PM gives instructions on agriculture

The Prime Minister has issued instructions on agriculture in areas of land rent for rubber replanting and biogas programmes for the animal husbandry sector in Vietnam.

The PM agreed to waive land rent fees for rubber replanting between 2015 and 2020. He also ordered the Ministry of Finance and relevant authorities to guide localities to perform the instruction in accordance with regulations.

The PM also nodded to adjust the content list of the “Biogas Programme for the Animal Husbandry Sector in Vietnam” funded by Official Development Assistance from the Government of the Netherlands.

Specifically, the project will be extended to June 30, 2016 with additional funds of 1.3 million EUR

The project started in 2003, aiming to implement about 167,000 biogas projects in 63 provinces and cities nationwide.-

First consultative conference on NA deputies’ election

The first consultative conference of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee was held in Hanoi on February 16 to discuss the personnel structure of the 14th National Assembly (NA) as proposed by the 13th NA Standing Committee.

Head of the NA Committee for Deputy Affairs Nguyen Thi Nuong said the Resolution 1140/2016 of the 13th NA Standing Committee anticipates the number of officials working in centrally-run agencies and organisations to be elected to the 14th National Assembly will be 198, up by 15 compared to the previous tenure.

Of the total candidates, 11 are from the Party agencies, 3 from Presidential offices, 114 from parliamentary agencies – around 20 percent of whom are expected to be women and 10 percent ethic minority, and 18 from Government agencies.

President of the VFF Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan said one of the leading missions of the committee is introducing eligible candidates to the 14th NA’s tenure, through three consultative conferences.

This is a significant stage to help the National Election Council build and announce the official list of candidates for NA deputies, he added.

The VFF Central Committee’s Standing Committee will send a report on the outcome of the first consultative conference to the National Election Council and the NA Standing Committee on February 17.

The second and third consultative conferences are scheduled to take place in March and April.

Prime Minister directs youth development strategy

The Prime Minister on February 16 signed a directive on continuing the Vietnamese youth development strategy for 2011-2020, and a relevant government resolution issued on September 11, 2009.

Accordingly, municipal and provincial authorities and ministers were asked to devise annual plans to realise the strategy between 2016 and 2020.

Ministries, agencies and localities were required to align youth development goals with local development while speeding up the issuance of policies and laws pertaining to youth, and strengthening State management by improving the staff’s professional capacity.

The directive also requests intensifying inspection and raising public awareness of youth roles and work amid current industrialisation and modernisation.

The Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and socio-political organisations must monitor policy and law enforcement over youth work.

The Ministry of Home Affairs is responsible for overseeing the general implementation.

Vietnamese people in France celebrate traditional Lunar New Year

The Embassy of Vietnam in France organised a ceremony at the City Hall in Paris, France on February 16 to welcome the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet).

The event, the third of its kind held in the City Hall in Paris, saw the attendance of Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, representatives from local authorities and ministries, Vietnamese Ambassador to France Nguyen Ngoc Son, head of Vietnam’s mission to UNESCO Le Hong Phan and others.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo hailed the culture of Vietnam, saying that it contributes to local diversity.

She spoke highly of the beautiful landscapes in Vietnam and expressed her hope to see the country again as Paris’s mayor.

For his part, Ambassador Son expressed his happiness on welcoming in the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) at the hall, which has witnessed milestones in the friendship between the two nations.

He hailed the host’s efforts to organise the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 21).

He expressed his belief that the strategic partnership between Vietnam and France will be consolidated with respective political efforts and mutual delegate exchanges, such as the Vietnam – France senior economic dialogue in Paris, and a visit by President Francois Hollande.

He spoke about significant socio-economic achievements Vietnam has made in 2015, with the economic growth rate hitting 6.68 percent, the highest over the past five years.

Vietnam has actively participated in international integration, with the conclusion of negotiations on a free trade agreement with the EU and the signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal, Son said.

The ambassador also highlighted the significance of the 12 th National Party Congress, which took place in January this year. It marked a milestone for the 30-year Doi Moi (Reform) period.

Son also expressed his belief that the overseas Vietnamese community of some 300,000 people in France will continue forging its solidarity, contributing actively to fostering the friendship between the two nations.

Programme greens Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park with trees

A tree planting programme was launched at the Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park in Hanoi on February 16 with a view to educating young people on environmental protection, especially in the scientific-technological industry.

Politburo member and President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Nguyen Thien Nhan said planting trees in spring has become a tradition in Vietnam which was initiated by late President Ho Chi Minh in 1959.

He called upon all ministries, sectors, organisations and people to continue planting trees so as to help ensure a sustainable environment.

Following the launch, he and other participants planted plants at various locations within the hi-tech park.

On February 15, the Tree Planting Festival 2016 was officially kicked off in the presence of President Truong Tan Sang in Tuyen Quang province.

The Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park, approved in 1998, covers nearly 1,590 hectares in Hanoi’s outlying districts of Thach That and Quoc Oai.

It has housed 69 projects with a total registered capital of nearly 55.4 trillion VND (2.47 billion USD). The projects operate in various fields such as software production and business, information technology, biology, medicine, electronics, and automation.

State Bank urges loans for new-style rural building

The State Bank has urged credit organisations to intensify loans for new-style rural building.

Accordingly, the bank has issued a document No 691/NHNN-TD requesting its branches work with authorised bodies to fortify the implementation of the National Target Programme on New Rural Development.

The bank has also instructed credit organisations balance their capital resources to meet capital needs in order to carry out the programme.

The State Bank’s branches in provinces and cities nationwide have been instructed to periodically report on the loan situation for new-style rural building under several categories such as loan data, outcomes, difficulties, and solutions in order to increase the effectiveness of the capital in the implementation of the programme.

The National Target Programme on New Rural Development, launched in 2010, sets out 19 criteria for new-style rural areas, covering infrastructure, production, living standards, income and culture, among others.

Since 2010 about 2,500 large-scale field models were set up in 43 provinces, covering about 556,000 hectares. Many production chain models were also formed in husbandry, aquaculture and forestry.

Vocational training for rural labourers has also born significant outcomes.

Around 56.5 percent of communes have satisfied the criterion of income and 85.5 percent have met that of employment.

Nearly 1,300 communes (14.5 percent) and 11 districts nationwide have been recognised as new-style rural areas to date.

Hanoi focuses on post-Tet key tasks

The People’s Committee of Hanoi on February 16 held a conference to implement key tasks following the recent Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.

At the event, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung asked relevant locality agencies to carry out solutions relating to socio-economic concerns and the state budget balance.

Local authorities are asked to people’s travel as well as social order and safety in order and safety in post-Tet activities and spring festivals.

The city will also strengthen measures on fire prevention and firefighting, as well as control of infectious diseases.

Local authorities are requested to tackle difficulties and obstacles to ensure continued business activities and the production of the winter-spring crop.

The city’s leader also asked relevant agencies to focus on urgent projects, including the construction of seven public schools in the most disadvantaged areas and the preservation of traditional craft villages.

Additionally, he urged more efforts in promoting public health care as well as upgrading and expanding facilities in the field.

According to the municipal People’s Committee, the capital city enjoyed a nine-day safe and joyful Tet holiday.

The city spent nearly 400 billion VND (about 17.4 million USD) to present gifts to over 1 million policy beneficiaries and impoverished people in the city on the occasion of Tet.

About 464,000 holiday-makers visited the city during the period, an increase of 65 percent compared to last year’s holiday.

Press contributes to country’s achievements: official

The press has contributed to enhancing solidarity and creating a consensus on ideology and action in the whole Party, army and people, an official has said.

The press plays a crucial role in implementing the country’s political tasks, newly-appointed head of the Party Central Committee’s Information and Education Commission Vo Van Thuong said at a conference with media agencies in Hanoi on February 16, which is an annual event on the occasion of the Lunar New Year festival.

Thuong said the nation reaped great achievements in 2015, especially the success of the 12 th National Party Congress.

He called for further reform in media agencies, and higher quality in communication work, saying that the agencies need to promote their political and social responsibility and the professional ethics of journalism.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam thanked all media workers nationwide, affirming that they made important contributions to the national socio-economic development.

The conference heard that media agencies met set requirements in 2015, especially in covering the country’s important events, reflecting the trust of people from all walks of life in the Party and the national reform process.

More subjects should be tested for Zika virus: official

Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long has suggested Vietnam expand supervising subjects to prevent the spread of Zika virus into the country as it is continually developing globally.

The official made the proposal at a meeting of the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) under the Ministry of Health in Hanoi on February 16 to update the development of the virus and roll out countermeasures.

Deputy Minister Long said apart from pregnant women, those travelling from Zika-hit countries must be tested for the virus.

According to the ministry, no cases of Zika fever have been reported in Vietnam so far, but there is a risk that the virus may enter the country.

Against this backdrop, the ministry has devised a plan of action against the virus under which it has intensified inspections at border gates and among the community and drawn up treatment guidelines.

It has also stockpiled medicines and preventive equipment, and established a hotline on Zika. At the same time, it stands ready to send mobile first-aid forces to localities if necessary.

The ministry recommended women, especially the pregnant, protect themselves by not going to Zika-prone countries and taking measures to prevent mosquito.

Zika virus is mainly transmitted through the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which also carries dengue fever. The virus has been linked to microcephaly- a condition that causes babies to be born with unusually small heads and, in the vast majority of cases, damaged brains. Currently, there is no vaccine or specific medicine to treat Zika.

The virus is characterised by a low grade fever (from 37.5 degree Celsius to 38 degree Celsius). The symptoms are similar to other arbovirus infections such as dengue and include skin rashes, muscle pain, joint pain with possible swelling (notable of the small joints of the hands and feet), headaches, conjunctivitis and malaise. The incubation period is usually between three and 12 days.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that between 2007 and February 5, 2016 , the virus has circulated in 44 countries and territories worldwide.

The organisation explained that anyone who had not previously been exposed to the virus may become infected and that the Aedes mosquito is present in most Latin American nations.

The US’s Centre for Disease Control said that the connection between microcephaly and mosquito insecticide has also become a new concern, which is still under investigation.

Can Tho to promote Cai Rang floating market

Can Tho city will work to implement a project to preserve and upgrade the Cai Rang floating market with the aim to make it a key tourism product in the Mekong Delta region.

The statement was made by Le Minh Son, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism during a conference held on February 16 to review the sector’s performance in 2015 and launch tasks in 2016.

In 2016, the local tourism sector will focus on developing waterway tourism in combination with historical relic visits and ecological tourism as well as homestay services for tourists.

Can Tho will also strengthen cooperation in this field with other provinces and cities nationwide, and countries in the region, including Thailand and Cambodia.

The city is currently calling for investments in tourist sites along the Hau River.

This year, Can Tho strives to receive about 1.7 million visitors, including 250,000 foreigners, and earn 1.8 trillion VND (78 million USD) in tourism revenue.

Tourists stranded on Cu Lao Cham Island rescued

Nearly 400 tourists, stranded on Cu Lao Cham Island in the central Quang Nam Province due to bad weather, were transported to the mainland yesterday, Cua Dai Border Post said.

Tran Van Ba, head of the border guards of the post, said strong winds and rough seas prevented the movement of boats transporting tourists from Cua Dai Beach to the island. Scores of tourists had been left stranded on the island since February 14.

Early yesterday, Cua Dai Border Post asked the provincial border guard command to send a military vessel and mobilise tens of soldiers to help the tourists return to the mainland.

All the tourists were transported safely by yesterday afternoon.

Fire destroys 17ha of Vinh Phuc forests

A fire destroyed about 17ha of forests yesterday afternoon in the northern Vinh Phuc Province's Ngoc Thanh Commune.

The local administration sent 40 people and fire engines to put out the fire. However, the fire-fighting activities faced difficulties due to lack of access to water sources.

The fire was brought under control after four hours. The local police are investigating the cause of the fire.

Ha Giang hosts Mong ethnic festival

A cultural festival of the Mong ethic minority group took place in Meo Vac District in the northernmost province of Ha Giang on Monday.

The special event, which aimed to preserve and display the cultural values and mysteries of the Mong's customs and habits at Dong Van Plateau, attracted a great number of visitors.

"After the success of the first cultural festival of the Mong group last year, this year's event hoped to build a Vietnamese culture filled with national identities as well as to promote tourism," Nguyen Cao Cuong, chairman of Meo Vac District people's committee, said.

Visitors who love to explore cultural values got a chance to take part in many unique activities such as Gau Tao festival and Khen (a wind instrument) dancing festival, and to learn and experience traditional crafts, besides enjoying folk games such as tug of war and goat fights.

This year's festival featured more than 500 artisans, local actors and athletes from 18 communes of Meo Vac District.

Festival pays tribute to devoted individuals

The Princess Huyen Tran (Vietnamese: Huyen Tran Cong Chua) Temple Festival is being held at Princess Huyen Tran Culture Centre, An Tay Ward.

The festival, which is held annually, attracted people from all walks of life, Buddhist monks and nuns, religious dignitaries and visitors from afar.

The festival, which aimed to manifest the national moral code, "Eating a fruit, think of the man who planted the tree", paid tribute to individuals who have devoted their lives to the expansion of Great Viet Nam.

Besides offering incense at Princess Huyen Tran Temple and Emperor Tran Nhan Tong (1258-1308) Temple, the festival also included spiritual activities such as praying for the safety of people, flower garlands and a coloured lanterns festival, and an arts and crafts exhibition, in addition to folklore games and portrait painting.

The Huyen Tran Princess Culture Centre is an architecture complex consisting of Emperor Tran Nhan Tong and Princess Huyen Tran Temples which is located 7kilometres to the West of Hue City, on a 28-hectare campus. Inside the temple lies the 2.37m high bronze statue of Princess Huyen Tran. Behind the statue is the temple of Emperor Tran Nhan Tong, who was credited for being a great king for dedicating his life in building and protecting the country.

Princess Huyen Tran, who was the daughter of Emperor Tran Nhan Tong, was married off to Champa King Jaya Sinhavarman III, in return for the peace of three central provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue today.

Veteran researcher passes away

Cultural researcher Ho Tan Phan, who made great contributions to the antique collection and research of the former Hue Citadel's history, died of old age on February 14.

Phan, who was born in 1939 and lived in Hue City in central Thua Thien Hue Province, was an active member of the Hue Research Centre.

A retired teacher, Phan had a museum of ceramic items found in the Huong River bed. He had also collected more than 10,000 old books, many of which contained rare materials about Viet Nam's sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos.

Last May, he presented to the National Border Committee (of the Foreign Affairs Ministry) a copy of a book on Dai Nam (the old name of Viet Nam), written by historians under the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945) and recently republished by Keio University, Japan.

Phan has left behind unfinished research about the titles of kings under the Nguyen Dynasty.

Phan wished to sell half of his 3,000sq.m garden to raise money to build a house for his family and a museum in the rest of the garden.

The museum was to host his ceramic ware collection, entitled Searching for the Lost Time.

According to researcher Nguyen Viet from the Centre for Southeast Asian Prehistory, Phan's ceramic ware collection shows that Hue has important archaeological objects dating back 4,000 years, such as items of the Sa Huynh Culture (3,000 to 2,000 years ago) and the Cham Pa Culture (192-1832).

Viet hoped Phan's family would implement his dream. The centre may provide support for categorising of objects and offer financial help for the museum's establishment.

Incense offering ceremony held in Thang Long Royal Citadel

An incense offering ceremony to commemorate late Vietnamese Kings was held at the Kinh Thien Palace in the Thang Long Royal Citadel on February 16 or the ninth day of the first lunar month.

Politburo member and Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang, representatives from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, other ministries and agencies, and Hanoi leaders joined the event.

The ceremony featured various traditional rituals, including a palanquin procession staged by more than 400 people and incense offerings, along with a dragon dance and a drum performance.

A seal opening ceremony also took place as part of the event. Earlier, archaeologists unearthed a wooden royal seal made under the reign of King Tran Thai Tong (1257).

The Thang Long-Hanoi Relic Conservation Centre aims to make the incense offering ceremony an annual spiritual event to pay homage to the national ancestors while honouring the traditional values of the citadel.

The citadel was built in the 11th century during the Ly Dynasty to mark the independence of Dai Viet, the former name of Vietnam. The central sector of the imperial citadel was listed as a UNESCO's World Heritage Site on July 31, 2010.

22 projects to electrify thousands of households

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved 22 projects for providing electricity to rural areas and islands this year.

Viet Nam Electricity Group (EVN) is the co-ordinator of the projects, and the investors are the Northern Power Corporation, the Central Power Corporation and the Southern Power Corporation.

Twenty-one of the 22 projects will supply electricity to rural areas and islands from the national grid.

One project will provide electricity to the Bach Long Vi offshore district in the northern Hai Phong City from mixed sources such as wind, solar and diesel energies.

Dinh Quang Tri, vice-general director of EVN, said the projects would mainly focus on developing low and medium voltage electricity to ensure that all households in rural areas were electrified by 2020.

