Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, head of Vietnam’s permanent mission to the UN

Amid global challenges, countries should maintain their highest commitment to multilateralism and international system based on the UN charter and international law, a Vietnamese official said on September 23.

At an event in New York to mark the 70th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions held on the sidelines of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly, Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, head of Vietnam’s permanent mission to the UN, also urged nations to translate their political commitments into specific actions, thus boosting capacity of the multilateral system in tackling global issues, ensuring peace and security, and promoting sustainable development.

Quy took the occasion to affirmed Vietnam’s commitment to multilateralism and core humanity values of the International Humanitarian Law.

The event, themed “investing in humanity through multilateralism”, was co-organised by China, South Africa and Switzerland, and the International Committee of the Red Cross. It gathered representatives of more than 25 countries.

Participants highlighted the Geneva Conventions as the key document of the International Humanitarian Law, saying it is universal and reflects the UN’s core humanity values.

They said global issues, particularly humanitarian ones, can only be addressed via multilateralism, which is not an option but a top requirement to promote humanity./.

Hanoi learns from Singaporean partners’ experience

Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung (R) and Chairman of FIA Jean Todt

Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung led a delegation to visit Singapore from September 21-23, aiming to learn from partners’ experience in organizing the Formula One Vietnam Grand Prix in 2020 (F1 Grand Prix) and promote investment cooperation with the country.

During his meetings with organizers and partners of the F1 Grand Prix, the Hanoi official briefed them on the city’s preparation for the race and introduced the Vietnamese capital’s socio-economic development achievements as well as potential for cooperation with partners across fields.

At the meeting with Chase Carey, Chairman and CEO of the Formula One Management Ltd, the two sides discussed and agreed to implement contents related to IT infrastructure development, and communication campaigns to prepare for Vietnam’s hosting of the F1 Grand Prix – one of the top prestigious car racing tours in the world.

Chung expressed his hope that the company and Carey in particular will coordinate and create favourable conditions for Vietnamese reporters to operate at the F1 races worldwide from now until April 2020, thus enhancing communication work about the race in Vietnam.

Carey praised Hanoi’s efforts in preparing for the sport event, stressing that Formula One will swiftly foster cooperation with Vietnamese partners and work closely with the municipal People’s Committee to promote the race to Vietnamese people, and Vietnam’s culture to regional and international friends.

Meeting with Chairman of the international sports car federation (FIA) Jean Todt, the Hanoi leader highly valued the role of the official for preparing for the race in Hanoi and organising cooperation activities to raise public awareness of traffic safety in Vietnam.

The two sides agreed to continue coordinating in encouraging people to wear standard helmets, use electric vehicles to reduce environmental pollution, implement training programmes and raise awareness of traffic safety associated with the F1 Grand Prix.

They also agreed on the proposal to hold FIA Members' Meeting in Vietnam during the F1 Race in April 2020, with the participation of delegates from more than 60 countries around the world.

In the framework of the visit, Chairman Chung had meetings with representatives from Singaporean enterprises of ROK Group, Grab and NPark Singapore.

Jonathan Kendrick, Chairman of ROK, proposed the firm’s plan to invest in technology development cooperation projects in Hanoi, including producing 3D mobile phones, electric cars and exporting Vietnam’s traditional beer products to the US.

Chairman Chung applauded ideas of ROK Group and pledged to support and create the best conditions for realizing these projects soon.

Receiving Russell Cohen, head of Regional Operations of Grab in Asia, the Hanoi official highly appreciated the company's business results in Vietnam, saying that it has contributed to the development of the digital economy in Vietnam and the country’s goal of cashless payment.

Russell revealed Grab’s plan to invest another 500 million USD to expand its business activities in the Vietnamese market and Hanoi in particular in the next five years.

For NPark Singapore, Chung highlighted the recent effective cooperation between the firm with Hanoi in the field of urban landscape development, saying that Hanoi expects NPark to send its leading experts to the city to help train and transfer technology to Hanoi’s staff and employees, contributing to realizing the goal of Hanoi becoming a livable city in the future.

In the framework of the visit, on September 23, Chairman Chung accompanied the Standing Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh in a working session with Singaporean Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean on the occasion of the Binh’s visit to Singapore.

At the meeting, the Singaporean leader highly appreciated the fruitful development of relations between the two countries, including Hanoi’s contributions.

Singapore is currently the third largest foreign investor in Vietnam and the second in Hanoi. The two countries aim to further strengthen cooperation in investment, smart city development, education-training, tourism and people-to-people exchange.

The visit to Singapore offered a good chance for the Hanoi People’s Committee to learn from experience of the host country and F1 Grand Prix’s important partners in organising the race in Vietnam for the first time.

At the meetings during the visit, all partners pledged to five Hanoi the highest support, while business owners and leading billionaires in the world agreed to visit Hanoi in 2019 and 2020, promising to open a new investment and business waves in the capital in the future./. 

Vietnamese Deputy Defence Minister pays official visit to Myanmar

Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army and Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Phan Van Giang.

Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army and Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Phan Van Giang, accompanied by a high-ranking military delegation, departed for an official visit to Myanmar on September 24.

The visit is made at the invitation of Myanmar Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing.

Over the past several years, Vietnam and Myanmar have forged strong bilateral defence cooperation in multiple areas, particularly following the visit to Vietnam by Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing in March 2017 and the visit to Myanmar by Defence Minister Gen. Ngo Xuan Lich in July the same year.

Competent authorities from both sides have been actively implementing agreements reached by the two defence officials during the visits in various fields, including delegation exchange, exchange of young military officers, personnel training, defence industry and military medicines.

Giang’s visit aims to further enhance defence ties with Myanmar and discuss common policies and mechanism for cooperation, contributing to consolidating the comprehensive partnership between the two countries./.

Vietnam bolsters parliamentary cooperation with Asian, European nations

Standing Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly (NA) Tong Thi Phong in a meeting with Deputy Chairwoman of the State Duma of Russian Federation Olga Timofeeva on September 23

Standing Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly (NA) Tong Thi Phong on September 23 had bilateral meetings with foreign delegates on the sidelines of the 4th Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments (MSEAP) which takes place in Kazakhstan on September 23-24.

Meeting with Deputy Chairwoman of the State Duma of Russian Federation Olga Timofeeva, Phong expressed her delight over the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two nations which has been increasingly consolidated through the exchange of high-level delegations as well as businesses and localities.

She thanked Russia for its support for Vietnam during the national construction and defence, and affirmed the Southeast Asian country always values and prioritises the development of the partnership, as well as boosting the effective cooperation with Russia in the fields of politics, economy, trade, defence-security and people-to-people exchange.

Regarding the bilateral parliamentary relations, Phong spoke highly of the ties, saying the cooperation agreements with the Federation Council (in November 2012) and State Duma (March 2013) have served as a legal base to deepen the Vietnam-Russia partnership.

The Vietnamese NA endorses the two governments’ collaboration, and will join hands with the Russian Federal Assembly to supervise key cooperation projects and cooperation agreements between the two nations, she said.

The official suggested both sides work closely and take full advantage of the Eurasian Economic Union – Vietnam free trade agreement to facilitate trade and economic activities.

Olga Timofeeva, for her part, spoke highly of the meeting with the Vietnamese NA representative, describing this as a valuable opportunity to review their cooperative contents.

She rejoiced at Vietnam’s attendance at the MSEAP, and affirmed that members of the State Duma reach broad consensus on supporting Vietnam at all multilateral forums.

Vietnam bolsters parliamentary cooperation with Asian, European nations hinh anh 2
Phong highlights the strong development of the Vietnam-Japan relations while meeting parliamentarian Takeo Kawamura in Kazakhstan on September 23 (Photo: VNA)

While meeting head of the Japanese delegation, parliamentarian Takeo Kawamura, Phong highlighted the strong development of the Vietnam-Japan relations.

Japan is one of Vietnam’s most important partners, she said, noting that the Vietnamese NA and Government always make all-out efforts to remove difficulties hindering the development of the bilateral ties.

Phong affirmed the Vietnamese legislature’s support for the Vietnam-Japan extensive strategic partnership, as well as the support by Vietnamese NA deputies for the Government’s commitments to facilitating the operation of foreign businesses, including those from Japan.

She used the occasion to call on Japan to support Vietnam in the roles as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2020-2021 tenure, ASEAN Chair and AIPA 41 Chair, thus contributing to maintaining peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

For his part, Kawamura expressed his fome sentiments towards Vietnamese land and people and hoped that cooperation between Vietnam and Japan will further prosper in the time ahead.

In a meeting with President of the Cambodian National Assembly Heng Samrin, Phong congratulated the Cambodian people’s standout achievements in recent years, and thanked Heng Samrin and other Cambodian leaders for supporting Vietnam’s bid to become a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council while creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese people community in the host nation.

Touching on the construction of office buildings for the Secretariat and committees of the Cambodian National Assembly, Phong hoped that this will be a meaningful gift from the Vietnamese Party, State and people.

She also wished that Heng Samrin will continue his contributions to the friendship, solidarity and fraternal relations between the two countries.

Heng Samrin said he has been satisfied with the fruitful ties with Vietnam, highlighting the sound traditional friendship and long-lasting cooperation have helped both sides develop the comprehensive relations.

Earlier, the Vietnamese delegation visited the financial centre of Kazakhstan./.

PM chairs meeting reviewing projects with Laos, Cambodia

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc chaired a meeting in Hanoi on September 23 with ministries, agencies and corporations to review the implementation of the Vietnam – Laos, Vietnam – Cambodia high-level agreements.

The meeting discussed ways to step up the progress of projects with Laos and Cambodia this year.

Despite uncertainties in the region and the world, Vietnam’s trade with Laos and Cambodia in the first eight months of this year went up 15 percent. Ties across investment, energy, transportation, education – training, and culture also progressed.

As scheduled, the Prime Ministers of Laos and Cambodia will pay official visits to Vietnam next month./.

Deputy PM, WB Vice President hold talks

Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue at the event

Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue held talks in Hanoi on September 23 with Senior Vice President and chief economist of the World Bank Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg, who is in Vietnam to attend the Vietnam Reform and Development Forum 2019.

The Deputy PM thanked the guest for promoting partnership with Vietnam and supporting its macro-economic development policies.

Apart from policy consultation, the WB has provided Vietnam with official development assistance and preferential loans worth nearly 24 billion USD, about 18 billion USD of which have been disbursed.

He expressed wish to discuss with Goldberg about the strategic partnership between Vietnam and the WB, priorities in socio-economic development strategy for the 2021 – 2025 period, the impact of the global economy on Vietnam, especially amid the current US – China trade tension.

As the size of the Vietnamese economy is small, and its involvement in the global economy is limited, it is necessary to improve competitiveness and move up in the global value chain, he said, adding that he wished to listen to the WB’s forecasts on the issue and acquire suggestions to help Vietnamese firms join the global value chain more deeply.

The host also sought the lender’s recommendations to issues regarding agriculture, rural development and farmers, urban and regional economic development, and regional economic coordination.

Goldberg, for her part, suggested that Vietnam should export processed and high-value products as well as focus on technological innovation in order to further join the global value chain.

Another important point is reforming tertiary education and vocational training, with a focus on training soft skills for students and workers.

Both sides also looked into opportunities and challenges arising from the Fourth Industrial Revolution, policies to facilitate the private sector’s involvement in sci-tech development, and improving workers’ income./.

Deputy PM Truong Hoa Binh pays official visit to Singapore

Deputy PM Truong Hoa Binh (R) and his Singaporean counterpart Heng Swee Keat at the talks on September 23

Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh met with Singaporean leaders on September 23, highlighting the importance of the countries’ strategic partnership to each side’s interests, as well as to the solidarity and development of the ASEAN Community.

The Deputy PM also paid a courtesy call to President Halimah Yacob, had talks with his counterpart Heng Swee Keat, and met with Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean.

These were part of his official visit to Singapore from September 22 to 24.

At the events, the Singaporean leaders highly valued Vietnam’s socio-economic development achievements and rising stature in the world.

Deputy PM Binh affirmed that Vietnam attaches importance to developing the trustworthy, effective and substantive cooperation with Singapore on the basis of mutual respect and benefits. Both sides shared the view that trade and investment partnerships remain a highlight in bilateral relations.

Binh stressed that amidst the growing protectionism and trade frictions among big countries, Vietnam and Singapore should continue enhancing connectivity and better capitalising on their economies’ complementarity.

He also welcomed Singaporean firms’ engagement in the equitisation of Vietnam’s State-owned enterprises and their expansion of investment and cooperation in such fields as infrastructure, logistics, finance, banking, supporting industries, and startup and innovation promotion.

The Singaporean leaders said their country is ready to assist Vietnam in developing smart cities based on local advantages.

The two sides also agreed to strengthen connections in agriculture, transport, education – training, tourism, and people-to-people exchange.

At the meetings, they valued bilateral collaboration in defence, security and law.

The hosts expressed their hope for increased exchange between Vietnamese and Singaporean military forces, and for stronger coordination in search and rescue activities, and fight against trans-national crimes, especially drug crime.

The two countries will also foster cooperation in corruption combat and mutual legal assistance while further reinforcing ties between their legislative, executive and judicial agencies both bilaterally and multilaterally.

Regarding international and regional issues, Deputy PM Binh and the Singaporean leaders emphasised that the two nations share many common values and interests relevant to peace, stability and development. Both sides wish to enhance their strategic trust and cooperation, particularly amidst the complicated situation in the region and the growing strategic competition among big countries.

The Singaporean side said they consider Vietnam an example of successful development. They also spoke highly of Vietnam’s support for multilateral trade systems, along with its positive viewpoints and significant contributions to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

They affirmed the willingness to join Vietnam and other relevant countries in accelerating the negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

As for the recent developments in the East Sea, both sides underscored the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the waters. They called for the peaceful settlement of disputes on the basis of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, and the acceleration of talks to soon finalise an effective and substantive code of conduct in the waters that is in line with international law.

Also on September 23, Deputy PM Binh had a working session with the Enterprise Singapore, visited the Vietnamese Embassy and met with representatives of the Vietnamese community in the country./.

Vietnam, Laos enhance cooperation in military logistics

Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lt. Gen. Tran Don (R) presents the symbol of the Vietnam People's Army as a gift to Lt. Gen. Vongkham Phommakon, head of the general department of logistics of the Lao People’s Army, at the meeting on September 23

Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lt. Gen. Tran Don met with Lt. Gen. Vongkham Phommakon, head of the general department of logistics of the Lao People’s Army, in Hanoi on September 23.

Both host and guest shared the view that logistics cooperation between the two armies has become increasingly practical and effective in all fields, from training personnel to ensuring military supplies and special petrol and oil used for military equipment, which has greatly contributed to the special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, States, peoples and armies.

Deputy Minister Don said for the time to come, the general departments of logistics of the two armies should increase the exchange of delegations and information to improve counselling – planning and training in logistics.

For his part, the Lao official said he hopes the two sides will boost sharing experience in ensuring logistics, making strategic studies and forecasts, and proposing policies on logistics development.

The host affirmed that the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence always creates favourable conditions for the fruitful cooperation between two armies’ logistics sector to serve the ensuring of defence – security in each country./.

NA high-ranking official visits Italy

NA Vice Chairman Phung Quoc Hien (R) presents the Order of Friendship to Diego Vecchiato (L), Director of the Italian region of Veneto’s Department of International Relations; and Carlo Coccato (centre), a member of the Veneto labour confederation

A National Assembly delegation, led by Vice Chairman Phung Quoc Hien, is on a working trip in Italy from September 22 to 26.

On September 23, Hien, on behalf of the Vietnamese Party and State, presented the Order of Friendship to Diego Vecchiato, Director of the Italian region of Veneto’s Department of International Relations; and Carlo Coccato, a member of the Veneto labour confederation.

The distinction is a high honour of the State of Vietnam bestowed upon foreign individuals and groups who have made tremendous contributions to the development and promotion of friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and other countries.

The two awardees have worked to foster the Vietnam-Italy ties during Vietnam’s past struggle for independence and current national development.

They expressed their honour to receive the order and pledged to boost bilateral cooperation between the two nations, as well as between Veneto and Vietnamese localities.

The same day, the Vietnamese delegation had a working session with Roberto Marcato who oversees Veneto’s economic and energy development.

Their discussion revolved around the Italian region’s experiences in industrial design, support policies targeting cottage industry, solutions to climate change, and sustainable tourism development, among other topics.

The Veneto side hoped to beef up Vietnam – Italy economy-trade and tourism cooperation and affirmed to push for the EU’s and Italy’s early ratification of the bloc’s free trade and investment protection agreements with Vietnam.

Vietnam prepares plan for Asia-Pacific peacekeeping conference

At the conference to outline an initial plan for the general meeting and workshop of the AAPTC (Photo: qdnd.vn)

The Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations on September 23 organised a conference to outline an initial plan for the general meeting and workshop of the Association of Asia-Pacific Peace Operations Training Centres (AAPTC) to be held in Vietnam in 2020.

The conference was chaired by head of the department Maj. Gen. Hoang Kim Phung, and attended by Steven Takekoshi, Multinational Programme Specialist of the US Global Peace Operations Initiative; Colonel Shahidul Islam, a representative from the AAPTC Secretariat; and representatives from the Ministry of Defence’s competent departments and agencies.

Participants discussed preparations for the general meeting, helping affirm and increase Vietnam’s position and prestige in the international arena in the peacekeeping work, while enhancing mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation in the field with member states of the AAPTC.

Describing AAPTC meeting as an important event hosted by Vietnam in 2020, Phung affirmed the meeting requires meticulous preparations.

Meanwhile, Shahidul Islam expressed his belief that with concerted efforts and increasing contributions to the UN’s initiative, Vietnam will successfully organise the AAPTC meeting next year.

The Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations will play the role of the Chair of the AAPTC and the ASEAN Peacekeeping Centres Network (APCN) in 2020. Besides, it was recently chosen as one of the four training centres for the peacekeeping forces in the region under the UN’s Triangular Partnership Project (TPP)./.

Hau Giang asked to work harder in luring NGOs’ assistance

Truong Canh Tuyen, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee speaks at the event

A working session on measures to attract assistance from foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang was held on September 23 in the locality.

Speaking at the event, vice head of the People's Aid Coordinating Committee under the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO) Nguyen Ngoc Hung praised the locality for its efforts and coordination mechanisms among local sectors to call for assistance from foreign NGOs.

The locality has also focused on simplifying administrative procedures and applying information technology to well perform the work, Hung noted.

He asked local authorities to pay heed to people-to-people diplomacy to introduce Vietnamese culture and people, and taking initiatives to lure more assistance from foreign NGOs.

Truong Canh Tuyen, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, affirmed the support from NGOs has significantly contributed to the locality’s development.

Hau Giang will continue to enhance coordination among agencies and sectors and promote administrative reform to attract foreign aid, he said.

Currently, as many as 33 NGOs are operating in Hau Giang, mostly in remote areas, contributing to promoting sustainable poverty reduction.

The locality has implemented 217 programmes and projects funded by NGOs worth 12.7 million USD, with 11.8 million USD disbursed, equal to 92.8 percent of the committed amount.

