VN, Laos armies plan co-operation

Senior Lieutenant General Ngo Xuan Lich, head of the General Department of Politics under the Viet Nam People's Army, held talks with Acting Director of the Lao People's Army's General Department of Politics Major General Vilay Lakhamphong in the central city of Da Nang yesterday.

He said that the two sides should work closely together to defeat any hostile schemes that aimed to undermine the friendship and solidarity between Viet Nam and Laos.

Lich also expressed hope that the Lao side would create favourable conditions for Viet Nam to search for and repatriate remains of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who fell in Laos during wartime.

For his part, Vilay Lakhamphong expressed delight at the effective and comprehensive co-operation between the two sides, especially in Party and political work.

Vietnam offers assistance to Laos AIPA hosting

Vietnam is ready to share its experience in organising the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) to help Laos host the upcoming meeting successfully.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Committee for External Relations Nguyen Manh Tien made the commitment at a working session with a Lao National Assembly delegation in Vientiane on August 12.

Tien shared Vietnam’s experience in defining the theme of the meeting, proposing issues to be debated, and perfecting legislation to support the ASEAN Community in its formation process and governments in realising signed agreements.

Vice Chairman of the Laos National Assembly Saysomphon Phomvihan appreciated Vietnam’s valuable experience which he said will help Lao make AIPA 35 in September a great success.

The same day, the Laos National Assembly Chairwoman Pany Zathotou received the Vietnamese delegation.

Ninh Binh urged to develop agriculture

The northern province of Ninh Binh should focus on removing difficulties in industrial development and boosting agriculture to improve living conditions for farmers, President Truong Tan Sang has urged.

Ninh Binh should speed up the application of advanced technology in agriculture, and drive the sector in the direction of goods production, Sang said while working with the local leaders yesterday during his tour of the province.

He acknowledged the province's proposal of building a national project on restoring, preserving and promoting the cultural values of the Hoa Lu ancient capital and applying a special mechanism to protect and attract investment to the world cultural heritage complex of Trang An.

He asked the province to co-ordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to make the project feasible.

The State leader also spoke highly of Ninh Binh's efforts in maintaining a reasonable growth despite numerous difficulties, reducing poverty and ensuring political security and social welfare over the past years.

However, he also pointed to the province's shortcomings such as pollution in some factories and industrial clusters.

The locality's annual industrial production between 2011 and 2013 rose 22.5 per cent on average was much higher than its set target of 6.5 per cent, according to secretary of the provincial Party Committee, Nguyen Thi Thanh.

During the period, 1,448 companies registered with an average capital of VND13.2 billion (US$628,500) each.

In particular, the UNESCO's recognition of the Trang An complex as a world heritage site, offered a good opportunity to Ninh Binh to promote tourism, she added.

VOV/VNA