The projects will also provide electricity to mountainous areas, borderland security and coast guards, contributing to reducing poverty, enhancing people's intellectual standards and ensuring national security and defence.

The projects are expected to supply electricity to more than 262,500 households.

Programme to focus on sustainable production

Seventy per cent of enterprises with high energy needs and emissions and 50 per cent of industrial production establishments will apply clean and energy-saving technologies by 2020.

This is the agenda of a newly approved national action programme on sustainable production and consumption for the period until 2020 with a vision up to 2030.

The decision, No 76/QD-TTg, approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung earlier this year, aims to gradually improve the production and consumption model to ensure more effective use of renewable natural resources and energies and environmentally friendly products.

The decision also regulates that approximately 65 per cent of non-easily disposed packages in supermarkets and malls and 50 per cent in public markets must be reduced.

One of the programme's tasks is to make the distribution system and supply chain more environmentally friendly by applying cleaner technologies; using energy more economically and effectively when distributing products and services; reducing non-easily disposed packages in supermarkets, malls and public markets; and boosting the utilisation of environmentally-friendly packages.

Several models for distributing environmentally-friendly products and services will be studied, piloted and repeated, while standards and certificates for green distribution models will be created and applied.

The programme will also enhance sustainable linkage among material suppliers, producers, distributors and consumers in producing, distributing and using environmentally-friendly products and services.

In addition, the awareness of participants in the distribution and supply chains and consumers on sustainable production and consumption will be improved.

Meanwhile, green certificates and energy-saving and bio labels will be applied, and green purchasing and sustainable lifestyles will be encouraged and prioritised.

In order to achieve the given targets, the "going-green" distribution system and supply chain for environmentally-friendly products and services will be developed, and the system of standards and certification for a green, environmentally-friendly distribution model will be built.

In addition, sustainable connections between material providers, producers, distributors and consumers in terms of production, distribution and the use of environmentally-friendly products and services will be promoted.

Other goals of the programme are to change consumer behaviour through encouraging an environmentally-friendly lifestyle; having channels broadcast and advertise environmentally-friendly products and services; and disseminating knowledge, policies and laws on sustainable production and consumption among producers, service providers and consumers.

Nguyen Huy Hoan, Deputy Director of the Science and Technology Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, stressed at a recent conference that sustainable production and consumption were important for connecting the country's development goals with the needs of the environment.

"Production and consumption are considered sustainable when they meet the basic needs of the present, establish a better quality of life, reduce the use of natural resources and toxic materials and minimise emissions into the environment," he said.

Fight for your right to good luck

The whole country is still filled with the spirit of Tet (Lunar New Year festival), the biggest holiday of the year for Vietnamese people.

Tet is an opportunity for people to gather with their family and friends to celebrate and wish for good luck in the new year.

People in the central province of Thanh Hoa have a unique custom of "fighting" to wish for fortune in the new year.

Locals flocked to a traditional Tet market, held on the sixth day of the first month of the Lunar Year (which felt on Saturday, February 13 this year) in the province's Dong Hoang commune, hoping to usher in new year luck by fighting with each other.

Participants believe that the more they were "beaten", the more good luck they would receive in the new year. They chiefly fought with each other by throwing tomatoes and eggs at each other.

Le Tuan Anh, a local resident in the commune, said he was very happy because this year he was beaten by many people which meant that he would be very lucky this year.

The market is open to everybody, so be ready to put up a fight if you want good luck this year.

Helmets on a plane

More and more Vietnamese people wear helmets to ensure their safety while travelling on roads these days, but some people take safety to the extreme.

A couple surprised their fellow passengers on a Vietnam Airlines flight on their way home from Tet earlier this month by wearing helmets.

They wore the helmets for the whole trip, perhaps thinking that the head gear would protect them from a plane crash.

After the plane landed, the husband phoned his friend to tell him that the plane landed safely but that he was being inside the plane. The helmet was still on his head and he would, of course, only take it off when he got out of the plane.

Lovelorn thief

Police in the southern province of Binh Duong on Sun- day arrested a man for robbing a gold shop.

22-year-old Duong Thanh Canh from the Mekong Delta Province of An Giang admitted that he stole from the shop after his girlfriend refused to marry him for being poor.

Angry at the rejection, Canh tried to rob the gold shop hoping to become richer but the unprofessional robber had to run away after being hit by the shop owner. He was arrested by police two hours later.