The projects focuses on the areas of agriculture and rural development, health care, education and vocational training.

Deputy PM receives CEO of Lotte Asset Development

Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung (R) and CEO of Lotte Asset Development Lee Kwang Young

Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung affirmed that the Vietnamese Government offers all possible support to investors, during a reception in Hanoi on September 23 for CEO of Lotte Asset Development Lee Kwang Young.

Dung said the RoK now leads countries and territories investing in Vietnam, and the Vietnamese community in the RoK and the RoK community in Vietnam are making important contributions to each country’s socio-economic development.

He spoke highly of Lotte’s business operations in Vietnam with the first presence in 1996, saying that the group has helped promote the shipment of Vietnamese farm produce to the RoK and other countries.

The host also lauded Lotte’s active involvement in social welfare programmes, proving its social responsibility.

According to him, Vietnam is encouraging enterprises to expand investment in new areas, especially in transport infrastructure, energy and urban development.

Lee, for his part, thanked the Deputy PM and the Vietnamese Government for supporting Lotte’s projects over the past years, thus contributing to Vietnam’s growth.

He said Lotte is pooling resources to embark on several smart urban development projects in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and will call on RoK firms to invest in Vietnam as well as support start-ups in the country./.

Da Nang rolls out measures to develop e-government

The central city of Da Nang has applied a number of measures to build an e-government as part of efforts to realize the Politburo’s Resolution 43-NQ/TW on development of Da Nang to 2030 with a vision to 2045.

Under a plan of actions to complete the goal, the city has defined five spearhead sectors, one of which is to develop information technology, electronics and telecommunications in combination as part of the digital economy. The plan also sets the goal of turning Da Nang into an ecological, modern and smart city. By 2030, the city is to complete the building of a smart city connected with the networks of smart cities in the country and in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region.

In particular, the city will upgrade the local e-government architecture framework to be compatible with the Vietnam e-government architecture framework (version 2.0) after the Ministry of Information and Communication approves and promulgates the framework.

Accordingly, the city will build a synchronous telecom infrastructure system along with regional and inter-regional core networks, and expand the 5G mobile service to cover the entire city and broadband connection to enterprises and households.

Other goals include upgrading the e-Government platform; completing the Local Government Service Platform (LGSP); connecting with the National Government Service Platform (NGSP) for sharing data with ministries and central agencies; and putting into operation a data service portal to provide the municipal government’s information to the public and businesses, especially information in the fields of construction, land, the environment, transport, public investment, education, health care, tax, customs and justice.

Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le TrungChinh said the city is resolved to reform its working style to make the people and enterprises the centre of its work, and take the public’s satisfaction as the measurement of the operation of the e-government.

In the 2019-2020 period, Da Nang will work to complete the city’s public service portal in association with applying mobile apps and digital signature on mobile gadgets. The city aims to have at least 30 percent of online public services use digital signature in administrative procedures, and have 100 percent of public services performed online at third- and fourth levels.

During 2021-2025, the city will get itself ready in terms of infrastructure and database for the full implementation of smart city and connection with ASEAN smart city network. The city will continue to promote the use of technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) in enterprises and society.

To realize those goals, Da Nang will mobilize all sources of resources and develop human resources for the work, and will launch extensive communication campaigns to raise public awareness about the importance of building an e-government.

Da Nang was the first city in Vietnam to launch an e-Government system in 2014, and transferred the system to 16 cities and provinces in 2016.

According to a report, Da Nang’s e-Government system had been used by 225 agencies and 4,000 users.

Da Nang had provided 1,200 online administration procedures, including one-stop shops, residential management, public transport and water supervision through the e-Government system, while free wireless internet services offer a maximum of 20,000 connections in public places, according to the city’s information and communications department.

The city’s IT infrastructure was available for smart connections for air control, water, garbage, meteorology and energy agencies. It could also provide earthquake and tsunami warnings, and data on flooding, erosion, sewage management and food safety.

Da Nang earned the top place in the category of centrally-run provinces and cities of the E-Government Development Index 2018, which was announced at the end of April 2019./. 

Vietnam helps Laos train personnel on defence external relations

At the opening ceremony of the course

A training course on defence external relations for personnel of the Lao People's Armed Forces opened in Hanoi on September 23.

The 20-day course is the first of its kind co-organised by Vietnamese and Lao defence ministries.

Participants are set to be informed on current regional and global affairs; Vietnam’s defence external policy; a number of ASEAN military-defence cooperation processes; and international laws on border, territory, marine navigation and aviation.

They will also be trained on skills to organise diplomatic activities as well as to analyse, summarize, and forecast international developments

Defence cooperation is one of the important pillars in Vietnam – Laos fraternal relations. /.

Vietnam and US work together to combat ASF

Pham Van Dong, head of the Department of Animal Health (third from right, first row) and US Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel Kritenbrink (fourth from right, first row) take a group photo with Vietnamese ASF first responders at the training course.

The spread of African swine fever (ASF) continues, causing losses for breeders, said Phạm Văn Đông, head of the Department of Animal Health at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

According to the Animal Health Department, the ASF virus has so far spread to more than 7,700 communes of nearly 650 districts in all 63 provinces and cities of Việt Nam. More than five million pigs have been culled.

“The pathogens have spread rapidly. The virus has existed for a long time in the environment and in pork with diversified methods of transmissions. The management of ASF has faced difficulties due to large numbers of small-scale pig slaughtering and breeding households,” said Đông.

He said the only successful measure so far is to ensure biological safety in breeding. All pigsties must be safe and installed with antiseptic measures and nets to isolate pigs from insects which can spread pathogens.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and US Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service have held an ASF training course for first responders in Hà Nội. The course is expected to end tomorrow.

The course is part of capacity building events conducted by the US to share experience and expertise to help Việt Nam combat the transboundary animal disease.

US Ambassador to Việt Nam Daniel Kritenbrink said the US received a letter in April 2019 from Vietnamese deputy minister of agriculture and rural development, asking the US to provide assistance to Việt Nam.

Responding to the request, the US is providing US$800,000 of laboratory diagnostic equipment to help Việt Nam detect ASF and a number of studies, assessments and seminars.

The ambassador highlighted the importance of collaboration between the two countries as the US regards Việt Nam as “a regional strategic partner” in combating the disease.

“Since August 2018, the ASF virus has spread to 10 other countries in the region. We are confident that Việt Nam can play a critical role in helping us develop a regional approach to respond to ASF,” he said.

Combating ASF is going to be a long-term challenge. The US and VN should continue to look at solutions that the two sides can take together in short, mid and long terms, he said. 

PM orders preparations for conference on new-style rural area building

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered thorough preparations for the organisation of the national conference concluding the implementation of the national target programme on new-style rural areas building in the 2010-2020 period.

Relevant agencies are asked to speed up the organisation of regional events and complete assigned tasks to wrap up the 10-year implementation of the target programme before the national conference to be held on October 20 in the northern province of Nam Dinh.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) is tasked with working with functional agencies to prepare agenda and compile documents, and with the Nam Dinh People’s Committee to organise the conference and events on the sidelines.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism must join hands with the MARD and Nam Dinh authorities on cultural and art performances at the event and a photo exhibition on the 10-year implementation.

Relevant agencies are asked to team up with the MARD to organise the conference and report results of the programme to the MARD prior to September 30, while localities nationwide should enhance communications to raise awareness of the event and achievements of the national target programme.

The National Target Programme on New-style Rural Area Building, initiated by the Government in 2010, sets 19 criteria on socio-economic development, politics, and defence, aiming to boost rural regions of Vietnam.

The list of criteria includes the development of infrastructure, the improvement of production capacity, environmental protection, and the promotion of cultural values./.