Category: Politics

Bangkok: Thai scholar Songrit Pongern has attributed Vietnam’s achievements, including the historic Dien Bien Phu victory, to the enduring qualities embodied in Ho Chi Minh’s ideology and the sound leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

During a recent conversation with a Vietnam News Agency reporter in Bangkok, Songrit said the Dien Bien Phu victory had inspired and encouraged the fight for independence in colonised nations worldwide, with the model of solidarity displayed by Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia which ultimately led to their triumph over superpowers like France and the US.

He said the shared ideology and destiny provide a powerful force for solidarity among the three neighbouring countries, helping them overcome the hardships of the prolonged war for national independence. The solidarity among the three countries has continued to today, evident in their shared stance on the international political stage and within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including initiatives like
the shared border economic zone.

Visiting Dien Bien Phu in 1989 when Vietnam marked the 35th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory and again in 1995 when Vietnam joined ASEAN, Songrit expressed admiration for Vietnam’s sustained economic growth, noting that since economic reform began in 1986, Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP) has climbed to the third place in ASEAN.

He saw Vietnam’s skilled workforce as a major asset to attract foreign investment and believed that the country holds significant potential in both export production and meeting domestic demand.

Ultimately, he said Vietnam’s goal of becoming a developed, high-income nation by 2050 is achievable, stressing that Vietnam’s progress will be even more robust if it develops in tandem with all the countries in ASEAN, thus fostering a community of shared prosperity in the region./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lieut. Gen Hoang Xuan Chien received newly-appointed Cambodian Military Attaché in Vietnam Maj. Gen. Leang Sovannara in Hanoi on March 27.

Chien expressed his delight at the results of bilateral defence cooperation over the past time, particularly in delegation exchanges, human resources training, border management and protection, and seeking and repatriation of remains of Vietnamese volunteers and experts who sacrificed in Cambodia during the war.

He spoke highly of the collaboration among the Ministries of National Defence of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in successfully organising the first border defence friendship exchange programme in January 2023.

Chien expected that Leang Sovannara will closely coordinate with relevant units of the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence to continue effectively implementing cooperation contents between the two sides, especially on the exchange of delegations, training of human resources, and overcoming mine consequences
after the war, participation in UN peacekeeping operations, and support each other at multilateral forums.

He also expressed his belief that Leang Sovannara will promote achieved results of his predecessor and make new contributions to further develop defence cooperation between the two nations.

For his part, Leang Sovannara expressed his pleasure at the good results of Vietnam-Cambodia relations in general and bilateral defence cooperation in particular. He also affirmed that in his tenure, he will make efforts to contribute to the effective implementation of Vietnam-Cambodia defence cooperation contents./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

New York: Auditor General of the State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV) Ngo Van Tuan has met with United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Li Junhua at the UN headquarters in New York.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of a global meeting on the engagement of supreme audit institutions (SAIs) in assessing national climate action on March 25 – 26.

Tuan said climate change is now one of the most discussed topics around the world. As an active and responsible member of the International Organisation of SAIs (INTOSAI) and the Governing Board of the Asian Organisation of SAIs (ASOSAI) in the 2015 – 2024 period and to implement the commitments under the Hanoi Declaration on environmental auditing for sustainable development, the SAV identified environmental auditing as one of its focuses to enhance both the quality and quantity of audits.

Giving a brief introduction of the SAV’s activities and its engagement in international cooperation in environmental, climate change, and Susta
inable Development Goals (SDGs) auditing, he noted that the SAV initiated and chaired an audit on the management of water resources in the Mekong River Basin in 2021 which also involved the SAIs of Thailand and Myanmar.

The SAV has also actively taken part in training courses, meetings, and webinars on environmental and SDGs auditing held by other countries’ SAIs, partners, and organisations in the region and the world, he added.

The Auditor General proposed the UN Under-Secretary-General promote the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)’s assistance and sharing of auditing information, research, and publications on environmental and social affairs so that the SAV can use them as sources of reference.

UNDESA and the SAV can also develop cooperative ties through multilateral cooperation forums on environmental, climate change, and SDGs auditing, Tuan suggested.

Under-Secretary-General Li highly valued the SAV’s participation in the global meeting, during which it shared its experience in th
is field, thus reflecting the voice of developing countries and boosting the exchange of environmental auditing experience.

The UN official noted that he is impressed with the SAV’s unceasing efforts to help with environmental protection and climate change adaptation. He also voiced the readiness to assist the SAV in capacity building, information technology application, and big data use.

On the sidelines of the global meeting, Tuan also met with and invited Bruno Dantas, President of the Brazilian Federal Court of Accounts and Chair of INTOSAI, to attend a ceremony marking the 30th founding anniversary of Vietnam’s audit sector. The Brazilian side said it will send senior officials to the event.

The Auditor General of Vietnam also had separate meetings with the auditors general of India and Turkey to promote bilateral cooperation and seek support from the two countries’ SAIs for the SAV’s candidacy for membership of the ASOSAI Audit Committee for the 2024 – 2027 tenure.

The SAIs of India and Turkey showe
d their support for the SAV’s candidacy. The Auditor General of Turkey also voiced the hope to visit the SAV in 2025./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Washington DC: Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken co-chaired the first Vietnam-US Dialogue at the foreign ministerial level in Washington DC on March 25 (local time).

This was also the first ministerial-level dialogue between the two countries since they established their comprehensive strategic partnership in September 2023.

Describing the dialogue as an important opportunity to review and promote the implementation of high-level agreements, Blinken affirmed that the US values its comprehensive strategic partnership with Vietnam, and supports a strong, independent, resilient, and prosperous Vietnam that bolsters regional prosperity and stability and takes on an increasingly important role in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as in the region and the international arena.

He emphasised the US’s commitment to implementing the new relationship framework and agreements of the two countries’ high-ranking leaders.

Son, for his part, assert
ed the US is a strategically important partner of Vietnam, emphasising that the upgrade of the bilateral relations is a right decision demonstrating the strategic vision of the two countries’ high-ranking leaders and efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation in accordance with the interests of the two peoples, contributing to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region.

Vietnam will continue working with the US to implement the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership in an increasingly effective, substantive, and stable direction, while expanding the room for cooperation on the basis of respect for each other’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity and political institutions to maintain development momentum for decades to come.

The two officials discussed measures to deepen relations between the two countries. They agreed to promote the foreign ministerial-level dialogue to strengthen the close collaboration between the two foreign ministries in implementing high-leve
l agreements, effectively implement existing bilateral cooperation mechanisms, and actively coordinate with each other to hold activities to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the normalisation of the two countries’ relations in 2025.

They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual concern. Son proposed the US continue to play an active role contributing to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in Asia – Pacific and the Indian Ocean as well as in the world.

Blinken affirmed that the US supports ASEAN’s central role in the region and will maintain cooperation within the framework of the ASEAN-US comprehensive strategic partnership. He also stressed his country’s backing for the Mekong – US cooperation.

The two sides then discussed the East Sea issue and agreed on the importance of peace, security, stability, freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea; solving disputes through peaceful means, in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UN Con
vention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); fully implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC); and working towards an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC)./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: The Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security (MoPS) is very interested in cooperation and professional exchange programmes with institutes and research centres of Harvard University, Minister General To Lam has said.

During a reception for Professor Thomas J. Vallely, Senior Advisor for Mainland Southeast Asia at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation on March 25, Lam said that cooperation between the MoPS and US IT companies can bring significant benefits in improving capacity to prevent and combat cyber threats, developing cyber security measures and enhancing the effectiveness of fighting cybercrime in Vietnam.

The two sides agreed that the relevant agencies of Vietnam and the US have held many dialogue sessions, focusing on promoting cooperation on cybersecurity such as initiatives on improving capacity in cyber security and foreign languages as well as professional coordination between them.The two sides have hastened the signing of documents on cybersecur
ity between the MoPS and the US National Security Council authorities as well as the US-ASEAN Business Council.

The MoPS has proactively contributed opinions to the development of a comprehensive international convention on countering the use of information and communications technologies for criminal purposes of the United Nations (UN) as well as a UN General Assembly resolution on promoting ‘safe, secure and trustworthy’ artificial intelligence (AI) systems initiated by the US, Lam said.

Collaborative activities between the MoPS and Harvard University will be a demonstration of cooperation efforts between Vietnam and the US in the context of the two countries upgrading their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, he added.

Vallely, for his part, spoke highly of fruitful cooperation between US law enforcement agencies and the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security, emphasising that Vietnam has many opportunities to deploy and develop AI infrastructure.

He expressed his delight that Vietna
m and the US have shared good collaboration in the fight against cybercrime and wished that their cooperation will be expanded in the coming time./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Speaker of the Parliament of Finland Jussi Halla-aho and his entourage left Hanoi on March 26, concluding their three-day official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.

This is the first official visit of the Speaker outside Europe since he took office, demonstrating Vietnam’s special position in Finland’s foreign policy and the excellent friendly relations between the two legislatures. It was also a high-level exchange activity marking the 50th anniversary of Vietnam-Finland diplomatic ties (1973-2023).

During his stay, Halla-aho held talks with NA Chairman Hue and met with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat and head of the Party Central Committee’s Organisation Commission Truong Thi Mai.

The two sides concurred on the need to explore new directions, approaches and impetus to further deepen bilateral relationship. They agreed to promote the exchange of delegations at all levels and across the Pa
rty, State and NA channels to enhance political trust while strengthening collaboration at multilateral forums in pursuit of stability, peace and sustainable development.

Within the framework of multilateral cooperation, they agreed to maintain contact, coordination and mutual support at global and regional parliamentary forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership Meeting (ASEP).

They vowed to enhance the monitoring of the effective implementation of international treaties and cooperation agreements signed between the Governments, ministries, agencies and localities of the two countries; as well as facilitate stronger business-to-business and locality-to-locality connections.

The two countries will fully tap the benefits from the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), especially in areas of their demand and strengths such as hi-tech, green development, environment, agriculture, forestry and information technology.

On global and regional issues of shar
ed concern, the two sides affirmed their readiness to cooperate bilaterally and at multilateral forums based on respect for international law and the United Nations Charter, for the sake of peace, stability and development in the region and the world, including the East Sea./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency