Party chief pays tribute to late leaders on Party founding anniversary

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Nguyen Phu Trong burnt incense in tribute to former President of the State Council Vo Chi Cong in his own house. 

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Nguyen Phu Trong burnt incense in tribute to late Party, State and Government leaders in their own houses on January 30-31 on the occasion of the 88th founding anniversary of the CPV and the Lunar New Year festival. 

The deceased leaders are former General Secretary of the CPV Nguyen Van Linh, former President of the State Council Vo Chi Cong, and former Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet.

He also paid tribute to former Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Vo Tran Chi, and Labour Hero and People’s Doctor, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thien Thanh. 

He applauded significant contributions of the late leaders and intellectuals in HCM City to the country’s revolutionary cause, describing them as bright examples for officials, Party members and next generations to follow.

On this occasion, he visited and presented Tet gifts to Heroic Vietnamese Mother Ho Thi Ha in ward 5, Binh Thanh district, HCM City, and the family of Hero of the People’s Armed Forces Tran Van Lai. 

The Party chief and his encourage also visited a tunnel built by Hero Lai to store weapons of Biet dong Saigon (Saigon Commandos) during Tet Offensive in Spring 1968 in ward 5, district 3.

President Tran Dai Quang pays pre-Tet visit to Army Corps 4

President Tran Dai Quang inspects the guard of honour of the Army Corps 4 

President Tran Dai Quang on January 30 visited the High Command of Army Corps 4 or Cuu Long Corps in Di An town, the southern province of Binh Duong ahead of the traditional New Year (Tet) festival.

The Army Corps 4 was formed in July 1974 during the resistance war against the US. Only five months after its establishment, the corps recorded its first victory in the Phuoc Long Road 14 battle, liberating Phuoc Long province (which is Phuoc Long town of Binh Phuoc province now).

In Spring 1975, it joined hands with other armed units to liberate the south and reunite the county. The unit also fought to safeguard the Southwest border of the country and completed its international mission.

President Tran Dai Quang lauded Army Corps 4 for its close coordination with the local Party Committee and government in building community-based defence. 

Noting that the quality and strength of the unit have been improved, he hailed the corps for its effective measures to improve the leading and combat capacity of Party committees, and its active engagement in building the political system as well as socio-economic development, poverty reduction, and new-style rural area building in the locality it stationed in.

As the major force of the Defence Ministry in the southern strategic area, the corps should focus on raising its leading capacity and combat strength, while cooperating with local authorities and other armed units to build defensive areas and design plans to deal with complicated events to ensure independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.

He asked the unit to pay attention to Party building and developing a comprehensively strong unit, as well as studying and following President Ho Chi Minh’s moral example.

He requested Army Corps 4 to work closely with local authorities to build a strong political system, while reinforcing relations with locals, assisting them in building new-style rural areas, and implementing social welfare activities.

The President also asked the Army Corps 4 to organise Tet festival in a cosy, safe, economical manner and ensure its combat readiness during the traditional event.

Vietnam attends 6th Fullerton Forum in Singapore

The 6th Fullerton Forum took place in Singapore from January 28 to 30, gathering nearly 100 defence officers and scholars from more than 20 countries to seek solutions to ensuring security, safety and stability in the region.

The Vietnamese delegation was led by Director of the Institute for Defence Strategy Nguyen Duc Hai.

Opening the event, Defence Minister the Republic of Korea (RoK) Song Young-moo said 90 percent of global trade is conducted using shipping routes, which shows that all countries around the world are closely connected via oceans. About 40 percent of the global population lives in Asia-Pacific, which makes up 52 percent and 47 percent of the world’s GDP and trade, respectively. Regional countries need to be responsible for ensuring navigation freedom in the region – the main centre of the global economy. 

However, if dispute causes like territorial waters disputes, crimes, terrorism, and marine pollution are not resolved, it will be hard to ensure navigation freedom, he noted.

The minister added his country had proposed organising a forum on peace and marine order in the Northeast Asian sea areas with the participation of the navies of such countries as the RoK, the US, Japan, China, and Russia. It could be expanded to not only the entire East Asia but also Western Asia.

At the forum, the Vietnamese officer highly valued the RoK’s initiative and shared the view that cooperation mechanisms like the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting and ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus are critical to addressing security challenges in the region, especially non-traditional security issues.

Countries need to ensure safety, security, and freedom of navigation and aviation on the basis on international law, ensure international order with respect for law, not use or threaten to use force in solving international affairs.

Lt Gen. Nguyen Duc Hai stressed that growing non-traditional challenges like cyber attacks have affected not only economy but also all fields, particularly security-defence. Therefore, countries should seek cooperation solutions as those challenges cannot be solved by a single nation.

Issues under discussion at the Fullerton Forum include protection of interests and prevention of conflicts, terrorism and counter-terrorism, management of marine security, and solutions for security cooperation.

PM calls on investors to pour investments into Bac Lieu

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (centre), Bac Lieu officials and investors at the investment promotion conference on January 30 

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has called on investors to pour more investments into the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu which holds great potential for super-intensive shrimp farming and renewable energy.

PM Phuc delivered the call at an investment promotion conference in Bac Lieu province on January 30, which saw the participation of hundreds of domestic and foreign investors, diplomats, experts, researchers and policymakers and representatives of financial organisations.

To turn Bac Lieu into a shrimp farming centre of the whole country, the PM suggested the province apply climate change adaptive models; maintain clean production and water resources by applying strict production procedures and new technologies; and develop a closed value chain to proactively control the quality and reduce production costs.

At the same time, it is necessary to promote shrimp production in all aspects from varieties, management capacity, processing and food safety, he recommended.

PM Phuc reminded local authorities to pay attention to developing human resources and holding dialogues with businesses in addition to creating a healthy environment for investors by improving institutions, policies, and adjusting schemes for sustainable development.

He affirmed that the Government of Vietnam will create more favourable conditions for businesses to invest in the Mekong Delta province, but it will not welcome investors who damage the country’s environment.

Underlining development pillars that Bac Lieu should focus on, the PM advised the province to pay more attention to high-quality rice production and shrimp farming.

Bac Lieu should also develop renewable energy – a potential field in the province - as well as processing industry, tourism and services, he noted.

The government leader asked the province to strengthen coordination with other localities in the Mekong Delta and the southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City, particularly forging connectivity between Bac Lieu, Ca Mau, Kien Giang and Soc Trang.

At the conference, local authorities granted investment licences to more than 10 projects and investment registration certificates to over 20 projects, with a combined investment capital of around 110 trillion VND (4.85 billion USD).

The same day, PM Phuc attended a ceremony to start the construction of a hi-tech agricultural application park for shrimp development, release shrimps in a greenhouse of Vietnam-Australia Group, and build a symbol of Vietnamese shrimp.

Bac Lieu has an aquaculture area of 1,290 sq.km. With a coastline of 56 km, three seaports and an economic exclusive zone of 20,742 sq.km, the province has favourable conditions to develop agriculture, fishing and fishery logistics. 

Agriculture accounts for 43.1 percent of the province’s gross regional domestic product. Each year, the locality harvests about 210,000 tonnes of aquatic products, of which 115,000 tonnes are shrimp, with shrimp export turnover exceeding 527 million USD. 

Last year, the province’s economy grew by 6.5 percent and per capita income reached 37.5 million VND (1,650 USD). The locality contributed more than 2.8 trillion VND (132.2 million USD) to the State budget. However, climate change and sea level rises caused great losses to local agriculture in recent years.

Laos provides financial relief for typhoon-hit people in Vietnam

Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Ba Hung speaks at the ceremony 

The Embassy of Vietnam to Laos on January 30 received more than 166 million LAK, or about 20,000 USD, in financial aid from Lao people in support of victims of typhoon Damrey in Vietnam.

Speaking at the hand-over ceremony in Vientiane, Lao Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Khampheng Saysompheng said after typhoon Damrey caused severe losses in Vietnam, the government of Laos called on individuals and organisations to raise funds for affected Vietnamese people to help them normalise their lives.

Donations for the victims have continued to be collected in Laos, he added.

Receiving the aid on the behalf of the government and people of Vietnam, Ambassador Nguyen Ba Hung thanked Laos for its support, saying the deed has demonstrated the brotherhood between Vietnam and Laos.

The money will be shortly given to people in need, he affirmed.

In early November, the south central coastal region was hit by storm Damrey, one of the worst storms to strike the region in years. 

The typhoon and subsequent floods left 123 dead and missing and caused about 1 billion USD in economic loss for the region.

Get-together marks 50th anniversary of Tet Offensive

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc attends the get-together to celebrate  the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive in Spring 1968. 

A get-together was held in Ho Chi Minh City on January 30 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive in Spring 1968.

The event was attended by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Tran Thanh Man and many former leaders.

Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Nguyen ThienNhan said the meeting aimed to show gratitude for heroes, martyrs, soldiers and families who served the country’s revolutionary cause.

They shed their blood for national independence and reminded Vietnamese people of their heroic history, he said.

The Tet Offensive began in the early morning of January 31 in 1968 when liberation forces simultaneously launched attacks on American and Southern Vietnamese bases in cities such as Hue, Da Nang, QuyNhon and SaiGon, and hundreds of towns from Quang Tri to Ca Mau.

The offensive helped destroy huge amounts of facilities and logistics used by the US and the Southern regime’s armies.The seven-month long campaign ended with tens of thousands of enemy troops dead, 600 strategic hamlets destroyed and 100 communes liberated with a population of 1.6 million people.

People in rural areas also took this opportunity to rise up against the US-backed government’s administration.

Sai Gon-Gia Dinh (now HCM City), the headquarters of the US-backed Southern regime, was a focus of the offensive.

The Tet Offensive 1968 marked a strategic turning point for the resistance war against the US and its allies. It caused the US a ‘sudden shock’, disrupting their strategic plan, shaking the White House, the Pentagon and all of the US and forced President Johnson to deescalate the war and agree to sign the historic Paris Peace Accord. The victory also helped lead to the liberation of southern Vietnam and the unity of the country in 1975.

The 1968 Tet Offensive affirmed the outstanding, visionary leadership of the Party and President Ho Chi Minh.

It promoted patriotism, national pride and the will to overcome all difficulties to fulfill the task of building and protecting the country.

Vietnam, Belgium examine ways to boost agriculture

Belgian Federal Minister for Agriculture Denis Ducarme

Belgian Federal Minister for Agriculture Denis Ducarme and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Cuong will discuss the current bilateral ties in agriculture between the two countries during the former's three-day visit from January 31- February 2.

They will set out avenues for more fruitful cooperation in the future. Belgium and Vietnam have a long tradition of cooperation in the sector and Belgian funding has helped Vietnam develop its dairy and aquaculture sector. 

A new and ambitious 12 million euros academic cooperation programme was launched in 2017. Both Ministers will also witness a signing ceremony between Solvay and PetroVietnam to develop a high performing fertilizer that is less detrimental to water and soil.

Mr. Ducarme will further encounter Belgian SMEs and Beluxcham – the Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce – and take a tour of the chocolate processing factory of Puratos Grand-Place in Bac Ninh province to further understand the activities of these enterprises in Vietnam. 

Puratos Grand-Place was awarded a new credit of 1,25 million euros by the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO) to further expand its activities in Vietnam. The Belgian company specialized in the processing of cocoa has been striving to vertically integrate its production in the country. The credit will be used for a liquor grinding line in Ben Tre province.

Mr. Ducarme will also visit the Vietnam National University of Agriculture. Belgium is the biggest development partner of VNUA. The Belgian University of Liège has a structural cooperation with its Vietnamese partner to boost its academic performance and to increase the number of PhD students. In addition, specific research is done on the Pietrain Pig and an upgrading of the fruit post-harvesting process. The Belgian development cooperation also supports an agricultural business incubator at VNUA.

The Belgian Federal Minister for Agriculture’s visit takes place during the celebration of 45 years of diplomatic relations between Belgium and Vietnam. He will also participate in the exclusive culinary event “A Taste of Belgium” showcasing authentic Belgian cuisine and high-quality Belgian produces at Pullman Hotel.

Belgium and Vietnam have been important agricultural partners. The main orientations of the Belgian development cooperation in Vietnam are green growth, water management, and innovation. Belgium has for example been pivotal in the development of the dairy sector in Vietnam at the end of the nineties and the beginning of the 21st Century. In the field of academic cooperation, both Flemish as well as French speaking universities have longstanding partnerships with Vietnamese counterparts.

For agriculture in particular Belgian universities have excellent cooperation programs with the Vietnamese National University of Agriculture (Hanoi), Nong Lam University (HCMC) and Can Tho University. This university cooperation has contributed to the development of the Vietnamese aquaculture, and is contributing to research on the adaptation of Vietnamese agriculture to climate change, on food technology and safe food.

In addition to university cooperation, the Belgian NGO Ricolto supports smallholder farmers in their transition to safe rice and vegetable production and the Trade for Development Centre helps cocoa farmers to get their cocoa “Fair trade” certified and to increase their yield and income.

Friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Belgium and Vietnam have been developed over the last 45 years since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1973. Last year, the partners looked back on 40 years of presence of the Belgian Development Cooperation in Vietnam. In particular, Belgium has assisted Vietnamese education through scholarship programs and knowledge exchange. So far, more than 2,000 Vietnamese got a Belgian education.

From being long standing partners in development cooperation, Belgium and Vietnam have been maturing bilateral ties in different sectors. The volume of trade between the two countries hovered around US$2.45 billion in 2016. An increasing number of Belgian companies are investing in Vietnam.