Vietnam welcomes US removal of Cuba from terror list

Vietnam welcomed the US’s removal of Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, said Vietnamese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesman Le Hai Binh at the ministry’s regular press conference on April 16.

While responding to reporters’ queries on Vietnam’s point of view on the issue, Binh said that the removal will be an important step as the two countries are normalising their bilateral relations.

On April 14, US President Barrack Obama asked Congress to remove Cuba from the terror list.

Vietnam, Japan cooperate in human resources training

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Construction Bui Pham Khanh and Japanese Deputy Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Kazuhiko Aoki signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on developing human resources in the construction sector on in Tokyo on April 16.

According to the MoU, the two sides will cooperate to improve the quality of technique training programmes for Vietnamese construction workers.

Vietnam will be one of the three counties to receive 10.8 million JPY (90,000 USD) annually to develop human resources in the field, in effect until 2021.

It forms part of the MoU in urban building and development cooperation between the two countries signed in January.

Currently, Japan plans to expand practical training schemes for overseas workers due to a shortage of construction labourers to meet an expected building boom ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Vietnamese, Czech officials discuss bilateral relations

A Vietnamese delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son discussed bilateral relations with senior Czech officials during a visit to the European country from April 13-15.

The delegation held a political consultation with Czech Deputy Foreign Ministers Petr Drulak and Ivan Jukl and a working session with Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs at the President’s Office Hynek Kmonicek and Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Jiri Havlicek.

At the functions, the Czech officials spoke highly of Vietnam’s achievements in its “doi moi” (renewal) efforts as well as its growing stature in the Southeast Asian region and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

They stressed that their country continually treasures its traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Vietnam and will strengthen its coordination with the nation at international forums, especially within the frameworks of the United Nations, the Asia-Europe Meeting and ASEAN-European Union (EU) cooperation.

Deputy Foreign Minister Petr Drulak announced that the Czech parliament has completed its internal procedures and will ratify the Vietnam - EU Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation shortly.

The two sides agreed to jointly organise cultural activities to mark the 65 th anniversary of their diplomatic ties (1950-2015). The Czech Republic will assist in organising the Vietnam Week, scheduled to be opened in the capital city of Prague on May 13.

The countries’ officials also voiced their delight at the developing trade-investment relations in recent years with trade reaching 294 million USD in 2014, rising by 23 percent from a year earlier. They also consented to closely coordinate in implementing the outcomes of the fourth session of the nations’ Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation held in Hanoi in last May.

The Czech side said it will continue official development assistance to Vietnam in small-scale projects such as environmental protection, climate change resilience and agricultural biotechnology.

The countries will step up delegation exchanges, particularly between ministries and localities, to intensify collaboration in trade-investment, education-training, defence-security, environment, crystal production, pharmaceuticals and health care.

At the meetings, the Czech Republic spoke highly of contributions by the Vietnamese community, recognised as an ethnic minority group there, to local socio-economic development as well as economic relations and those between the two peoples. It described the overseas community as a role model for other minority groups in the country.

The Czech leaders also valued Vietnam’s and other ASEAN countries’ approach to the East Sea issue by settling disputes peacefully in compliance with internationally recognised law. It supports ASEAN centrality in cooperation within the Asian-Pacific region.

NA Vice Chairwoman attends executive leadership programme in US

A high-level Vietnamese delegation led by National Assembly Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan is attending the 5th Vietnam Executive Leadership Programme at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts in the US, which began on April 13.

During the week-long event, Vietnamese delegates hold working sessions with professors, experts, jurists and scholars from the University and from other countries, focusing on analysing risks confronting economies in the world and the region in their recovery process.

Vietnamese delegates specified Vietnam’s consistent policies in promoting sustainable and comprehensive growth while highlighting the country’s international integration efforts.

They also informed participants of Vietnam’s positive economic achievements and successes in reforming institutions and fine-turning legal systems to respond to socio-economic challenges, as well as efforts to implement the 2013 Constitution.

Challenges facing Vietnam’s long- and short-term development targets are also on the agenda.

Participants made suggestions for Vietnam to promote its socio-economic development and judicial reform and shared experiences from a number of economies in Northeast and Southeast Asia.

On April 15, Vice Chairwoman Ngan worked with senior judges of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to learn about the US’s judiciary.

She also met with representatives from the Association of Vietnamese Youth and Students in the US and scholars from the group “Vietnam Initiative” who are working to contribute to Vietnam’s development.

During her time in Boston, Ngan and her entourage also visited the Omni Parker House where the late President Ho Chi Minh worked between 1912-1913.

President meets imprisoned war veterans

President Truong Tan Sang visited a private museum featuring revolutionary soldiers in prison during the war on April 16, ahead of the 40 th anniversary of Southern Liberation and National Reunification.

Initiated by veteran Lam Van Bang, a Phu Quoc ex-prisoner, the museum, in Hanoi’s outlying district of Phu Xuyen, showcases thousands of artifacts and materials collected since 1985 by Bang and his comrades who were imprisoned in Phu Quoc jail on Phu Quoc island.

The museum is intended to show the gratitude to those people who sacrificed their lives or lost part of their bodies defending the homeland.

Meeting soldiers who were once captured and imprisoned, the State leader relived with pride the Vietnamese tradition of patriotism and determination to win freedom and independence during the war.

He expressed hope that they would make more contributions to the nation-building cause.

Gathering marks 60 years of Asia-Africa conference organisation

A gathering was held in Hanoi on April 16 to mark the 60th anniversary of the Asia-Africa Conference (AAC) in Bandung, Indonesia (April 18-24, 1955).

Co-hosted by the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations and the Vietnam Committee on Solidarity and Cooperation with Asia, Africa, and Latin America, the event brought together representatives from embassies and diplomatic representative agencies in Vietnam, friendship associations between Vietnam and foreign countries, and a crowd of students from Hanoi universities.

In his speech, President of the Committee Nguyen Van Chuong highlighted the significance of the AAC’s formation 60 years ago, saying that the conference focused on how to enhance solidarity and cooperation among Asian and African nations.

The first event was designed to wake up oppressed nations in Asia and Africa and mark their rising involvement in the global political arena, he stressed.

According to Chuong, Vietnam received support from international friends, especially Asian and African countries, for its past revolutionary struggle and current national construction and development.

The first Asia-Africa Conference was a meeting of 29 Asian and African states from April 18-24, 1955 in Bandung, Indonesia.

It was organised by Indonesia, Burma (now Myanmar), Pakistan, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and India, intending to promote Asian-African economic and cultural cooperation and to oppose colonialism; it led to the establishment of the Non-Aligned Movement.-

VNA