UK Prince visits HCM City

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, on October 12 visited Ho Chi Minh City during his five-day official visit to Vietnam.

Meeting with Nguyen Trung Tin, Deputy Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, the UK Prince expressed his interest in Ho Chi Minh City’s socio-economic development.

The Prince discussed the development of transport infrastructure, including the construction of metro routes and moving ports away from the inner city. He also touches upon education and training, the development of human resources and infrastructure for education and health care.

He said many UK businesses want to invest in infrastructure development in HCM City.

Prince Andrew also said he is ready to support HCM City’s contribution to the implementation of pacts between the two countries and raise UK-Vietnam cooperation to a new level.

For his part, Tin said infrastructure as well as education and health care are always the city’s major concerns and it wants to learn from UK experiences and receive assistance from the UK in the fields of education and training, financial markets, information technology and administrative reform.

Investment from the UK in HCM City has increased in recent years, making up 25 percent of the country’s total investment in Vietnam, worth over US$600 million.

China’s Minister of National Defense concludes visit to Vietnam

Photo: VNA

During the visit, the delegation met with General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nong Duc Manh and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

They also met with a high-level Vietnamese military delegation headed by Defence Minister Phung Quang Thanh and visited the Pioneer Division.

General underscores defence cooperation with Russia

Defence cooperation would contribute to further reinforcing the strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia, said Defence Minister Phung Quang Thanh at a meeting with the Chief of General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces in Hanoi on October 12.

General Thanh hailed General Nikolai Makarov, who is also Russia’s first Deputy Defence Minister, for his presence at the first ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM+) and his contributions to the success of the meeting.

He expressed thanks for the valuable assistance that the former Soviet Union and the current Russian Federation have offered to the Vietnamese army and people in the past years.

General Thanh also wished that after the first ADMM+ in Hanoi, the Russian Defence Ministry and other countries would make further contributions to make ADMM+ a really highest defence cooperation mechanism between ASEAN Defence Ministers and eight dialogue partners, strengthening peace, stability and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

General Nikolai Makarov congratulated Vietnam on its successful organization of ADMM+ and spoke highly of the outcomes of the meeting as well as Vietnam’s defence cooperation initiatives.

Within the framework of ADMM+, General Thanh had bilateral meetings with the delegation heads of China, the US, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Australia.

The same day, Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Khac Nghien received Chief of the Defence Force of Australia General Angus Houston, who came to Vietnam for ADMM+.

Vietnam Farmers’ Union receives Gold Star Order

The Vietnam Farmers’ Union (VFU) received the Gold Star Order for the second time at a ceremony in Hanoi on October 13 for their 80th anniversary.

Attending the ceremony were former Party leader Le Kha Phieu, politburo member and member of the Central Party Committee’s Secretariat, Truong Tan Sang and State Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan.

Over the past 80 years, the VFU has renewed practical activities and called on farmers to join revolutionary movements for national liberalisation, construction and defence.

The Union has worked closely with socio-economic organisations to provide vocational training for farmers and helped them develop production models, which has contributed substantially to the economic restructuring of agriculture and rural development.

The “Studying and Following President Ho Chi Minh’s Moral Example” Campaign received a positive response from farmers throughout the country with the VFU’s assistance and proved effective.

VFU Chairman Nguyen Quoc Cuong said the Union will continue to intensify communication and educational activities to raise farmers’ awareness of the role and tasks of the Union as well as educate Vietnam’s peasant class in the cause of national industrialisation, modernisation and international economic integration.

It is essential for the Union to exert more efforts to overcome difficulties and challenges to build a politically and ideologically strong organisation, which involves capable and creative members, emphasised Cuong.

In his speech, Mr Sang praised the significant achievements the Union has recorded over the past 80 years and called on the Union to make greater contributions to developing a modern and efficient agricultural system thus helping improve farmers’ living standards.

Mr Sang underlined the need to introduce Party and State guidelines and policies to farmers and encourage them to carry out patriotic emulation movements effectively.

State Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan presented the Gold Star Order to the VFU at the ceremony.

VNN/VOV/VNA