GOVERNMENT IN BRIEF 19/9 President begins Denmark visit President Truong Tan Sang and his entourage arrived in Copenhagen yesterday, beginning his State visit to Denmark at the invitation of Queen Margrethe II.   President Truong Tan Sang (centre right) meets Queen Margrethe of Denmark yesterday at the Fredensborg Palace. The Vietnamese President was greeted at the airport by Queen Margrethe in a grand welcome ceremony. The same day, President Sang was scheduled to meet with Crown Prince Frederik, visit Copenhagen's port and meet with staff of the Vietnamese embassy and members of the local Vietnamese community. President hails Hungarian Before arriving in Denmark, Sang concluded his visit to Hungary with a meeting with the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP)'s President Mestehazy Atila on Tuesday. Sang spoke highly of the growing relationship between MSZP and the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) and asked the MSZP to continue to assist the Vietnamese community in the country. Remembering the support of Hungarian officials and experts, including many MSZP members, who took part in the International Commission of Control and Supervision under the Paris Peace Agreement, Sang declared that Vietnamese people would always remember the precious help offered by their Hungarian friends. Atila said his party wished to contribute further to fostering Viet Nam-Hungary ties in order to achieve the common aspirations of both peoples. He applauded the agreements reached between leaders of the two countries during President Sang's visit, hailed the rising role of Viet Nam in Southeast Asia and pledged to do all he could for the Vietnamese Embassy and community in Hungary. PM Dung to visit France, attend UN session in US Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will pay an official visit to France from September 24-29 at the invitation of his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault. After France, he will fly to New York to attend a high-level debate of the UN General Assembly from September 26-29, according to a Foreign Ministry communiqué. Leaders bid farewell to Japanese Ambassador Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung held separate meetings yesterday (Sept 18) with outgoing Japanese Ambassador Yasuaki Tanizaki, who recently ended his term in Viet Nam. During their meetings, the Vietnamese leaders spoke highly about the ambassador's contributions to the development of bilateral co-operation between the two countries as well as the ambassador's affection for Viet Nam and the Vietnamese people. The ambassador said to Vietnamese leaders that he would continue to promote the friendly relations between the two countries and peoples. The day before, the Japanese ambassador received the Ministry of Transport's insignia for his contributions to developing the transport sector in Viet Nam. Vietnam contributes to use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes A senior Vietnamese official has underscored Vietnam’s contribution to the international community’s efforts to promote the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, nuclear safety and security, non-proliferation, and international cooperation in the field with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) playing the central role. Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Le Dinh Tien made the remark at the plenary session of the 57th IAEA General Conference in Vienna, Austria, on September 17. Tien said as a responsible member of the global community in nuclear safety, security and non-proliferation, Vietnam completed the fuel conversion programme for its Da Lat research reactor during the past year. The country has also ratified the supplementary protocol to its Safeguards Agreement with IAEA, joined the Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and ratified the revised section of the convention, the deputy minister said. At the same time, he affirmed that Vietnam has basically completed procedures to soon join the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and Radioactive Waste Management. Deputy Minister Tien also spoke about the process of Vietnam’s nuclear power project, and the use of nuclear power to serve socio-economic development in the country over the past year. On the sidelines of the event, the Vietnamese delegation held meetings with foreign counterparts and IAEA’s competent agencies with a view to expanding bilateral and multilateral cooperation in nuclear security, safety, inspection and infrastructure building. Switzerland increases development aid Switzerland announced yesterday (Sept 18) that it would increase development aid to Viet Nam in the next four-year period to 123 million Swiss francs (US$132.8 million). This represents an increase of about 50 per cent compared with the budget for the previous four-year period, according to Swiss Ambassador in Viet Nam Andrej Motyl. In line with Viet Nam's aim to become an industrialised country by 2020 and its middle-income status, Motyl said the focus would shift from poverty reduction to economic development co-operation. The new development framework stresses supporting Vietnamese small-and-medium enterprises to increase their productivity and competitiveness through better access to credit. "If the small-and-medium enterprises wither away, the whole future of the economy will be at stake," he said. Since 1992, Switzerland contributed about $360 million to Viet Nam's socio-economic development and reform agenda. Speaking at the launching ceremony of the new development framework, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen The Phuong applauded the Swiss help and said that Viet Nam would