PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc hails Vietnam-Laos banking cooperation

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (right) and Governor of the Bank of the Lao PRD Sonexay Sitphaxay 

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc lauded the diverse and intensive cooperation between the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and the Bank of the Lao PRD (BOL) in recent years while receiving BOL Governor Sonexay Sitphaxay in Hanoi on January 9.  

The PM briefed his guest on outcomes of the 41st meeting of the Vietnam-Laos Inter-Governmental Committee, which he chaired alongside his Laos counterpart Thongloun Sisoulith in Hanoi on January 5-6.

The two sides reviewed collaboration in 2018 and agreed on a cooperative plan for 2019, focusing on raising two-way trade by at least 10 percent as compared with the previous year, he said. 

PM Phuc affirmed that Vietnam stands ready to assist the Lao Government in economic stabilisation and development. 

He asked SBV Governor Le Minh Hung to instruct the banking sector to aid the BOL, suggesting sending experts to Laos to help improve professional knowledge for BOL officials. 

The leader expressed his belief that Vietnam and Laos will work together to realise initiatives and agreements reached by their leaders, covering sectors which the BOL and the Lao Government are interested in. 

For his part, Sonexay Sitphaxay said he is glad to attend the SBV’s conference to put forth tasks for 2019 the same day, saying through the event, the Lao side has learnt from the Vietnamese central bank’s experience in management. 

He noted his hope for more cooperation, support and experience sharing from Vietnam in the fields of finance and banking.

NA leader welcomes head of Lao State Audit Organisation

Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Tong Thi Phong (R) receives President of the State Audit Organisation of Laos Viengthong Siphandone in Hanoi on January 8 (Photo: daibieunhandan.vn)

Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) Tong Thi Phong received President of the State Audit Organisation (SAO) of Laos Viengthong Siphandone in Hanoi on January 8.

Phong congratulated the SAO on its major achievements in recent years, especially in improving its stature and developing its apparatus.

She said the SAO delegation’s working visit to Vietnam will help strengthen the traditional friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries, including between the State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV) and the SAO.

The Vice Chairwoman noted that aside from improving the efficiency of financial audit, the SAV will step up auditing and evaluating the implementation of key national programmes and projects, the NA’s resolutions, and policies relevant to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

The two audit agencies should increase the sharing of experience while expanding various forms and fields of cooperation in both bilateral and multilateral aspects, Phong added.

For her part, Siphandone highlighted the SAV’s support and assistance to the SAO over the years, as well as the effectiveness of bilateral coordination, particularly in personnel training.

She also expressed hope that the two sides will reinforce the comprehensive cooperation, as well as exchange experts and train auditors in a more effective manner in the future.

Justice Ministry should be “goalkeeper” of Government in legal issues: PM

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc 

The Ministry of Justice should be the “goalkeeper” of the Government in international legal issues to ensure national rights and interests, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said at a conference of the sector in Hanoi on January 8.

PM Phuc added that the ministry needs to pay special attention to training legal specialists who are qualified to handle international disputes.

The Government leader recognised the ministry’s achievements gained over the past year, including the remarkable improvement in appraising the quality of draft legal documents and projects and disseminating legal knowledge.

The ministry should be a “conductor” in building and perfecting the legal and institutional systems in order to ensure the consistency, legality and feasibility of the legal system, the PM said. 

He also required the ministry to advise the Government in how to create a business and investment environment conducive to start-up and innovation development and set an example for other agencies in drafting laws and legal documents on schedule with good quality. 

In 2018, the justice ministry fulfilled 190 out of the 223 tasks assigned by the Government and the Prime Minister, and reduced 52.13 percent of business conditions in the fields under its management.

Its civil judgment enforcement agencies completed over 571,000 tasks, fulfilling 80.3 percent of the yearly target.

VFF Central Committee convenes 9th conference

Tran Quoc Vuong, Politburo member and permanent member of the Secretariat of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, addresses the 9th conference of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee on January 8 

The 9th conference of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee opened in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau on January 8.

Speaking at the event, Tran Quoc Vuong, Politburo member and permanent member of the Secretariat of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, hailed the contributions made by the VFF throughout 2018, saying that they helped consolidate and promote national solidarity for the country’s development.

The VFF should play a key role in mobilising people from all walks of life to effectively carry out socio-economic development tasks, conduct social supervision and criticism, fight corruption, and successfully organise the VFF national congress, he underlined.

