Political News 13/10 Vietnam, Seychelles look to stronger cooperation Vietnam always wishes to bolster bilateral ties with the Republic of Seychelles in the fields that they boast potential such as investment, tourism, agriculture, aquaculture and tourism. Vietnamese Ambassador to Mozambique and Seychelles Nguyen Van Trung made the statement while presenting his credentials to Seychelles President James A. Michel. At the October 7 ceremony in the capital city of Victoria , the ambassador conveyed State President Truong Tan Sang’s regards and best wishes to the President of Seychelles, affirming that Vietnamese leaders and people highly value the two countries’ cooperation. For his part, the Seychelles President expressed his hope that Vietnam will be a gateway for Seychelles to boost economic and trade ties with Asian-Pacific countries. He stated that his island nation is willing to serve as a bridge linking Vietnam with African states. Ambassador Trung also met with Vice President Danny Faure, Deputy Speaker of Seychelles National Assembly Andre Pool, Minister of Culture and Tourism, Minister of Natural Resources and Agriculture, representatives from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Environment and Energy. On the occasion, the Seychelles Government informed that the two sides had accomplished legal procedures to activate their aviation service agreement, paving the way for airlines to forge cooperative partnerships. Two-way trade between Seychelles and Vietnam reached 1.3 million USD in 2013. Seychelles is the second largest African investor in Vietnam, involving in 12 projects worth 56.19 million USD, with three totaling 15 million USD licensed in the first half of this year alone. President inspects Dong Nai’s Long Duc industrial park President Truong Tan Sang on October 12 inspected the operation of Long Duc industrial park in Long Thanh district, the southern province of Dong Nai, which is hosting 31 projects totalling nearly 900 million USD. Becoming operational one year ago, the park aims to attract investors to the support and hi-technology industries, especially those from Japan ’s Kansai region. The infrastructure system of the park has been completed to provide full and modern services for enterprises, including information technology, customs, and wastewater treatment. At a meeting with the President, Japanese and local investors proposed the State clear bottlenecks in the implementation of preferential policies for enterprises in the support industry. President Truong Tan Sang lauded the attention of Japanese investors in Vietnam ’s support industry, while urging the park to work harder to fill all of its space. He also revealed that ministries and sectors are drafting a number of new preferential treatments for the area of the support industry, which will be submitted to the National Assembly for approval. Vietnam attends 131st IPU Assembly in Geneva National Assembly Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong is participating in a host of activities at the ongoing 131 st Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in Geneva , Switzerland . Running from October 12-16, the event saw the attendance of about 800 law-makers from about 141 countries, including 104 parliament speakers and vice speakers, and 218 female parliamentarians. Themed “Achieving gender equality, ending violence against women”, the event evaluated and analysed activities and influence of the organisation in the process of enhancing the engagement of women in politics. IPU has led in updating the number of female law makers as well as coming up with effective recommendations on measures to improve legislative and policy systems to raise women’s voice on the political stage. IPU is currently the largest inter-parliamentary union in the world with 165 member states, covering various areas such as security, economics, democracy and the environment. Earlier, about 180 young parliamentarians aged 37 years old averagely from all over the world attended the IPU conference for young parliamentarians in Geneva on October 10-11, aiming to encourage the full involvement of the youth in political issues. Currently, under-30 year old parliamentarians account for less than 2 percent of the total parliament members in the world. The event called on them to take a greater part in political decisions in national and international levels, including the sustainable development goals that will replace the millennium development goals that will be expired in 2015.- Vietnam learns Norway’s citizen complaint settlement Officials from the Ombudsman Board of the National Assembly made a working visit to Norway recently to learn how it handled citizens’ complaints lodged at parliamentary organs. They had meetings with the Committees for Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs, Foreign Affairs and Defence, and the Ombudsman for Public Administration, all under the Norwegian Parliament. They paid a courtesy visit to First Vice President of the Norwegian Parliament Marit Nybakk who was impressed by socio-economic achievements Vietnam had recorded since her last visit to the country in 2008. She said she believed that the sound cooperation between the two countries, as well as the two legislative bodies, would further develop in the future. Deputy head of the Ombudsman Board Ha Cong Long wished for a stronger partnership between the two law-making bodies as well as the two countries in the coming time. On the occasion, the Vietnamese officials held a discussion with students of Oslo University’s Law School and visited the Vietnamese Embassy in Oslo. Expat contributions to Vietnam-France ties urged Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Tong Thi Phong has held out hope that overseas Vietnamese in France will unceasingly foster the friendship between France and Vietnam. Meeting with representatives from the Vietnamese community in Paris on October 11 during her working visit there, Phong said she was delighted that the expatriate have integrated soundly into the host country’s social life while still trying to maintain the homeland’s culture identity. The Party and State have always given due attention to the Vietnamese communities abroad as a part of a strong national unity bloc, she stated. The official briefed the expats of main events in the Vietnam-France relations and the homeland’s socio-economic performance over the past nine months along with explaining policies relating to land ownership, investment, business and treatments to expat intellectuals. Earlier on October 10, Phong visited Val de Marne province of the Ile-de-France region, where she met with Senator Christian Favier, Chairman of the Val de Marne provincial council. Val de Marne set up a twin relationship with the northern mountainous province of Yen Bai and both are cooperating more closely in tourism and economics, focusing on commercializing the Vietnamese province’s tea