Canh will really struggle to win his girlfriend's hand after being found to be a thief.

Retired officials on lottery trip to US?

The Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang recently sent officials to the US to learn about lottery businesses.

Funding for the trip came from the State-owned Tien Giang Lottery Company.

Interestingly, the officials on the trip were close to retirement age, with some even already retired and some having no expertise in the lottery.

The question is that what was the real goal of the trip and how could these people learn from the trip if they themselves did not know this business well?

Former Cho Gao District Party Committee Secretary Le Thi The, who was on the trip, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that she knew nothing about the lottery business and was still invited.

During the trip, the delegates heard reports on lottery business at three lottery companies and spent most of the remaining time sightseeing, she said.

Many Vietnamese officials focus on shopping and entertainment during their trips abroad rather than the work they are supposed to be doing.

President continues tour of northern mountainous provinces

President Truong Tan Sang continued his working visit to northern mountainous localities on February 17 with Cao Bang and Bac Kan provinces the latest destinations.

In Cao Bang, the State leader offered incense at Tra Linh district’s cemetery, which is the last resting place of more than 300 soldiers who laid down their lives in the war to protect the northern border in 1979.

He also visited border guards based at the Tra Linh Border Gate. They are in charge of 27km of the borderline with China, 60 border markers, four communes and one town.

He asked the border guards to advise provincial authorities about measures to facilitate the cross-border movement of goods and labour amidst growing trade relations between Vietnam and China. They should also continue solidifying peace and friendship in border communities, as well as their solidarity with local ethnic minorities.

At a working session with provincial officials, President Truong Tan Sang said Cao Bang needs to make breakthroughs to become a middle-income province and to further contribute to peace and friendship along its border.

He underlined four local advantages that should be promoted, namely cross-border economic activities, agricultural product processing, mining, and tourism. To do so, it is necessary to quickly upgrade infrastructure, including key transport facilities, to ensure the smooth transportation of goods.

In 2015, local GDP growth rate was posted at 9 percent while over 2,000ha of forest was planted - 27 percent higher than the set target, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Nguyen Hoang Anh reported.

Party, State leaders congratulate Party chief on re-election

Party and State leaders worldwide continued to convey their congratulations to Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on his re-election at the 12th National Party Congress that closed last month.

They include Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni; General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) Suravanram Sudhakar Reddy; General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Sitaram Yechury; Indian President Pranab Mukherjee; Chairman of the People’s Action Party of Singapore Khaw Boon Wan; Belarusian President Lukashenko Aleksandr; General Secretary of the Portuguese Communist Party Jeronimo de Sousa; General Secretary of the Progressive Party of Working People of Cyrus Andros Kyprianou; and Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

Greetings were also sent by the Democratic Party of Italy, the Labour Party of Belgium, the Communist Party of Germany, the Social Democratic Party of Germany and the chief representative of the Friedrich Ebert Institute in Vietnam Erwin Schweisshelm, Chairman of the Japan – Vietnam Friendship Association Furuta Motoo and President of the Japan – Vietnam Council for Peace and Friendship Murayama Tomiichi.-

National Assembly Vice Chairwoman receives Japanese guests

The National Assembly (NA) of Vietnam always welcomes close links between Vietnamese and Japanese localities in all fields, NA Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan remarked.

During her reception for a visiting delegation from Japan’s Gunma prefecture led by Governor Osawa Masaaki in Hanoi on February 17, Ngan said the NA will continue facilitating the trade and investment of Gunma’s businesses in Vietnam.

She hoped the visit will promote cooperation between Gunma and Vietnam, especially in tourism, and parliamentarian and people-to-people exchange.

The NA Vice Chairwoman also thanked Gunma’s authorities and people for their support given to nearly 3,000 Vietnamese national living there, expressing her hope that the Japanese prefecture will continue to receive more Vietnamese technical trainees to work in the locality.

Governor Osawa Masaaki said Gunma is the centre of many small and medium sized enterprises operating in supporting industry, which is an industry promoted in Vietnam.

Informing the host of the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on economic cooperation between the prefecture and the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment, the guest stressed that this will pave the way for strengthening ties in investment, business, technology and human resources between Gunma and Vietnam.

The NA Vice Chairwoman expressed her belief that the MoU will help further deepen the strategic partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia between Vietnam and Japan.

VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri