Category: Politics

Hanoi: National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue on March 27 met outstanding scholars, intellectuals, religious dignitaries, and representatives from ethnic minority groups in Hanoi.

At the meeting, the top legislator emphasised the tradition of solidarity, saying the Party and the State have viewed the great national solidarity bloc as the power, the main momentum and a factor decisive to the past struggle for national liberation and reunification, as well as the present cause of national construction and defence.

According to Hue, ethnic minority people make up 17.84% of the total seats in the 15th-tenure legislature, the highest so far. Among the NA deputies, there are also five religious dignitaries and 119 teachers, former teachers and education managers.

He lauded contributions by religious dignitaries, ethnic minority groups, scholars and intellectuals to the capital city’s achievements in both Party building, and socio-economic development last year.

Hue expressed his hope that the municipal Party
organisation, authorities and people, especially scholars, intellectuals, religious dignitaries and ethnic minority people, will uphold the sense of responsibility for Hanoi’s development.

The NA Chairman shared the view raised by some delegates that Hanoi should pay due attention to building mechanisms and policies to encourage the groups to play a more active role in the city’s construction and development.

Hanoi should mobilise, allocate, use and manage resources effectively to create basic changes in ethnic minority-inhabited areas, better perform the social welfare work, and carry forward the role of Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees, and political-social organisations in building the great national solidarity bloc, he said.

Scholars, intellectual, religious dignitaries and ethnic minority people in Hanoi will prove their role as the nucleus in all patriotic emulation movements, he believed, pledging that the NA and its agencies will support their efforts to contribute to national construction and d
evelopment./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Berlin: A delegation from the northern province of Thai Binh, led by Deputy Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Nguyen Khac Than, visited several localities and business organisations in Germany from March 25 to 27, in a bid to enhance trade cooperation with and attract direct investment from the European nation.

While in Germany, the delegation held a working session with the authorities of Hanover, the capital and largest city of Lower Saxony state.

Speaking at the event, Than, who is also Chairman of the Thai Binh People’s Committee, expressed his wish to promote cooperation between the province and Hanover in the coming time.

Thai Binh also seeks to attract German investment in such fields as healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and labour cooperation, he noted, adding that the province plans to establish the first biopharmaceutical industrial park in Vietnam.

Than and Mayor of Hanover Thomas Hermann also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the provincial Depa
rtment of Planning and Investment and Hannoverimpuls GmbH – the economic development agency of the city and Hanover region.

Accordingly, both sides agreed to collaborate in supporting companies from the Hanover region to expand business activities in Thai Binh, and vice versa. They also concurred to cooperate in exchanging information and business delegations, organising and participating in conferences and seminars, providing consulting services on the current situation and prospects of industries, and supporting the search for partners in marketing, science, and technology.

The delegation then worked with the Chamber of Commerce Hannover to introduce the province and its investment opportunities.

They also organised a forum for investment and business connection between Thai Binh and Lower Saxony, attended by about 30 German companies./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Havana: The close-knit relationship between Cuba and Vietnam, founded by President Ho Chi Minh and Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro and nurtured by the two countries’ generations of leaders and people, is a symbol of the era and of solidarity, said President of the National Assembly of People’s Power of Cuba Esteban Lazo Hernández.

During a reception in Havana on March 26 for the new Vietnamese Ambassador to Cuba, Le Quang Long, Hernández committed all possible support for the diplomat to fulfill tasks assigned by the Vietnamese Party and State.

He recounted significant milestones in the exceptionally rare relationship between the two countries, notably the Cuba visit by National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue in April 2023 that coincided with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Committee for Solidarity with South Vietnam of Cuba, now the Cuba-Vietnam Friendship Association; the 50th anniversary of leader Fidel Castro’s first visit to Vietnam and the southern liberated zone, and the 63rd anniv
ersary of bilateral diplomatic relations (December 2).

According to him, Hue was the first foreign leader to visit Cuba after the country’s general election, and to address the Cuban legislature following the election of important State positions in line with the Constitution. This unprecedented event demonstrates the importance that the Cuban NA attaches to the Vietnam-Cuba relationship, he said.

Long, for his part, affirmed that Vietnam will never forget the invaluable support provided by the fraternal Cuban people during difficult times.

He highlighted Vietnam’s unwavering support for Cuba in its fight against the US blockade, its pursuit of socio-economic development and efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation across various sectors.

Earlier, he submitted a copy of his credentials to Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Anayansi Rodríguez Camejo./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang received Executive Senior Vice President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Yamada Junichi in Hanoi on March 26.

Welcoming the JICA official to Vietnam to attend the launch of the first phase of the Vietnam-Japan joint initiative in the new era, Deputy PM Quang briefed the guest on Vietnam’s national budget management mechanisms as well as the country’s recent efforts to remove difficulties and obstacles to speed up the progress of projects using Japanese ODA.

For his part, Yamada said that recently, Japan’s ODA disbursement rate has increased significantly, with the amount of slow disbursement at about 1.8 billion JPY (11.86 million USD), much lower than that in previous years thanks to the drastic direction of the Vietnamese Government.

The JICA Executive Senior Vice President affirmed that the agency is ready to discuss with Vietnam about the implementation of 11 infrastructure development projects in localities, including the consideration o
f the possibility for these projects to be bid domestically instead of internationally to shorten investment preparation time.

He suggested that Vietnam build a separate legal framework for additional loans outside the medium-term budget plan from JICA as well as other donors such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

Lauding JICA’s recommendations, Deputy PM Quang proposed that the two sides work together on the suitable interest rates and each specific project.

The two sides concurred to coordinate closely to remove difficulties and obstacles facing each project, including those related to tax rates for Japanese contractors implementing ODA projects, thus speeding up the progress of delayed projects, especially the Cho Ray Hospital No.2 and the Vietnam-Japan University.

Japan is currently Vietnam’s largest ODA provider. Since 1992, Japan has provided Vietnam with over 2,700 billion JPY in ODA loans, along with nearly 100 billion JPY in non-refundable aid and nearly 180 billion JPY in technic
al assistance. Japan’s ODA accounts for over 30% of bilateral development aid that Vietnam has received. In 2023, Japan’s total ODA capital for Vietnam reached more than 100 billion JPY, the highest level since 2017./

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang expressed his hope that Vietnam and the US will deepen cooperation across spheres, making it on par with their comprehensive strategic partnership, while receiving Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Chairwoman of the US Senate Committee on Armed Services’ Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, in Hanoi on March 27.

The Deputy PM said he believes that Gillibrand’s visit will contribute to enhancing mutual understanding and trust, and promoting the relations between the two countries and their legislatures.

Quang called on US congressmen to raise a strong voice so that the US government would soon recognise Vietnam’s market economy status.

The two sides shared the view on the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security and safety of navigation and overflight, and settling disputes by peaceful measures on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The US delegation highly valued Vietna
m’s stance on the East Sea issue.

Gillibrand and other delegation members expressed their impressions of Vietnam’s outstanding development, and thanked the country for its supply of medical equipment during the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said the elevation of the bilateral relationship to the comprehensive strategic partnership on the occasion of the visit to Vietnam by President Joe Biden in September 2023 has created a good foundation for the relations to grow further in the time ahead.

The US wants to expand collaboration in various spheres, from economy, technology, energy and agriculture to new ones like artificial intelligence (AI), she said./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang expressed his hope that Vietnam and the US will deepen cooperation across spheres, making it on par with their comprehensive strategic partnership, while receiving Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Chairwoman of the US Senate Committee on Armed Services’ Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, in Hanoi on March 27.

The Deputy PM said he believes that Gillibrand’s visit will contribute to enhancing mutual understanding and trust, and promoting the relations between the two countries and their legislatures.

Quang called on US congressmen to raise a strong voice so that the US government would soon recognise Vietnam’s market economy status.

The two sides shared the view on the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security and safety of navigation and overflight, and settling disputes by peaceful measures on the basis of international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The US delegation highly valued Vietna
m’s stance on the East Sea issue.

Gillibrand and other delegation members expressed their impressions of Vietnam’s outstanding development, and thanked the country for its supply of medical equipment during the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said the elevation of the bilateral relationship to the comprehensive strategic partnership on the occasion of the visit to Vietnam by President Joe Biden in September 2023 has created a good foundation for the relations to grow further in the time ahead.

The US wants to expand collaboration in various spheres, from economy, technology, energy and agriculture to new ones like artificial intelligence (AI), she said./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency