Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has proposed the Lao National Mekong Committee continue working with Vietnam to monitor and examine practical impacts of hydropower plants on the trans-boundary river and protect its environment.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc called for the thorough verification of draft laws and preventing vested interest in law building during a national teleconference of the Justice Ministry in Hanoi on December 23. 

The Communist Party of Vietnam and the Communist Party of China exchanged experience in Party building work in the context of international integration during the 12th theoretical seminar which opened in Hanoi on December 23. 

 China’s launch of a regular air route to the airport on Phu Lam in Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago seriously violates Vietnam’s sovereignty over the archipelago, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh said on December 23. 

 The government will keep inflation below 5% in 2016, said Politburo member and Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue at the meeting of the National Steering Committee for Price Management in Hanoi on December 22.

 National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan hosted Ambassador of the Republic of Korea Lee Hyuk and Ambassador of Iran Saleh Adibi in Hanoi on December 23.     

The fifth session of the 14th NA Standing Committee concluded yesterday with discussion about salaries for cadres and civil servants employed by the State Audit of Vietnam, funding for constructions of SAV offices and the use of foreign funds.

 Former Thai Ambassador to Vietnam Panyarak Poolthu has pledged to make more contributions to enhancing the traditional friendship and strategic partnership between the two countries.

 A high-ranking delegation of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) paid a working visit to China from December 19-23 with a view to enhancing friendship and cooperation with the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

 General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has asked Vietnamese and Chinese party officials to share practical experience in Party building and the combat against corruption. 

 The Standing Committee of the 14th National Assembly concluded its fifth session in Hanoi on December 22.

The VN Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education and the Lao Party Central Committee’s Commission for Propaganda and Training have signed an agreement on cooperation between the two commissions in the 2016-2021 period. 

South African leaders expressed their appreciation for bilateral friendship and mutual support with Vietnam over the past more than six decades during talks with Secretary of the Party Central Committee Nguyen Van Binh. 

 The Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh has a firm grip over the on-going reforms inside the ministry after a series of wrongful appointments by former Minister Vu Huy Hoang.

 Vietnam’s Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap and Cambodia’s northwestern province of Banteay Meanchey have inked an agreement on bilateral cooperation for the 2016-2020 period.

 Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung has told Hungarian Ambassador to Vietnam Ory Csaba that the Vietnamese capital city is willing to extensively cooperate with Hungary in all spheres.

  Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung has told Belgian Ambassador Jehanne Roccas that capital the city is keen on fostering partnership with Belgian enterprises in various fields, especially construction and health care.

 President Tran Dai Quang presented appointment decisions to the new ambassadors to Cuba, Laos and Spain at a ceremony in Hanoi on December 21.

 Head of the NA Committee for Deputy Affairs Tran Van Tuy has affirmed that Vietnam attaches special importance to developing stable, healthy and sustainable ties with China, considering it a strategic choice and top priority in its external policy. 

 Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Tri Dung has expressed wish that Lao leaders will continue to assist Vietnamese firms in doing business in the country in order to lift two-way trade.