Deputy defence chiefs of ASEAN countries and Japan met in Tokyo, Japan from October 8-10 to discuss regional security, the future of the Indo-Pacific region and ASEAN’s initiatives for regional cooperation.

Lieut. Gen. Ngo Minh Tien, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army, led the Vietnamese delegation to the event.

Participants agreed that the region is facing many traditional and non-traditional challenges, especially competition among world powers, territorial sovereignty disputes, terrorism, and cyber security.

It requires ASEAN member countries to promote intra-bloc cooperation as well as strengthen collaboration with partners, including Japan, to deal with common challenges.

Addressing the event, Tien underlined the need for stronger multilateral partnership, especially cooperation within the ASEAN Defence Ministerial Meeting (ADMM) and ADMM+, which help strengthen dialogue on international and regional issues of shared concern and increase trust among countries while creating a framework to promote practical cooperation among military forces inside and outside ASEAN.

Participants highlighted the significance of the Indo-Pacific region, where many important transportation lines meet.

The ensuring of goods and services exchange plays a crucial role in promoting economic development in the region, they noted, stressing that all countries, small or big, should enhance their responsibility and abide by international laws.

At the event, ASEAN countries showed support for Japan’s strengthening of defence cooperation with ASEAN on the foundation of the Vientiane Vision, especially activities to raise the capacity of ASEAN countries.

Regarding the ASEAN-Japan defence cooperation, Tien lauded positive contributions made by Japan within the ADMM since the mechanism was established in Vietnam in October 2010.

As the coordinator of ASEAN-Japan relations, Vietnam will continue to work closely with relevant parties to realize cooperation between the two sides, he pledged.

Lieut. Gen. Onsi Sensuk, Deputy Defence Minister of Laos, lauded the efficiency of the ASEAN-Japan strategic partnership, including defence affiliation, especially since the Vientiane Vision was introduced in 2016.

The same day, delegates paid a courtesy call to Japanese Defence Minister Taro Kono.

On the occasion, Lieut. Gen Ngo Minh Tien had a meeting with Japanese Deputy Defence Minister Yasunori Nishida, during which both sides showed their pleasure at the progress of the Vietnam-Japan defence ties over the years and concurred to continue promoting collaboration in a number of areas, including naval ship exchange, defence industry, war aftermath overcoming, and UN peacekeeping.

The Japanese side vowed to support Vietnam when the country plays its role as ASEAN Chair in 2020./.

Vietnam joins global efforts to promote legal migration: Deputy FM

Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dung

Implementation of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM), which to covers all dimensions of the international migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner, helps Vietnam better manage migration, create a transparent and safe migration environment, said Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dung on October 11.

He was speaking at the Introductory Meeting on the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnam has seen an increasing number of its citizens migrating abroad while welcoming a huge influx of foreign migrants in the past years, Dung said, stressing the nation is completing policies to facilitate legal and safe migration, prevent human trafficking, and protect rights of the migrants.

Adoption of the GCM in December last year is a significant move for Vietnam to promote international cooperation in the field while creating a basis for authorities to complete migration policies, Dung said.

Acting head of IOM Mission in Vietnam Mark Brown described migration from Vietnam to countries outside the region as a complicated issue.

He said although strong growth in migration brings Vietnam a great source of knowledge and huge amount of remittances, several challenges have arouse from it such as those issues related to the rights and benefits of the migrants.

Vietnam has expressed its strong commitment to promote the GCM in order to ensure win-win benefits for all parties, he added.

Meanwhile, Standing Deputy Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le Thanh Liem said the GCM is part of the efforts to effectively manage migration and reduce risks at the global level so that immigration could become a driving force for cooperation among all nations in the context of globalisation and strong development of value chains.

The meeting covered popularisation of GMC contents, Vietnam’s engagement in building and adopting the compact, and priorities and plan to carry out the GMC in Vietnam. Experts also discussed measures to improve human trafficking prevention work, contributing to enhancing legal and safe migration.

There are over 272 million migrants around the world, accounting for 3.5 percent of the global population, and 74 percent of them of the working age. In Vietnam, over 100,000 people work aboard and tens of thousands of people get married with foreigners every year, while more than 300,000 foreigners are living and working in the nation.

Currently, over 500,000 Vietnamese labourers are working in 24 countries and territories worldwide.

The GCM was approved at the UN General Assembly’s 73rd session on December 19, 2018. It comprises 23 objectives for better managing migration at local, national, regional and global levels./.

Prime Minister commits support to Samsung Vietnam

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) and General Director of Samsung Vietnam Choi Joo-ho

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on October 11 affirmed that the Vietnamese Government always provides all possible support for investors, including those from the Republic of Korea (RoK) and Samsung Vietnam, to expand operations in the country.

During a reception in Hanoi for General Director of Samsung Vietnam Choi Joo-ho, PM Phuc hailed RoK investors, especially Samsung, for maintaining their position as the top foreign investor in Vietnam.

Expressing support for the group’s plan to expand investment in Vietnam, he wished that it would not only assemble electronics but also extend its technological capacity and assist Vietnam in launching an e-government, a field in which it has wide experience.

The leader lauded the group’s investment in building the Office of the Research and Development Centre in Hanoi, adding that he has assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the municipal authorities to consider the group’s suggestions, ensure the progress of the work and promptly report to him if necessary.

The PM proposed that Samsung continue offering training and technological transfer to Vietnamese supporting enterprises, especially small- and medium-sized ones, to join the supply of materials and spare parts to the group.

Choi, for his part, said Samsung Vietnam strives to fulfill set targets and achieve growth in different areas.

He also suggested ministries, agencies and Bac Ninh province create favourable conditions for the group, particularly the Samsung Display Vietnam, to further contribute to Vietnam’s economic growth./.

NA Standing Committee to convene 38th session next week

NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan speaks at the 37th session of the 14th NA Standing Committee.

The 38th session of the 14th National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee will take place in Hanoi from October 14-17, the NA Office announced on October 11.

NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan will deliver an opening speech and, together with NA Vice Chairpersons, chair the meeting.

The committee is scheduled to deliberate three draft laws, namely the revised Law on Enterprises, the amended Investment Law and the law amending and supplementing Article 3 of the law on management and use of weapons, explosives and support tools.

It will also deliberate some resolutions and approve the draft on the adjustment of the 2019 law and ordinance building programme, according to the office.

Apart from some reports on the supervision work, the delegates will look into the report evaluating the implementation of the socio-economic development plan and state budget in 2019, along with the socio-economic development plan, state budget estimate and state budget allocation plan in 2020.

Besides, the committee will ratify proposals to appoint Vietnamese ambassadors, and mull over the feasibility report on the construction of the first phase of the Long Thanh International Airport.

It will submit some documents to the NA for approval, namely the Supplementary Treaty to the 1985 Treaty on the Delimitation of National Boundaries, the Supplementary Treaty 2005 between Vietnam and Cambodia, and the protocol on land border demarcation and marker planting between the two countries.

Another issue to be discussed at the meeting is administrative rearrangement of the northern provinces of Hai Duong and Bac Ninh, and the central province of Thanh Hoa.

Preparations for the eighth sitting of the 14th NA and the personnel work will also be touched upon on this occasion./.

Da Nang hopes for stronger partnership with RoK’s Daegu city

Chairman of the People’s Committee of Da Nang city Huynh Duc Tho (R) and Daegu Governor Kwon Yong-Jin

Da Nang hopes to continue learning experiences from Daegu city of the Republic of Korea (RoK) in various areas such as urban environment, transportation and security-order management, stated Chairman of the People’s Committee of the central city Huynh Duc Tho on October 11.

Tho made the statement in a meeting with Daegu Governor Kwon Yong-Jin who is visiting the central city on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of friendship between the two cities.

He thanked Daegu for supporting the city in building a number of public works and designing a Korean language teaching programme in the city.

The municipal leader briefed the guest on recent socio-economic situation of the city, adding that in the future, it will strengthen cooperation with localities in other countries.

As the number of RoK investors, scientists and researchers in Da Nang is rising, the city is seeking a good location for the RoK to open a General Consulate, he said.

For his part, Kwon said that is his third visit to Da Nang since he took office as Daegu Governor and he is impressed with Da Nang’s development.

