Political News Headlines 21/4 US senator concludes trip to Vietnam President Pro Tempore of the US Senate Patrick Leahy ended his five-day visit to Vietnam on April 20. Visiting Hanoi from April 17-18, Leahy paid courtesy calls to Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Truong Tan Sang. He held talks with National Assembly (NA) Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung, met with Defence Minister Phung Quang Thanh and joined an exchange with law students from the Hanoi National University. In his working sessions with Vietnamese leaders, Leahy lauded the rising status and role of Vietnam in the region and the world, voicing the US congress’ desire to further boost all-around cooperation with Vietnam, in particular its legislature on the basis of comprehensive partnership established in last July. He thanked Vietnam for its goodwill and assistance in the search for US soldiers missing in action during the war and pledged his nation’s efforts to help Vietnam overcome the war aftermath. Patrick Leahy also reiterated the US’s support for Vietnam in its ongoing negotiations for a Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) and hailed Vietnam’s new Constitution which, he said, focuses on human and citizen rights, as well as the country’s progress in human rights and religious freedom. During their stay in Vietnam from Aril 18-20, Leahy and his delegation also toured the central city of Da Nang, where he attended a ceremony launching a dioxin-contamination treatment system at Da Nang airport and presented gifts to local disadvantaged people, including victims of dioxin. President receives US Senator President Truong Tan Sang has praised the commitment of the United States towards strengthening its long-term interests in peace, stability, co-operation and development in the Asia-Pacific.   President Truong Tan Sang receives US senator Patrick Leahy during his visit to Viet Nam.  At a reception for US Senate President Pro Tempore Patrick Leahy and his entourage yesterday in Ha Noi, Sang said Viet Nam attached much importance to the development of its ties with the US, always seeing the country as its top partner. He said the time was ripe for the two countries to bolster their partnership as they were sharing a string of bilateral, regional and global interests in economics, the maintenance of regional peace and stability, climate-change issues and anti-terrorist activities. He spoke highly of the US Senate's role in stepping up bilateral connections in past years and held out hope it would support the reduction trade barriers to Vietnamese goods, the early recognition of Viet Nam's market economy, and Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. The President also thanked Leahy for his contributions to helping Agent Orange/Dioxin victims and removing unexploded ordnance throughout the country. Leahy told his host about the outcomes of his working sessions with Vietnamese leaders, saying the two countries were making progress, especially since they set up their strategic partnership last July. He said the US hoped for further effective affiliation with Viet Nam, especially in economics, trade, investment, science and technology, education and training. He added that the US was keen on helping heal the pains of Agent Orange/Dioxin. Leahy underscored the importance of Viet Nam-US co-operation in maintaining peace, stability, co-operation and development in the region and the world. The US Senator said he was happy to see that relationships between the two countries had become much brighter. He and his party praised Viet Nam's reform achievements, saying these enabled the country to better deal with social issues. Leahy arrived in Ha Noi on Wednesday for a five-day official visit. US Senate leader visits Da Nang City President Pro Tempore of the US Senate Patrick Leahy attended a ceremony to kick off the dioxin-contaminated treatment system at Da Nang airport while touring Da Nang city on April 19 as part of his Vietnam visit from April 16-20. The senator met with municipal leaders during which he expressed his pleasure to return Vietnam after his first 1996 visit. This visit aimed to seek measures to deal with the consequences of unexploded ordnance (UXO) left over from wars, which is ongoing between the US and Vietnam’s Ministry of Defence, he told the hosts. Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Van Huu Chien informed the senator and his entourage of investment outcomes of US firms as well as humanitarian activities held by US charity organisations in the city. Later, the senator and his spouse partook in a ceremony to grant wheelchairs and hearing aids, sponsored by the US Agency for International Development, for people with disabilities in the city. Da Nang is home to over 5,000 AO victims, more than 1,400 of whom are children. From 1961 to 1971, the US Army sprayed nearly 80 million litres of toxic chemicals to the south of Vietnam , 61 percent of which was Agent Orange laced with 366 kg of dioxin. Nearly 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to the deadly poison, with over 3 million of them dying or painfully struggling from its serious effects. On April 20, Leahy left Hanoi, concluding his five-day visit to Vietnam. ASEAN ministers seek to promote cultural identity Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh has called on ASEAN Cultural Ministers to introduce initiatives to build the grouping’s cultural identity, develop the cultural industry and properly exploit heritage examples for economic development and poverty reduction. Addressing the 6th meeting of the ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Culture & Art (AMCA) in Hue city on April 19, Minh stressed that ASEAN needs to draw up a culture and art development strategy beyond 2015 after the ASEAN Community is formed, with a particular focus on improving people’s enjoyment and involvement in culture-art innovation.   It is necessary to expand cooperation and connectivity between culture and art institutions and universities within ASEAN to share experience and improve the quality of education, he said. He insisted culture-art initiatives should be incorporated into the ASEAN Community Orientations beyond 2015 which is being drafted. Minh noted over the past 47 years ASEAN has made great strides in building a united, strong and resilient community based on three key pillars of: politics-security, economics, and culture-society. Regarding the building of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, Minh said ASEAN cultural ministers have introduced strategic plans, aimed at preserving and honouring ASEAN cultural heritage examples, deepening the people’s understanding of an ASEAN community imbued with diverse cultural identities. He also hailed ASEAN’s efforts in increasing cultural and art cooperation with non-ASEAN economies, including China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, to promote friendship and mutual understanding among nations. AMCA + 3 (China, Japan and the RoK) and AMCA + 1 (with each of the three dialogue partners) will be held during the four-day event. AMCA 6 is expected to release a Hue declaration on culture for sustainable development of the ASEAN community. Strengthening Vietnam-Romania friendship More than 120 members of the Vietnam-Romania Friendship Association, HCM City branch, held their first congress in the city on April 19. The newly formed association aims to promote the exchange of information between the two nations, thus increasing mutual understanding and boosting bilateral cooperation in the fields of external relations, economics and trade, science-technology, health care, and education. At the event, Nguyen Sy Thang was selected to chair the newly appointed 25 member executive board of the association. Romanian Ambassador to Vietnam Valariu Arteni spoke highly of the Association’s role in strengthening Vietnam-Romania friendship and cooperation in trade, culture, education and tourism. Since the two countries first established diplomatic ties in 1950, they have enjoyed fruitful relations despite ups and downs of their development history, Arteni said. Romania has helped Vietnam train nearly 4,000 officers and researchers. Leaders of both countries have also exchanged regular visits and closely coordinated with each other at international forums. At present, about 1,000 Vietnamese people are living in Romania, and around 800 Romanian citizens are working in Vietnam. Prime Minister calls for holiday traffic safety measures Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has urged ministries, sectors and localities to prepare measures to ensure road safety and tackle traffic jams during the upcoming holidays for Liberation Day (April 30) and May Day (May 1). This year, Liberation Day and May Day together with the weekend will make up a five-day holiday. Many people travel at this time of year, leading to more traffic jams and accidents during the holidays in the country. According to the PM, more traffic officers and inspectors would be on duty during the holidays at railway, ferry and coach stations, as well as on key transport routes, which were likely to experience congestion. Dung urged for more inspections and supervision to take dangerous vehicles off the roads. Accident hot spots and bridges, particularly in rural areas, should also be checked and repaired where necessary. During the holiday, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City plan to put on more than 1,800 bus services to cope with the influx of passengers, which is expected to be three times more than on normal days. More than 100 people died and 185 were injured in traffic accidents throughout Vietnam during holidays last year, according to the Road and Railway Traffic Police Department. Police reported that they handled 41,000 traffic violations during last year's holidays. Fines totalling more than 20 billion VND (948,000 USD) were collected. Most violations involved overloaded coaches and speeding. VN strives to improve people’s cultural life: Deputy PM Vietnam always strives to improve the cultural, spiritual and material lives of the people, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh has said. Minh made the statement at the opening ceremony of the 6th Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers responsible for Culture and Arts (AMCA 6) and related meetings in the central city of Hue on April 19. Vietnam, as one of the founders of the ‘ASEAN Culture-Arts Community’ initiative, will work closely with other member countries to build a sustainable ASEAN Community, he stated. Minh said that via existing mechanisms, the ministers have made many decisions and strategies on culture and arts which help preserve and honour ASEAN cultural heritages, thus increasing people’s understanding about the region’s diverse and unique culture. He stressed the need to take advantage of the role of knowledge, science-technology and art forms in improving the material and spiritual lives of regional people, towards a community of mutual development and prosperity. The Deputy PM noted that in the time to come, the ASEAN countries should actively prepare the association’s culture and arts development strategy for the post-2015 period. They also need to expand cooperation and connections among culture and arts institutes and schools in order to share experience and improve the quality of education in this field. Minh emphasised the need for the ASEAN member states to further boost affiliations with their dialogue countries as well as make the best use of the support and assistance from other partners inside and outside the region. At the meeting, Singaporean Minister of Culture, Community and Youth Wong Shuyn Tsai Lawrence presented the ‘ASEAN City of Culture” logo to Chairman of the Thua Thien-Hue provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Cao. During the event, which will last until April 20, an arts festival between ASEAN and its three partners of China , Japan and the Republic of Korea will be held. VN concerned by Ukraine crisis Viet Nam is consistently monitoring the Ukrainian crisis and is concerned about the complicated developments in the country's eastern provinces, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh stated on Thursday at the regular press briefing. "We hope all parties will restraint from using force and avoid taking actions that can further aggravate the situation and inflict damage to civilian lives and property," Binh replied to questions about Viet Nam's stance on the current Ukrainian situation. Viet Nam also hoped for all sides to put in their efforts and initiate peaceful dialogue in order to seek solutions that meet the legitimate interests of all parties and citizens for ensuring peace, stability, and development in Ukraine and the region on the whole, he emphasised. Source: VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA