Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan and her entourage left Hanoi on the evening of Oct. 16, 2010 for an official visit to Bulgaria from Oct. 16-21 and attending the 13 th Francophone Summit in Montreux, Switzerland, from Oct. 21-24.

Vice President Doan’s visit to Bulgaria, which takes place when the two countries are celebrating the 60 th anniversary of their diplomatic ties, once again confirms Vietnam’s consistent foreign policy of enhancing the relationship with traditional friends, including Bulgaria.

While in Bulgaria , Vice President Doan will pay a courtesy visit to President Georgi Parvanov, hold talks with Vice President Angel Marin and meet National Assembly Deputy Chairman Pirinski as well as Velico Turnovo City Mayor Rumen Pashev. She will also attend the Vietnam-Bulgaria business forum and visit the University of National and World Economy.

The 13 th Francophone Summit takes place in the context of peace , cooperation and development as a major trend and on the occasion of the 40 th anniversary of the International Organisation of the Francophone (OIF).

At the summit, Vietnam is expected to make active contributions to promoting development cooperation in politics, culture and economics in the Francophone community and expanding bilateral ties with French-speaking countries.

Vice President Doan will deliver a speech at the event’s opening ceremony and have bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the event.

Party General Secretary urges Police to modernise

Party General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nong Duc Manh, has urged the State’s security force to become more professional, elite and modern, saying this is essential for the future.

The Party leader made the request at the 5 th Congress of the security force party committee, which opened in Hanoi on October 15.

He said the task is vital for maintaining political stability and safeguarding national sovereignty and the public.

The security force, normally the police, were praised for fulfilling their duties in the past and ensuring the success of the renewal process, national construction and defence during the country’s new stage of development.

The Minister of Public Security, General Le Hong Anh, reported that over the past five years, his force has worked more closely with the army and other State agencies to detect and foil any scheme by hostile forces.

The Police have worked flat out to prevent all hostile and terrorist actions as well as attempts to spread unrest and chaos by revolutionary forces, underlined the police chief.

He highlighted the police’s success in detecting and preventing a number of major crimes, corruption, smuggling, drug trafficking, organised and hi-tech crimes./.

Singapore’s naval ship visits Da Nang

Singapore’s naval ship, the RSS Persistence arrived in Da Nang on October 15, beginning its friendly visit to the central city of Vietnam.

In the framework of the visit, the ship’s commanders, officers and sailors will pay a courtesy visit to the leaders of Da Nang city People’s Committee, the High Command of the Naval Zone C and the High Command of Military Zone 5.

The ship’s officers and sailors will also play volleyball with a team of local naval officers and visit some famous landscapes of Da Nang city.

The visit will help to promote friendly ties between Vietnam and Singapore in general and the two nations’ armies in particular.

German Left Party leader visits Vietnamese-run mart

Dr. Gesine Lotzsch, a Co-President of the Die Linke Party, also referred to as The Left, hailed contributions by the Vietnamese community to the residential society during her visit to their trade centre in Berlin on October 15.

Lotzsch and Andreas Prufer, Deputy Chief of the Lichtenberg precinct, home to the Dong Xuan trade centre run by the Vietnamese community, also lauded the centre’s success in turning an almost deserted area into a busy wholesale hub.

The centre has, therefore, provided jobs for not only Vietnamese but also local Germans and other foreigners such as Turks, Indians and Chinese.

They supported a plan reported by its Director Nguyen Van Hien to upgrade the centre into a complex of restaurants, hotels, shopping and entertainments with an investment designed to fly up to hundreds of millions of Euros.

The plan aims to turn the area into a commercial hub and a metropolis of culture in Berlin as well.

The Charge d’Affaires of the Vietnamese Embassy to Germany , Bui Ngoc Toan, said many Vietnamese have been successful in Germany , contributing to stabilising the living conditions of the Vietnamese overseas as well as to local economic development.

“Among them, the Dong Xuan trade centre has set an example,” emphasised the Vietnamese diplomat.

Party Central Committee office marks traditional day

Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh attended a meeting held in Hanoi on October 16 to mark the 80 th traditional anniversary of the offices of the Party Central Committee and the Party executive committees at all levels.

The Party leader called on the Party Committee office staff to work closely with relevant agencies in preparing documents and personnel for the upcoming National Party Congress, which he described as a milestone political event.

He said everything should be well done, especially the task of summarising recommendations to the National Party Congress documents raised by party congresses at local levels, deputies to the National Assembly, social organisations and people of all walks of life.

“The task is of great importance to make the Party congress documents high quality and crystallise the entire Party and people’s brainpower,” he emphasised.

The Party Central Committee office and the offices of Party executive committees at all levels should uphold their 80 year-long tradition to contribute to building a Vietnam of peace, independence, unity, democracy and prosperity as well as to firmly defending the socialism, concluded the Party leader.

President meets voters in Ho Chi Minh City

President Nguyen Minh Triet meet voters of district 3, Ho Chi Minh City on Oct. 16 to listen to their opinions and aspirations to the eighth session of the 12 th National Assembly.

Besides making suggestions to draft laws, voters expressed their concerns about the city’s flooding situation and violence at school and family.

They also requested to increase number of full-time deputies so that the NA and NA deputies can uphold the roles and functions of a people-elected agency and delegates.

Many voters recommended that the NA and government strengthen forest management and not allow foreigners to hire forests.

They also asked for proper plan to ensure safety for the bauxite exploitation project in the Central Highlands, citing the red mud spill in Hungary as a lesson, and measures to protect Vietnamese fishermen who conduct legal fishing activities in the territorial waters of the country.

Learning voters’ opinions, President Triet stressed that the Party, Sate and relevant agencies always pay attention to protecting and managing forests as well as to ensuring safety for bauxite exploitation in the Central Highlands.

The Party and State are always concerned about fishermen who have to work in difficult conditions at sea and always protect them when they conduct legal fishing and production within Vietnam ’s territorial waters, the President affirmed.

He said all sea incidents between Vietnam and other countries should be settled in the spirit of humanity, friendliness, mutual respect and mutual benefits as well as in line with international law.

Vietnamese embassy in US marks Thang Long-Hanoi birthday

The Vietnamese embassy in US celebrated 1,000 th birthday of Thang Long-Hanoi on Oct. 15, attracting a large number of overseas Vietnamese in Washington and north eastern states.

Ambassador Le Cong Phung recalled 1,000 years of history of Thang Long-Hanoi which have close connection to the country’s building and construction process, and reviewed the city’s achievements at present.

The Thang Long-Hanoi millennium is a celebration of the whole nation and a chance to revive national pride, he said.

He also called upon overseas Vietnamese in the US to take practical actions to contribute their intelligence and strength to the country and city’s development.

Participants enjoyed traditional dishes and art performances on Hanoi performed by overseas students.

Earlier, student associations in Washington and neighbouring states organised a football tournament to welcome the thousand-year anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

Vietnam attaches importance to ties with Japan
 
Vietnam attaches importance to developing ties with Japan and praised effective cooperation between the two legislative bodies and parliamentary friendship organisations.

Truong Tan Sang, politburo member and standing secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, made the statement while meeting Yamaguchi Tsuyoshi, General Secretary of the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Group and Maeda Tadashi, Special Advisor to the Japanese Cabinet, in Hanoi on Oct. 15.

Sang added that those relations would contribute to boosting the strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia . He expressed his wish that Yamaguchi Tsuyoshi and Maeda Tadashi would actively help strengthen cooperation between Vietnam and Japan, especially through economic cooperation, trade, investment and culture.

Yamaguchi Tsuyoshi expressed his pleasure at the fine development of friendship and cooperation between the two countries over the past years and said Japan was actively making preparations for the visit to Vietnam by Japanese Prime Minister Kan Naoto to attend the ASEAN Summit later this month.

He said the Japan-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentary Group would cooperate closely with the Vietnam-Japan Friendship Parliamentary Group to contribute to implementing the agreements reached by leaders of the two countries, especially the Japan-Vietnam strategic cooperative projects.

Vietnam-UN cooperation deepened
 
Vice Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh has affirmed that the cooperation between Vietnam and the UN is growing fruitfully, especially in implementing the One UN Initiative in Vietnam.

The official made this statement while receiving Michelle Bachelet, Chair of the UN Social Protection Floor Advisory Group, in Hanoi on Oct. 15.

He asked Michelle Bachelet, who is also Executive Director of the UN’s Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) Agency, to pay more attention to helping Vietnam in those areas.

PV