Meanwhile, President of the VFF Central Committee Tran Thanh Man announced that a wide range of contents will be discussed at the conference, including the upcoming 9th national congress of the VFF for the 2019-2024 period. 

Participants should present initiatives to promote the role and responsibilities of the VFF in the coming time during group discussions, he said.

As 2019 is set to be a busy year when Vietnam faces both opportunities and challenges to realise its targets, the VFF must work to strengthen the national solidarity bloc, Man added.

At the conference, delegates gave their opinions on several documents, comprising a report on the VFF’s work in 2018 and the coordination programme in 2019, as well as proposals related to the preparations for the 9th national congress of the VFF.

The conference will continue its agenda on January 9.

PM warns outdated technologies, calls for timely fixing of 4 environmental issues

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc (L) and Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha at the conference to review the 2018 performance and deployment of key tasks in 2019, held by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in Ha Noi on January 8, 2019. Photo: VGP

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to ease public concerns over four environmental while he was speaking at the ministry’s conference on Tuesday. 

These issues include air pollution, water pollution, climate change, and housing.

Environmental protection has become a key task for Viet Nam, especially in the context that the country has emerged as a global production hub in recent years as many multi-national corporations have moved their production facilities to Viet Nam to manufacture competitive goods for regional and global markets.

Phuc tasked the ministry to devise effective measures to effectively implement the Government’s consistent stance of not trading off environment for economic growth at any prices. Particularly, he warned of downpour of outdated foreign technologies and equipment.

He agreed with the ministry’s plan to review environmental regulations in 2019 in order to set up technical barriers for environmental protection while asking the ministry to issue a set of criteria for evaluation of environmental protection in all provinces and cities across the country.

The ministry has to quicken the development of national planning schemes on land, water resources, and environment in the next two years.

The PM also called for greater efforts to deal with climate change in the Mekong Delta, landslides in the Central provinces as well as flooding in the Northern region.

Vietnam, Laos boost audit cooperation

Auditor General Ho Duc Phoc 

The State Audit of Vietnam will step up cooperation with its Lao counterpart to reap more substantial outcomes in the future, Auditor General Ho Duc Phoc said at a conference in Hanoi on January 8 to review the bilateral collaboration in 2018.

He said that last year, the two sides jointly carried out a number of practical programmes that contributed to building strong and transparent finances in the respective countries.

In 2018, the State Audit of Vietnam conducted 278 audits, proposing the financial settlement of 87 trillion VND (3.7 billion USD) and amendment of 89 relevant legal documents, he noted.

Deputy Auditor General Nguyen Tuan Anh said the two sides regularly organised workshops and training courses to share experience in public audits and in building the Law on State Audit.

The State Audit of Vietnam also exchanged professional documents with Laos and provided technical support.

President of the Audit Office Organisation of Laos Viengthong Siphandone highly valued the assistance of Vietnam in building a system of legal documents and Law on State Audit for Laos, as well as in training human resources.

She took this occasion to present the Lao Party and State’s orders to individuals who made significant contributions to the sound and sustainable cooperation between Vietnamese and Lao State audit agencies over the years.

Vietnam, Japan enhance defence ties

Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army and Deputy Defence Minister Phan Van Giang (R) receives Chief of the Staff of the Japan Air Self-Defence Force General Yoshinari Marumo in Hanoi on January 7 (Photo: bienphong.com.vn)

Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army and Deputy Defence Minister Phan Van Giang hosted a reception in Hanoi on January 7 for Chief of the Staff of the Japan Air Self-Defence Force General Yoshinari Marumo. 

Giang expressed his belief that the visit will strengthen friendship, cooperation and mutual support between the two defence ministries and the two air forces in particular. 

He said the Vietnamese Defence Ministry highly values the Japanese Defence Ministry’s capacity improvement programme for the Vietnamese air force, adding that the sharing of information and experience in flight safety, aviation medicine and rescue have raised mutual understanding between both sides. 

Hailing the outcomes of talks between General Yoshinari Marumo and the Commander of the Air Defence-Air Force Service, Giang affirmed that the Vietnamese Defence Ministry is always ready to offer all possible support to the two air forces to fully and effectively realise set agreements. 

Yoshinari Marumo, for his part, said Japan – Vietnam ties have kept growing in diverse areas over the past years, with defence ties becoming an important pillar. 

He believed that the visit will open up new cooperation opportunities for the two armies and air forces in particular.

Dong Nai province urged to accelerate urbanization

Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue addressed the working session in Dong Nai on January 8 

Dong Nai should pay more attention to urbanization besides industrialization, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue told the southern province’s officials during a working session on January 8. 

He hailed the province for its socio-economic performance in 2018, with an 8.1 percent increase in Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP), which is higher than the national rate, and a trade surplus of 2.6 billion USD, nearly one third of the country’s total. 

The Deputy PM particularly appreciated Dong Nai’s success in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), with more than 28 billion USD poured into the locality so far and 20.5 billion USD of which already disbursed. 

He required ministries and agencies to research suitable mechanisms and policies to enable Dong Nai to maintain its growth rate in the time ahead. 

According to Hue, Dong Nai is among the top five contributors to the State budget and a driving force of the southern key economic region as well as the country, hence the need for policies to nurture its growth. 

The government leader also acknowledged Dong Nai’s success in building new rural areas, with 100 percent of its communes meeting all criteria for new rural areas and 17 communes achieving the revised higher criteria set by the province.

The Deputy PM basically approved Dong Nai’s proposals on the local budget, allocation of Official Development Assistance (ODA) capital, investment projects funded by the central budget and in the form of PPP (Private-Public Partnership) and BT (Build-Transfer), and the construction of the Cat Lai bridge.

Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Tran Van Vinh reported that Dong Nai now has 35 industrial parks with an occupancy rate of 77 percent. The province absorbed 1.9 billion USD in FDI in 2018, and earned 18.6 billion USD from exports, with a surplus of 2.6 billion USD.

VNA’s journalists recall hectic reporting from Cambodia

Delegates to the get-together at VNA's headquarters in Hanoi

Officials, experts, journalists, and technicians of the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) who worked through different periods in Cambodia met on January 7, recalling the memorable time of hectic reporting from the neighbouring country. 

Addressing the get-together at the VNA’s headquarters in Hanoi, VNA General Director Nguyen Duc Loi said in late 1978, a group of nearly 30 officials, journalists, telegraphers, and drivers of the VNA headed to Cambodia to report the joint struggle of volunteer Vietnamese soldiers and Cambodian army and people against the Pol Pot genocidal regime. 

Between 1978 and 1988, the VNA officials and experts wholeheartedly assisted the building of the Cambodian News Agency - SPK (now AKP), he said, adding that hundreds of VNA leaders, reporters, editors, officials, technicians, and drivers were sent to AKP to help the agency with professional skills, apparatus organisation and technical equipment.  

They surmounted hardships to contribute to writing “golden pages” in history of the VNA, Loi noted. 

VNA’s former General Director Tran Mai Huong recalled the VNA’s support for the preparation of the birth of the SPK on December 3, 1978, which carried news and photos on the establishment of the Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation a day earlier. 

At the same time, the VNA dispatched reporters and technicians to battlefields in Cambodia to cover the fight, he said, noting that the agency continued to aid its Cambodian counterpart in reporting, technical infrastructure and personnel training after January 7, 1979. 

“The VNA’s history should devote a chapter to international duties, including those carried out in Laos and Cambodia. We are happy and proud to contribute to that glorious historic chapter,” said former VNA General Director Nguyen Quoc Uy, who was VNA correspondent in Cambodia in the 1980s.

Sub-committee on 13th National Party Congress documents meets

Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong speaks at the meeting.

The sub-committee in charge of documents for the 13th National Party Congress held it first meeting in Hanoi on January 7 under the chair of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and President Nguyen Phu Trong. 

The meeting also saw the attendance of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, among others. 

The delegates contributed opinions on the draft operation plan of the sub-committee and relevant proposals. 

The 13th National Party Congress is scheduled for January 2021, the year marking the 35th anniversary of the Doi Moi (Reform) cause and the 10-year implementation of the 2011-2020 socio-economic development strategy, towards the 100th anniversary of the CPV (2030) and the 100th National Day (2045). 

In order to prepare for the congress, the eighth plenum of the 12th CPV Central Committee decided to establish five sub-committees, including the sub-committee on documents led by the Party chief. 

The sub-committee is responsible for preparing a report on the 10-year implementation of the Platform on National Construction in the Transition Period toward Socialism, and the Political Report for submission to the 13th National Party Congress.

In his remarks, Party General Secretary and President Trong said reform is necessary, but that it must work in tandem with set principles and the target of a strong, democratic, equal, and civilised country with wealthy people, firmly stepping towards socialism.   

Democracy should be promoted at the maximum level, in order to create a high-level consensus among the Party and the public, he noted. 

The congress’ topic must reflect the Party’s vision and strategic mindset, major targets, basic orientations, and political resolve of the entire Party, people, and army, the leader said. 

He called for efforts from the sub-committee’s members and permanent members to ensure that draft documents are sent to all-level Party congresses for feedback by 2020. 

The leader also emphasised the need to ensure the effectiveness of fact-finding trips to localities and agencies to serve the building of the Political Report and the report on the 10-year implementation of the Platform. 

The sub-committee’s members agreed that the Political Report should chart major orientations, guidelines, targets, and measures for the implementation; while pointing out strong points, limitations, and root causes; as well as providing lessons and future solutions. 

Resolution issued on building army’s Party committee in 2019

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam’s Central Committee and President Nguyen Phu Trong at the event 

The Central Military Commission held a conference in Hanoi on January 7 to issue a resolution directing the fulfilment of national defence and military tasks, along with building the army’s Party committee. 

Speaking at the event, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam’s Central Committee and President Nguyen Phu Trong, who is also Secretary of the Central Military Commission, lauded the efforts of the Vietnam People’s Army in 2018 which, he said, have greatly contributed to socio-economic development, political stability, and national defence-security. 

He asked the commission and army in general to uphold their revolutionary spirit and continue to score achievements in diverse areas in 2019 and the years to follow. 

The army needs to focus on studying and making correct assessments to offer early forecasts, thereby consulting the Party and State about national defence tasks, especially in key and strategic areas, he said. 

The leader added that army units must work together closely to ensure internal security and politics, and fight corruption and wastefulness. 

The Ministry of Defence was required to continue rearranging its apparatus in line with the resolution adopted by the sixth Party Central Committee and the Politburo’s Conclusion No.16-Kl./TW on the organisation of the Vietnam People’s Army towards 2021. 

It must thoroughly review the apparatus and function of its army units, especially businesses. 

The commission and defence ministry were urged to drastically fix existing shortcomings, especially in the use and management of defence land. 

Participants at the event gave opinions on draft documents reviewing the five-year implementation of the commission’s Resolution No.791-NQ/QUTW dated December 30, 2012 on directing the army’s science-technology and environment work until 2020 and subsequent years; and Resolution No.765-NQ/QUTW dated December 20, 2012 on improving training quality for the 2013-2020 period and following years. 

In conclusion, the Party chief asked the army to continue building a transparent and strong Party committee, take the vanguard in protecting the Party and regime, and stay determined in thwarting sabotage plots by hostile forces.

Top legislator asks for stronger procuracy efforts to combat corruption

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan speaks at the conference 

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan on January 8 called on the procuracy sector to speed up its work on especially serious corruption and economic cases, and exert greater efforts to promote anti-corruption and the fight against crime. 

Addressing the sector’s conference in Hanoi to launch missions for 2019, the top legislator hailed the sector for achievements it made in 2018. 

She hoped for higher efficiency of the procuracy work, asking the sector to effectively implement guidelines of the Party, and policies and laws of the State as well as resolutions of the NA related to the justice. 

Attention should be paid to improving the quality of exercising the power to prosecution, ensuring the prosecution of right persons and counts, the top legislator said. 

“The sector should take the initiative in proposing solutions to improve the quality and efficiency of the judicial activity monitoring, thus ensuring that all crimes must be detected and handled promptly and strictly”, Ngan said. 

She also asked the sector to actively propose and implement measures to recover assets in corruption cases, and to combat corruption and economic crimes.

It is necessary to ensure that the instigation agency of the Supreme People's Procuracy is truly an effective tool to prevent acts of infringing on judicial activities and making corruption acts in judicial activities, contributing to building unblemished, strong, effective judicial agencies, thus strengthening people's beliefs in justice, Ngan said. 

At the same time, the sector needs to coordinate with the People's Supreme Court, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Justice and relevant agencies to promptly guide the enforcement of laws, especially the Criminal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code, the law on the organisation of criminal investigation agency.

In 2018, the People’s Procuracy at all levels detected and prosecuted 320 criminal cases.

In addition, a series of solutions have been implemented to improve the investigation and handling of criminal cases. Enhancing inspection quality in other judicial activities has been prioritised as well.