product, according to the Senator. Phong suggested the French province expand its assistance to other northern mountainous provinces in Vietnam the field of education and healthcare, particularly for women and children. Vietnam, China hold 3rd round of talks on marine cooperation The third round of discussions of the Vietnam-China working group on marine cooperation took place in Nanning city, China on October 9-10. At the event, both sides frankly presented their stances and viewpoints on cooperation for mutual development at sea. They agreed to continue following relevant common perceptions reached by the two countries’ high-ranking leaders and the basic principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues signed in 2011 to discuss maritime collaboration, in line with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. President meets exemplary Vietnamese entrepreneurs President Truong Tan Sang met with more than 100 outstanding Vietnamese entrepreneurs in Hanoi on October 11, asking the business circle to uphold their role as a pillar in Vietnam’s industrialisation and modernisation, thus helping promote the strength of the national economy. He said Vietnam will be fully integrated in the next five years, which is forecast to bring about even greater competition. Therefore, Vietnamese businesses need to better gear up to vie with rivals from major economies. Responding to businesspersons’ proposals related to administrative procedures, tax incentives, loan access and investment environment, the State leader ordered ministries and localities to increase support and create the best possible conditions for enterprises’ recovery and development. He also suggested they make the good use of the mass media to submit their opinions to the Party and State leaders. At the meeting, which took place on the occasion of the 10th Vietnam Entrepreneurs’ Day (October 13), Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vu Tien Loc reported that during the first nine months of 2014, 53,000 businesses were set up and 11,872 firms resumed operations while 48,330 others dissolved or stopped operation. The rate of those recording profits rose from 29.7 percent to 32.9 percent despite fierce competition, he said, adding that ministries and sectors handled almost all businesses’ proposals. Vietnam-Laos Friendship Association convenes 4th congress The Vietnam-Laos Friendship Association (VLFA) held its 4 th Congress in Hanoi on October 10. The congress elected a 69-strong executive committee, with Vu Trong Kim, Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee (VFFCC) remaining the President of the Association for the 2014-2019 tenure. Speaking at the event, VFFCC President Nguyen Thien Nhan hailed the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos , saying that it is an invaluable asset of both nations, especially in the context of unpredicted regional and global developments. He expressed his wish that the VLFA will join hands with the Laos-Vietnam Friendship Association to encourage Lao students to pursue their education in Vietnam . On behalf of the executive committee, Kim promised that his association will do its utmost to fulfil all assigned tasks, contributing to reinforcing and developing the traditional special relationship between Vietnam and Laos. Minister visits Germany to reinforce educational ties Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan paid a working visit to Germany from October 5-11 to seek ways to foster the teaching of the Vietnamese and German languages as well as bilateral cooperation in vocational training. At a working session with Stenfan Müller - Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Ministry for Education and Research, the Vietnamese official thanked the European country for its assistance to the Vietnamese-German University in Vietnam and also asked for more support to the school in the time ahead. Müller said his country pays special attention to this project, considering it an important bridge for bilateral cooperation. Minister Luan spoke highly of Germany’s achievements in vocational training and proposed more support to be provided by the country in the field. Both sides exchanged their experience and discussed advantages and difficulties in vocational training while highlighting its important role in international integration. The German side affirmed its willingness to have in-depth discussions on this matter with Vietnam. Meeting with Maria Böhmer - Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, Minister Luan said the cooperation agreement on teaching the German language and Germany’s initiative “Schools: Partners for the Future” are being strongly implemented in Vietnam, adding that the framework programme for teaching the German language will be officially applied in the Southeast Asian country in the near future. Both officials agreed on the need to teach the Vietnamese language to people of Vietnamese descent in Germany, especially the young generation. The two sides also mulled over the pilot training of Vietnamese nurses in Germany and agreed to have a comprehensive review of this model. Vietnam asked the German Foreign Office for further assistance to the Vietnamese-German University and requested a broad recognition of the school’s degrees. During their stay in Germany, the Vietnamese delegation also had working sessions with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs to look into the attraction of high-quality human resources and the training of nurses in Germany. German officials are scheduled to visit Vietnam in early December to further examine the issues. VFF leader hails female religious dignitaries’ efforts President of the Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan has hailed the female religious dignitaries and followers’ pioneering role in implementing policy and law of the Party and State. Meeting 98 outstanding female religious dignitaries and followers on October 10 in Hanoi, Nhan spoke highly of religious people’s contributions to the national construction and defence. Noting the difficulties that the female religious dignitaries and followers faced, Nhan affirmed that the VFF and the Vietnam Women’s Union will exert every efforts and create favourable conditions for them to practice their religions and fulfil their other responsibilities and obligations. According to Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoa, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU), the 98 female religious dignitaries and followers are outstanding delegates representing 6,400 religious members of the VWU committees at all levels across the country. Vietnam is now home to 13 religions with nearly 24 million followers (accounting for 27 percent of the country’s population), including 83,000 dignitaries and 250,000 sub-dignitaries. Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism and Caodaism are the major religions in the country. Source: VNA/VNS/VOV