Over the years, friendship between the two cities as well as locals of both sides has become stronger, he noted, adding that currently, Da Nang is a popular destination for tourists from Daegu. Each week, there are five flights between the two cities.

In 2020, Daegu plans to invite 20 youngsters and children from Da Nang to Daegu to exchange with their Korean peers, thus fostering their collaboration.

He also took the occasion to invite Da Nang leaders to visit Daegu on the occasion of the Daegu Tourism Year 2020./.

Vietnam congratulates newly-elected Cuban leaders

Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez is elected as President of the Republic of Cuba. (Source: EFE)

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President Nguyen Phu Trong on October 11 sent a message of congratulations to Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez on his election as President of the Republic of Cuba.

Chairwoman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan also cabled a congratulatory message to Esteban Lazo Hernandez on his election as President of the Cuban Council of State.

Meanwhile, Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh extended her congratulations to Salvador Valdes Mesa on his election as Vice President of the Republic of Cuba./.

Vietnam creates optimal conditions for foreign investors: PM Phuc

Vietnam will work to maintain macro-economy’s stability and economic growth, while creating optimal conditions for businesses investing in the country, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has pledged.

He made the vow while receiving a delegation of foreign businesses who have invested in the country in Hanoi on October 11.

The PM highly valued the results of investment activities of partners of VinaCapital, which has 3.3 billion USD worth of assets under its management.

He stressed that the country will spare no efforts to address bottlenecks to facilitate firms’ operation, noting Vietnam jumped ten places in the latest Global Competitiveness report of the World Economic Forum, marking the strongest rise in this year’s global ranking.

The PM added that Vietnam wants to attract quality investment and investment in energy development to meet the huge demand of its economic development.

He expressed his hope that foreign investors will bolster investment in fields and projects which Vietnam has great demand for, such as infrastructure and energy.

At the meeting, foreign investors discussed with the PM the potential of key sectors in Vietnam, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, and voiced their wish to cooperate with Vietnam in this sector and receive support of the government, thus contributing to the country’s economic development.

The investors also said they wanted to invest in Vietnam via the country’s stock market and purchase of corporate stocks./.

ASEM customs agencies adopt action plan

The 13th ASEM Customs Directors-General/Commissioners’ Meeting ended on October 10 in the northern Vietnamese province of Quang Ninh’s Ha Long city, with the approval of the ASEM customs action plan for 2020-21.

The two-day event - the first of its kind hosted by the General Department of Vietnam Customs (GDVC) - brought together 53 delegations from customs agencies of member countries of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), the Secretary General of the World Customs Organisation (WCO), the European Union (EU) and embassies of ASEM member countries in Vietnam.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Finance Do Hoang Anh Tuan said the meeting offered an opportunity for the delegates to seek ways to revamp customs management, meeting the requirements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, while stepping up cooperation in human resources and sustainable development in the sector.

According to Kunio Mikuriya, WCO’s Secretary General, in the context of globalisation, customs authorities played an important role in promoting national innovation and integration.

The meeting was an opportunity for customs forces of Asian and European countries to cooperate with each other in adapting to globalisation, supporting free trade and building an agreement to fight illegal trade.

Mikuriya added that over the past two years, countries had developed e-commerce management frameworks to cope with changes in the context of economic digitisation. The implementation of the e-commerce frameworks had made e-commerce management easier, benefiting global consumers.

Nguyen Van Can, head of the GDVC, said hosting the meeting demonstrated the GDVC’s efforts in contributing to orienting ASEM customs cooperation amidst the Fourth Industrial Revolution and challenges facing the world like trade fraud, terrorism and smuggling, among others.

During the previous meeting in Germany in 2017, the ASEM customs directors-general approved four priorities for customs co-operation in the 2018-19 period, namely trade facilitation and supply chain security, fighting counterfeit goods and enforcement of intellectual property rights, social and environmental protection, and community connectivity, Can said.

These priorities have been the focus of ASEM customs collaboration since 2009, and continued to be tabled at this meeting, Can said, adding the meeting aimed to agree on specific plans of action on the four priorities, which were included in the ASEM customs action plan for 2020-21.

