vietnam and Moscow.

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Son said Vietnam treasures the comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia and Moscow remains Vietnam’s key focus region.

He believed the cooperation agreement between Ho Chi Minh City and Moscow would lay a solid foundation to further expand ties between Vietnam and Moscow. The agreement was inked during State President Truong Tan Sang’s visit to Russia in May to attend the 70 th anniversary celebrations since the victory over Nazi Germany.

An increasing number of Vietnamese enterprises are seeking business opportunities in Moscow, including the TH Group, a milk producer, which invested 2 billion USD in an agricultural project in Moscow, Son added.

For his part, Vorobyev pledged to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese investors in Moscow and welcomed projects like those of the TH Group with the use of advanced technology in milk production.

He expressed his intent to make a visit to Vietnam at the invitation of State President Truong Tan Sang and Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Le Hoang Quan.

Earlier, the Moscow region’s authorities held a talk with Ambassador Nguyen Thanh Son and representatives from the TH Group and the North Asia Commercial Bank in early July to discuss cooperation opportunities and the implementation of their projects in Moscow.

Vietnam resolves to fight human trafficking

Vietnam is determined to fight human trafficking, said Deputy Spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry Pham Thu Hang on July 29 in response to reporters’ questions on a global human trafficking report issued by the US Department of State.

Hang said some of the information in the 2015 Trafficking in Persons Report of the US Department of State does not reflect Vietnam’s enormous recent efforts to fight and prevent human trafficking in recent years.

She stressed that the Vietnamese Government has paid great attention to and taken concrete measures and sanctions to prevent human trafficking, including promulgating the law on human trafficking prevention and control and the national action programme on human trafficking prevention and control for the 2011-2015 period.

These efforts have been recognised by many organisations and countries around the world, including the US, she noted.-

TPP trade ministers gather in Hawaii, eyeing final deal

Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang is attending a meeting of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade ministers, which kicked off in Hawaii, the US, on the morning of July 29 (Vietnam time).

The four-day negotiation round, considered the final opportunity for the 12 participating countries to reach an agreement within this year, focuses on existing difficult issues such as intellectual property rights, operations of enterprises, labour market, and environmental protection.

During the fresh round, the US and Japan – the two largest partners of TPP – expect to resolve remaining differences over market access for farm produce and autos.

Expectations for striking a deal in Hawaii rose higher than ever after US President Barack Obama late last month signed a Trade Promotion Authority bill into a law, making it easier for presidents to negotiate international trade deals with limited interference from lawmakers.

Negotiations on TPP agreement started in 2005, and have so far attracted the participation of 12 countries, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam.

Once signed, TPP will form a free trade area with the population of 800 million and accounting for 30 percent of global trade turnover and nearly 40 percent of global output.

Party leader meets outgoing Belgian ambassador

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong hosted a reception for the outgoing Belgian Ambassador to Vietnam, Bruno Angelet, in Hanoi on July 29.

The Party leader praised the diplomat’s contributions during his term of office and expressed his belief that Vietnam-Belgium relations will develop strongly, further benefiting the two nations people in the time ahead.

He also congratulated Ambassador Angelet on his new appointment as Head of the European Union Delegation in Vietnam.

The Belgian diplomat thanked the Party chief and Vietnamese ministries, agencies and localities for creating optimal conditions for him to fulfill his mission.

He pledged to continue efforts in his new position to bolster ties between Vietnam and Belgium as well as between Vietnam and the EU.-

Condolences extended over death of former Indian President

Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang sent his condolences to Indian President Pranab Mukherjee on July 29 on the passing of former Indian President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung also conveyed his sympathies to his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi.

The same day, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh also expressed his sympathies to Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj.

SBV Governor receives IMF resident representatives

Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Nguyen Van Binh received International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Representative for Vietnam Sanjay Kalra, who is about to finish his official tenure in Vietnam, and newly-appointed Resident Representative Jonathan Dunn on July 29 in Hanoi.

At the reception, Governor Nguyen Van Binh congratulated Kalra on his successful post in Vietnam since October 2011 and spoke highly of Kalra’s role in connecting Vietnam and the IMF and bolstering the relationship during his four-year tenure.

Binh also expressed his gratitude towards the outgoing representative for his support and helpful advice to the SBV and its policymaking.

The State President presented him with Vietnam’s Friendship Order for his contributions to the banking sector in Vietnam.

The SBV governor also congratulated Dunn on his appointment and hoped that he take up the role of counselling Vietnam’s policymakers and supporting personnel training of the SBV.

President Sang calls for better sentence enforcement

President Truong Tan Sang, who is also Head of the Central Steering Committee on Judicial Reform, called on relevant agencies to devise effective measures to accelerate and supervise the enforcement of civil judgements.

During his working session with representatives of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Internal Affairs, the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Sang also emphasised supervising individual assets and recovering assets in major corruption cases.

He pointed out that one of Vietnam’s biggest legal loopholes is that the country has yet to issue a law on asset declaration that leads to the ineffective supervision of individual assets.

He urged legislative and executive agencies to study worldwide asset management models to recommend legal regulations in management as well as judgement enforcement.

He noted that in order to make civil judgment enforcement more effective, it is essential to have close coordination between the enforcement agency and relevant agencies and between the central and local governments.

According to the MoJ, from October 2014 to June 2015, the civil judgement enforcement system handled 354,992 cases and recovered 31.5 trillion VND (1.44 billion USD), equal to 68.53 percent in terms of cases and 44.78 percent in terms of capital recovered.