Vietnam, Turkey look towards stronger parliamentary ties

A delegation from the National Assembly (NA) Committee for Social Affairs led by Vice Chairman Do Manh Hung paid a working visit to Turkey from June 30 to July 4 to boost parliamentary cooperation.

The visit aimed to exchange legislative experience in supervising social policies and step up cooperation between NA committees particularly in the context that Turkey has remarkably progressed in social affairs and belonged to the developing countries group.

During the working visit, the two sides compared notes on issues related to the role of the NA agencies in outlining social welfare policies, including those for the elderly, people with disabilities, employment, wages and social insurance and poverty reduction.

Meeting the two Turkish NA Committees, Hung briefed them on the East Sea tensions after China illegally placed its oil rig 981 in Vietnam’s territorial waters.

This move has seriously violated the sovereign rights and jurisdiction of Vietnam under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and other related agreements on fundamental principles guiding the settlement of sea issues between Vietnam and China, Hung emphasized.

About this serious issue, Chairman of the NA Committee on External Affairs Tran Van Hang sent a letter to his Turkish counterpart Volkan Bozkir expressing Vietnam’s wish for the NA, the Government and people of Turkey’s support for the country’s struggle for justice.

In Istanbul, the Vietnamese delegation visited the Vietnamese community and V& TTravel Plus- the first Vietnamese business run company in Turkey.

Vietnamese delegates hailed the company’s growth and hoped it will enjoy a more dynamic development, helping the Vietnamese business community achieve greater penetration of the lucrative market in Eurasian region.

FM Minh welcomes new Polish diplomat

Deputy Prime Minister cum Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh on July 4 received Polish ambassador Barbara Szymanowska, marking the start of her term in Vietnam.

At the meeting, Minh expressed his delight at the fine development of bilateral relations in recent times and affirmed Vietnam’s willingness to create the best possible conditions for the Polish ambassador to fulfill her tenure thus helping promote the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two nations.

Deputy PM suggested the two sides should maintain delegation exchange among senior leaders, organize practical activities for the 65th celebration of the Vietnam-Poland diplomatic ties in 2015 and enhance economic and investment cooperation to elevate two-way trade turnover to beyond the US$500 million mark achieved in 2013.

For her part, the Polish diplomat agreed with the assessment made by FM Binh Minh on the good results in the bilateral relationship over the past years, saying that her nation is keen to promote friendly relations and comprehensive cooperation with Vietnam, especially in economics and trade.

The same day, Minh also received UK and Northern Ireland ambassador to Vietnam Antony Stokes who came to bid farewell before ending his term in Vietnam.

HCM City Party Committee holds 18th conference

On July 4, the Ho Chi Minh City Central Party Committee convened its 18th Conference with Politburo member and Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Le Than Hai in the chair.

During one and a half days of sitting, the conference heard reports and reviewed the socio-economic performance in the first half and devised tasks and solutions for the rest of the year.

Tasks for the remainder of the year include a project to build a monument of President Ho Chi Minh, guidelines on historical compilation of the HCM City Party Committee in the 1975-2015 period, and the implementation of the 11th Party Central Committee’s Resolution on some urgent issues of the current Party building in 2013 and the first months of 2014.

In his opening speech, Deputy Secretary of the HCM City’s Party Committee Vo Van Thuong said this conference is of great significance for carrying out socio-economic tasks in 2014 and underlined the need to complete the 9th municipal Party Committee’s resolution as part of preparations for the 40th celebration of the Southern liberation for national reunification and the organization of the 10th municipal Party Committee’ conference.

“In the reviewed period, the city continued to face numerous difficulties and challenges caused by the complicated regional and global situation, especially following the illegal placement by China of its oil rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) which has seriously violated Vietnam’s sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction.

However, the city achieved encouraging results as important tasks for growth, budget revenue, total social investment, people's healthcare, education-training, rural development, sustainable poverty reduction, ensured social security met or exceeded the target of last year’s same period.” Thuong said

Regarding the President Ho Chi Minh monument building project, Thuong said it is imperative to ensure progress and quality of the project to make sure it will be completed on schedule.

At the meeting, Municipal People's Committee Chairman Le Hoang Quan informed about the city’s socio economic and cultural situation over the past six months and major solutions for the second half.

During the 6 month period, the socio- economic situation experienced positive changes with higher agricultural growth and application of high technology and biotechnology in production which have brought high-quality products.

Another important indicator is that State revenue reached VND121,900 billion, meeting 54% the yearly plan thanks to strengthened management of tax collection and better facilitation of business activities.

With higher foreign investment attraction, Quan predicted that from now to the end of the year, investors will continue to focus their investment on high-tech zones, support industries in HCM City.

Along with efforts to remove difficulties for businesses, the city also implemented capital support programs for businesses by connecting to banks which lent them VND12,000 billion.

The city is intent on helping businesses borrow VND20,000 billion especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SoEs), enabling them to renew equipment and technology to improve the efficiency of production and business.

The conference will close on July 5.

Vietnam leaders congratulate US on Independence Day

State President Truong Tan Sang and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on July 4 extended congratulatory messages to US President Barack Obama on the 238th Independence Day of the United States of America  (1776 - 2014).

National Assembly (NA) Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung also conveyed congratulations to the Chairman of the US Senate, Vice President Joe Biden, and the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, John Boehner.

The same day, Deputy Prime Minister cum Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh also cabled a congratulatory telegram to Secretary of State John Kerry.

Party leader highlights Binh Thuan's dual role

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has asked the central coastal province of Binh Thuan to develop its maritime economy because it has one of the country's three largest fishing grounds.

Talking with local leaders yesterday, Trong urged them to boost socio-economic development while making sure security and defence were maintained.

He said it was important to perform Party work well as this was a core factor in carrying out other tasks.

The Party leader highlighted the important role of the province in both socio-economic and defence-security fields.

He said he was pleased at the province's significant development. Lives had been improved materially and spiritually, while the rate of poor households had been lowered to 4.8 per cent, almost half the national rate.

In the first half of 2014, Binh Thuan recorded a GDP growth rate of 8.6 per cent, which included signs of recovery in industrial production.

The province recorded more than 1.8 million tourists who provided revenue of nearly VND3.2 trillion (US$150 million), up 7.1 per cent in number and 18.1 per cent in value year-on-year.

The province is now home to 7,500 fishing vessels, which harvested 78,600 tonnes of aquatic products in the first six months, up 6.2 per cent for the same period last year.

The Party leader also visited wind-power plant No.1 in Binh Thanh commune, Tuy Phong District. The 30-MW plant, the first of its kind in Viet Nam, was connected to the national grid in August, 2009.

Party leader visits Ninh Thuan

The south-central coastal province of Ninh Thuan must pay special attention to maintaining political security and social order and safety as well as safeguarding national sovereignty over the sea and islands, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said.

Speaking at a meeting with top Ninh Thuan officials on Saturday during his working tour of the province, the Party leader instructed the provincial Party committee to continue renovating its way of thinking, strengthen internal solidarity and make full use of support from the central Government.

"Ninh Thuan needs to examine the potential strengths of its leadership as well as the difficulties they face in order to work out development strategies and plans for the future," he said, adding that the provincial Party committee had a long list of tasks for the coming tenure.

He asked the province to complete all the goals set by the 12th congress of its Party committee and select areas where visible changes would be made, such as transport infrastructure, irrigation, wind power and the marine economy.

The leader took note of the province's proposals on the issuance of mechanisms and policies related to the implementation of a planned nuclear power plant project and the supply of additional capital to accelerate the completion of a coastal road system.

Deputy PM inspects environmental protection in Binh Duong

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai inspected environmental protection in the southern industrial hub of Binh Duong on July 4.

At a working session with provincial officials, the Deputy PM hailed the province for its good work in the field, particularly the collection and treatment of waste.

He voice approval of Binh Duong’s plan to call for private enterprises’ investment in waste treatment, adding that the Government will create favourable and preferential conditions to facilitate this plan.

Deputy PM Hai also said the government will consider the province’s proposal on allowing the use of Official Development Assistance (ODA) capital for the follow-up phases of waste treatment projects in the locality as well as preferential tax policy for enterprises’ investment in waste treatment.

The Deputy PM made a fact-finding tour of the Nam Binh Duong waste treatment complex and the waste water treatment facility at Thu Dau Mot City.

The Nam Binh Duong complex was built on a 100ha site at a cost of more than 466 billion VND (22.2 million USD), 42.76 percent of which was funded by the Netherland’s ODA. It has a daily capacity of processing and recycling 1,000 tonnes of normal garbage and 150 tonnes of industrial waste.

Meanwhile, the Thu Dau Mot waste water plant was built with Japanese ODA. It has a treatment capacity of 17,650 cu.m. of waste water per day and night.

Advisory council for administrative reform meets

The Prime Minister’s Advisory Council for Administrative Procedure Reform convened its meeting in Hanoi on July 4 to review its performance in the first half of this year and draw out major tasks for the rest of 2014.

The council also discussed a draft project to combine procedures of notarising, registration for the ownership of land and assets related to land, and taxation.

According to Ngo Hai Phan, head of the Administrative Procedure Management Department at the Ministry of Justice, in the first six months of this year, all members of the council contributed helpful ideas on administrative regulations and procedures to legal bills and documents.

Between late 2013 and the first months of 2014, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other members of the council made many comments to a Government’s draft resolution on major focuses of administrative procedure reform in the building and implementation of land use projects with an aim to improving business environment, better known as Resolution 43/NQ-CP.

The resolution gave guidelines for the amendment of Laws on Investment, Enterprises and other laws, ensuring a transparent, smooth and effective legal framework for investment activities, while contributing to bettering the efficiency of administrative procedure and reducing cost for investors, thus increasing the national competitiveness.

The council also gave advices to a number of proposals, including those on one-stop-shop mechanism for procedures of the registration of birth, residence and health insurance for children under the age of six, and the application of e-customs.

In the last six months of this year, the council will focus on giving initiatives on administrative reform in the fields if food safety, business dissolution, land use for enterprises, ground clearance and compensation, and the registration for poor households.

According to Minister of Justice Ha Hung Cuong, who is also head of the council, administrative procedure reform is a top priority in enhancing the national competitiveness.

He urged the members of the council to make more efforts to give effective advices on administrative regulations for legal documents, especially those related to the implementation of the Constitution.

During the meeting, the council also tabled a plan to assess the implementation of Resolution 43/NQ-CP.

Hanoi reviews socio-economic development plan

Hanoi’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) posted a 7.4 percent growth in the first half of 2014, a 1.5-fold increase against that of the country, but all of the city’s sectors failed to reach their expected growth targets, heard a meeting held on July 4.

Addressing the event, secretary of the municipal Party Committee Pham Quang Nghi asked local departments and agencies to specify causes of the failure.

He suggested they continue to ease difficulties for local firms as well as help them expand their production and business activities, with the aim of fulfilling tasks set for the city in the remainder of the year.

They were also asked to tighten public spending and prevent losses in revenue and State budget.

Nghi also required relevant departments and agencies to strengthen urban management work, especially in handling pavement and road encroachments and breaches of the city’s construction planning.

Solving businesses’ difficulties as key mission - HCM City Party Chief

Ho Chi Minh City’s key mission in the rest months this year is to resolve difficulties for businesses with all possible resources, said the city Party Committee Secretary Le Thanh Hai on July 5.

He was speaking to conclude the 18th session of the 9th HCMC Party Committee’s Executive Board.

HCMC economic growth has been on good pace compared to that of the country. The city’s Gross Domestic Product grew 8.2 percent in the first half this year while the country’s was 5.18 percent, according to Mr. Hai.

Local industry is still facing with a lot of difficulties and recovering very slowly, he said.

Despite obtaining a fast growth in the first half this year, HCMC still has a lot of things must be done to reach targets in the city’s five year plan 2011-2015, he added.

Businesses should look for new markets, especially for key industrial and service sectors that are a position of strengths.

Mr. Hai meets with delegates at the conference (Photo: SGGP)

The city authorities, officials and civil servants must actually accompany with businesses in difficulties, he said.

Policies need to clear four problems. The first comprises stock clearance, market assistance and investment increase. The second is cutting production and trade costs and creating conditions for businesses to reduce cost prices and consume their products.

The remaining two are enhancing the capital access ability of enterprises and tackling difficulties in the real estate market.