The 2020-21 ASEM customs action plan covers eight goals, which are facilitating trade and online customs procedures, implementing the one-stop-shop mechanism, effectively managing the customs sector through high technology, promoting the green customs campaign to prevent the illegal transportation of scrap and waste, strengthening customs coordination to prevent counterfeit goods, enforcing intellectual property rights at border areas, connecting ASEM through information sharing, and promoting ASEM cooperation in transit operations and customs management over e-commerce.

ASEM Customs Directors-General/Commissioners meet every two years to discuss developments and priorities in the area of customs.

ASEM is an intergovernmental process established in 1996 to foster dialogue and co-operation between Asia and Europe. Presently, it comprises 53 partners: 30 European and 21 Asian countries, the European Union and the ASEAN Secretariat. ASEM addresses political, economic, financial, social, cultural and educational issues of common interest in a spirit of mutual respect and equal partnership./.

Sixth working day of Party Central Committee’s 11th plenum

In the morning of October 12 – the sixth working day of the 12th Party Central Committee’s 11th plenary meeting – delegates heard a report on foreign affairs in the recent time.

In the afternoon, the Party Central Committee convened its closing session under the chair of Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong.

On behalf of the Political Bureau, Politburo member and National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan chaired the session.

On behalf of the Political Bureau, Tran Quoc Vuong, Politburo member and permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat read the Political Bureau’s acquirement and explanation report on ideas discussed by the Party Central Committee on the 12th Party Central Committee’s draft Political Report and the draft report on the 10-year implementation of the Platform on national construction during the transitional period to socialism (revised and supplemented in 2011).

Politburo member, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, on behalf of the Political Bureau, presented the Political Bureau’s acquirement and explanation report on ideas discussed by the Party Central Committee on the draft report summarising the implementation of the socio-economic strategy in the 2011-2020 period and the building of a socio-economic development strategy for the 2021-2030 period; the draft report on the socio-economic situation in the 2016-2020 period and the socio-economic development plan for the 2021-2025 period.

Politburo member, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh, on behalf of the Political Bureau, read the Political Bureau’s acquirement and explanation report on ideas discussed by the Party Central Committee on the socio-economic situation and the implementation of state budget in 2019; the socio-economic development plan for 2020; state budget estimate for 2020 and the finance-budget plan for 2020-2022.

On behalf of the Political Bureau, Pham Minh Chinh, Politburo member, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s Organisation Commission, presented the Political Bureau’s acquirement and explanation report on ideas discussed by the Party Central Committee on the draft report reviewing the implementation of Party building work and enforcement of the Party Statute of the 12th term.

The Party Central Committee approved the 11th plenary meeting’s Resolution.

Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong delivered a closing speech./.

Lạng Sơn reviews 10 years of border demarcation

The People’s Committee in the northern mountainous province of Lạng Sơn met on Friday to review border demarcation and marker planting over the past decade and the implementation of three legal documents on the Việt Nam-China mainland border.

Lạng Sơn Province has a border of 231.7km covering 21 communes with China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Since 2010, local border guards, militia and public security forces have conducted over 10,300 patrols.

Lạng Sơn and Chinese border guards have also held 17 joint patrols.

The province has strengthened people-to-people diplomacy in border areas, implemented legal documents on the Việt Nam-China mainland border, and promptly discovered and dealt with violations, thus firmly safeguarding Việt Nam’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Speaking at the event, Permanent Vice Secretary of the provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the provincial People’s Council Hoàng Văn Nghiêm asked party committees, administrations, departments and agencies at all levels, especially border districts and communes, to follow the Party Central Committee’s resolutions on national border protection and abide by three legal agreements on the Việt Nam-China mainland border, as well as the Law on National Borders.

They were required to effectively fight cross-border crime, facilitate import-export and immigration activities, and improve material and spiritual lives in order to eradicate poverty.

At the same time, the province will intensify its friendship with Guangxi and effectively tap existing bilateral co-operation mechanisms.

On the occasion, Nghiêm presented certificates of merit to 21 collectives and 17 individuals in recognition of their contributions to border demarcation and marker planting and the implementation of the three legal agreements.