An overview of the dialogue

The third Vietnam-Cuba defence policy dialogue was held in Hanoi on September 17.

The event was co-chaired by Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of National Defence, and Sen. Lieut. Gen. Alvaro Lopez Miera, Chief of the General Staff and First Deputy Minister of the Cuban Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces.

Vinh welcomed the Cuban delegation’s visit to Vietnam and attendance at the dialogue, saying that the trip continues affirming the determination of both sides in implementing cooperation agreements reached bytheir senior Party, State and army leaders, thus enhancing the efficiency of bilateral defence partnership.

At the dialogue, the two sides discussed the situation in each country as well as in the region and the world, and evaluated the implementation of defence cooperation contents between the two countries since the previous dialogue.

They also sought orientations to promote the bilateral partnership in the future, and discussed the compiling of a dossier on 60 years of history of the Vietnam-Cuba defence cooperation (1960-2020).

Both sides agreed to continue effectively realize the defence cooperation plan for the 2017-2019 period and build a new plan for the 2020-2022 period.

They concurred to increase the exchange of delegations. Vietnam hopes to welcome the Minister of the Cuban Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces to visit the country and sign the cooperation plan for the 2020-2022 period.

Leaders of the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence have also planned to visit Cuba to announce a book and a film on the 60-year history of the Vietnam-Cuba defence partnership and join a meeting to mark the occasion.

Vinh affirmed that Vietnam will send experts to Cuba or invite experts from Cuba to Vietnam to exchange experience in acupuncture and treatment of back and muscle pain.

On cyber-security, Vietnam is willing to share with Cuba its experience in coping with threats in the cyberspace as well as in building and developing infrastructure for IT application, and solutions and tools to protect network safety.

Vietnam will help Cuba train experts in this field as well as in defence industry, cubersecurity and telecommunications and communications, he said.

Regarding the dossier on the 60-year history of the Vietnam-Cuba defence partnership, including a book and a documentary film, the two sides agreed that this is an important joint political task.

The dossier is expected to help popularize the bilateral friendship among people and armies of both sides, especially the youth.

They pledged to complete the dossier in 2020 on the occasion of the 60thfounding anniversary of Vietnam-Cuba diplomatic relations.

Vietnam always treasures France’s position in foreign policy: official

Secretary of the Hanoi municipal Party Committee Hoang Trung Hai (R) presents a Friendship Order to French Ambassador Bertrand Lortholary

Secretary of the Hanoi municipal Party Committee Hoang Trung Hai has affirmed that Vietnam always highly values France’s role and position in its foreign policy and will do its best to foster bilateral ties in the near future.

Speaking at a ceremony recently held in Paris to celebrate Vietnam’s 74th National Day, Hai, who is also a Politburo member of the Communist Party of Vietnam, hailed ties between Hanoi and France’s Ile de France region as a model, which was also acknowledged by French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe during his visit to Vietnam in November 2018.

Thanks to joint work over the past three decades, Hanoi has reaped impressive achievements in urban planning and management, preservation of its Old Quarter and handicraft development.

Hai said the two localities will soon launch projects on start-up incubators, air pollution prevention and climate change adaptation.

On behalf of the State President, the Hanoi leader presented a Friendship Order to French Ambassador Bertrand Lortholary in recognition of his contributions to Vietnam-France strategic partnership during his tenure in Vietnam from 2016-2019.

Lortholary, for his part, said the year 2018 marked the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties and the fifth anniversary of the strategic partnership, during which mutual visits by Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in March and French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe in November laid the foundation for bilateral exchanges and cooperation and paved the way for effective projects.

He said the France visit by Vietnamese National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and a cooperation conference between Vietnamese and French localities in April 2019 were further efforts to lift bilateral ties to a new height.

Vietnamese Ambassador to France Nguyen Thiep also took the occasion to present awards to three French journalists and photographers within the framework of the national competition of foreign press works about Vietnam 2018.

The competition attracted 1,000 authors with entries written in 13 foreign languages. The organising board chose the top 90 entries, including eight first, 17 second, 25 third and 10 consolation prizes.

Thiep spoke highly of entries by the three French journalists and photographers, including two second and one third prizes.

On September 16, the Vietnamese embassy in Slovakia held a ceremony to celebrate the 74th anniversary of Vietnam’s National Day, with over 200 guests taking part.

Earlier, the embassy and the Czech Republic’s Eleutheria Foundation opened an exhibition on Vietnamese propaganda paintings during 1945 – 2000, which will last till September 22.

Decree on customs procedures for goods in transit needed: lawmakers

Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung at the 37th session of the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee

Lawmakers on September 17 agreed on the need to issue a draft decree regulating customs procedures for goods transiting Vietnam via the ASEAN Customs Transit System.

The issue was part of the ongoing 37th session of the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee in Hanoi.

Submitting the Government’s draft decree, Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung said this decree is necessary to create the legal basis for modernising customs procedures for goods transiting ASEAN countries, including Vietnam. The issuance will also improve Vietnamese businesses’ competitiveness and allow the best use of the advantages of the country’s geographical location in goods transportation.

Delivering a report verifying the draft, Chairman of the NA’s Committee for Financial and Budgetary Affairs Nguyen Duc Hai said his committee supports the decree issuance to regulate customs procedures for goods transiting via the ASEAN Customs Transit System and to implement Protocol 7 on the customs transit system under the ASEAN Framework Agreement on the Facilitation of Goods in Transit.

The draft decree features regulations on some aspects that existing law hasn’t covered, along with several stricter regulations. Additionally, no stipulations in the draft run counter to existing law and the NA’s resolutions, he noted.

NA Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong stressed that the decree needs to ensure the connectivity of Vietnam’s customs sector with its ASEAN counterparts while guaranteeing the information system’s safety, as well as national interests and interests of organisations and individuals.

Echoing the view, NA Vice Chairman Phung Quoc Hien said basing on opinions of the parliament’s finance-budget and law committees, the Government should make sure that its decree will guarantee the country’s sovereignty and interests, along with interests of organisations and individuals.

Parts of the decree should be piloted first to gain experience before the whole document is applied, he noted.

Other participants in the meeting also asked the Government to continue directing the customs sector to enhance its capacity and intensify examination to prevent the abuse of transit for smuggling or trade fraud.

Vietnam, Russian promote collaboration in crime combat

Minister of Public Security General To Lam (R) and Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia Kolokoltsev Vladimir Aleksandrovich

Minister of Public Security General To Lam hosted a reception for Minister of Internal Affairs of Russia Kolokoltsev Vladimir Aleksandrovich in Hanoi on September 17.

The Russian minister is in Vietnam to attend the 39th ASEANAPOL Conference.

Minister Lam said the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia is a traditional and reliable partner of the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security. He noted that agreements reached between senior officials of the two sides have been implemented effectively, citing the example of the action coordination plan between the two ministries for 2019-2021.

In accordance with the plan, the two sides have regularly exchange information and share experiences in combating crimes, especially trans-national and organized crimes related to citizens of the two countries. They also worked together to verify information and coordinated in hunting for and extraditing criminals.

The Vietnamese minister called on Russia to support Vietnam when the Southeast Asian country serves as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in the 2020-2021 tenure and Chair of ASEAN in 2020.

He suggested that the two sides increase the exchange of delegation, and continue to effectively implement signed cooperation deals, while intensified joint efforts in fighting and preventing hi-tech, economic and drug crimes.

Minister Lam also expressed his wish for stronger cooperation on training for law enforcement officers.

The Russian minister stressed that his ministry is willing to cooperate with the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam in areas of common interest, especially in training and crime prevention and combat.

Regional conference looks toward protection of migrant workers

Regional conference looks toward protection of migrant workers hinh anh 1Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (C) and delegates from the CLMTV countries at the opening ceremony

The third ministerial conference on labour cooperation among Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam (CLMTV) kicked off in Siem Reap city of Cambodia on September 17.

Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Ha led a Vietnamese delegation to attend the event.

Themed “Toward the protection of migrant workers in CLMTV countries: cooperation in social security”, this year’s conference focuses discussions on mechanisms to further protect migrant workers, enhance labour cooperation, share experience between CLMTV in protecting and promoting rights of migrant workers, and ensure the flexibility of social security programmes.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, host Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen said ministers will seek solutions to address labour migration, an issue taking place in many countries, including the five Southeast Asian ones.

He spoke highly of the progress in labour cooperation between CLMTV countries, saying the involved parties have paid attention to protecting and improving the rights of migrant workers.

Host Minister of Labour and Vocational Training Ith Samheng said each country has different legal frameworks and regulations as well as socio-economic conditions, but they still have a lot of things in common for cooperation in protecting legitimate rights and interests of migrant workers.

During the two-day conference, the ministers will issue a joint statement on the outcomes of the event while approving a Siem Reap declaration on the roadmap towards flexible social security cooperation plan in CLMTV countries.

HCM City learns from Lyon’s urban development experience

The delegation of National Assembly deputies from Ho Chi Minh City have a working session with vice chairman of the Council of Lyon Max Vincent. (Photo: hcmcpv.org.vn)

The delegation, led by Head of the HCM City Party Committee’s Board for Information and Education Phan Nguyen Nhu Khue, had a working session with vice chairman of the Council of Lyon Max Vincent during which Vincent introduced his guests about Lyon’s election rules, regional budget collection and expenditure and preferential tax policies for small- and medium-sized enterprises and startup businesses.

The French official said he expects the two sides will cooperate in urban development, urban lighting and development of public spaces.

Khue, for his part, said he is happy to see the Vietnam-France strategic partnership has produced fruits, and in such context, the friendship and cooperation between HCM City and Lyon has effectively developed, especially in urban art lighting.

Lyon helped HCM City carry out art lighting projects of various iconic buildings in the Vietnamese southern hub, such as Ho Chi Minh City Hall, Saigon Central Post Office and HCM City Museum of Fine Arts.

The Vietnamese official hoped that Lyon will continue fostering cooperation with the HCM City People’s Council and NA deputy delegation.

Later the same day, the Vietnamese delegation met with director of Lyon’s public dialogue Pierre Houssais and paid a field trip to explore how to develop inner-city waterways.

Ceremony to commemorate Bui Bang Doan’s 130 birth anniversary

Bui Bang Doan's daughter (third left) looks at a photo at the ceremony to celebrate the 130th birth anniversary of her father.

A ceremony to celebrate the 130th birth anniversary of the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee's former chairman Bùi Bằng Đoàn (September 19, 1889 - 2019) was held yesterday in Hà Nội.

The event was jointly held by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Viet Nam, the National Assembly, the State Presidency, the Government of the Socialist Republic of Việt Nam, the Việt Nam Fatherland Front Central Committee and the capital city of Hà Nội.

Speaking at the ceremony, NA Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân said the anniversary was to commemorate the contributions of Bùi Bằng Đoàn to the people and the country’s revolution cause.

He was a true patriot who devoted his life to serve the nation and the people, she said.

Bùi Bằng Đoàn’s workmanship and simple lifestyle are an example for all officials and people of the nation to look up to.

Bùi Bằng Đoàn was the Chairman of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee between 1946-1955.

During his time as head of the NA Standing Committee, Bùi Bằng Đoàn has always stood by the Government and President Hồ Chí Minh to perform the tasks assigned by the National Assembly.

During this time, in order to mobilise forces and support for the resistance war, he paid many visits to localities to talk to people.

During the resistance war, Bùi Bằng Đoàn made considerable contributions to the restructuring of the Government cabinet, as well as implemented effective economic, agricultural tax and land policies.

In late 1948, he became seriously ill. During his medical treatment, he still sent comments to the Government on the nation’s situation.

He died in 1955.