also vow to improve the progress of Switzerland's investment projects in the country, which totaled at about $2 billion in 2012. Canada funds overhaul of legal sector The Ministry of Justice yesterday launched a seven-year National Legislative Development Project which is expected to help speed up the reform of law-making process and improve the quality of economic legislation in Viet Nam. The project, funded by the Canadian Government, is the result of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Viet Nam and Canada in June, 2010 and will contribute 15 million Canadian dollars (US$14.5m) to the legislative revamp. Speaking at the workshop launch yesterday, project manager Isabeau Vilandre said that the project would address the issues of quality, consistency and transparency within the law-making process to make legislation more effective and better implemented at both central and provincial levels. Deputy Minister of Justice Dinh Trung Tung said that Viet Nam had been making efforts to improve its legal framework to build up a law-based State. "The need to make new legal documents or revise existing ones, especially with more participation from citizens, becomes more urgent at a time when the country is to approve its revised constitution," he said. Under the project, the Ministry of Justice and other economic ministries would offer support to improve capacity in fields including strategic planning processes, policy research and impact assessments, as well as engaging in consultation with citizens and the private sector throughout the legislative development process. The project would also focus on the consolidation and revision of the 2004 and 2008 law on Promulgatition of Legal Normative Documents by the People's Councils and the People's Committees, the revised legislation is expected to be adopted in 2015. The Canadian Bar Association, Ontario Justice International, the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario, one of Canada's biggest provinces, and law firm Stikeman Elliott LLP would help and share their experience with Vietnamese partners. VN, Cuba to boost multi-faceted co-operation Viet Nam would do its utmost to boost co-operation with Cuba in all fields, particularly in agriculture, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung told Cuba's Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz at a reception in Ha Noi yesterday (Sept 18). The PM also expressed his hope that Cuba would create favourable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises to make long-term investments in the country. He said the the Cuban minister's visit to attend a meeting of the inter-governmental committee of the two countries would make active contributions to enhancing multi-faceted co-operation between the two nations. The Cuban minister said his country hoped to learn from Viet Nam's experiencein socio-economic development. He affirmed that Cuba would create favourable conditions for businesses from both countries to expand trade ties and investment co-operation. He also handed Dung a letter from Fidel Castro which recalled his lasting impressions and unforgettable memories of Viet Nam during a visit 40 years ago. Viet Nam to increase public security work with Laos Viet Nam's Minister of Public Security has pledged to tighten co-operation with Laos to protect national and public security and prevent attempts to sabotage the revolutionary cause of Viet Nam and Laos. General Tran Dai Quang made the commitment at a meeting with Lao Party General Secretary and President Chummaly Saynhasone in Vientiane yesterday (Sept 18). Quang, who is in Lao to attend the ninth ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crimes (AMMTC), spoke highly of the Lao Ministry of Public Security's organisation of the AMMTC and related meetings. He said the success of the events affirmed Laos' position in the region and international arena. The Vietnamese minister also said his ministry would continue to share experience and work closely with the Lao side in combating transnational crime, particularly drug crimes, as well as protecting security and order in border regions. President Saynhasone expressed his delight at the development of the Viet Nam-Laos relationship, highly valuing the contribution of Viet Nam's Ministry of Public Security to the two countries' special ties. He asked the two ministries to strengthen co-operation in personnel training and crime fighting for the peace and happiness of the two countries. ASEAN+3 meeting Also yesterday, Quang and ministers from other ASEAN member countries and China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (RoK) declared their determination to work together to prevent and combat transnational crime to ensure stability and development in the region at the sixth ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime Plus Three (AMMTC+3). The ministers said their co-operation targeted human trafficking, weapons smuggling, piracy, illegal immigration, economic crime, drugs-related crime, and hi-tech crime, and agreed to increase information exchange and training to help one another. At the event, Quang spoke of Viet Nam's positive co-operation with law enforcement bodies from China, Japan and the RoK to implement the commitment between ASEAN and its partners to combat transnational crime. He also recognised and spoke highly of the three countries' effective co-operation and assistance to ASEAN and Viet Nam in the fight against transnational crime and response to newly emerging non-traditional challenges in the 2007-17 period. The Vietnamese Minister said he hoped that the commitments agreed at this meeting would be implemented effectively by all sides, creating a breakthrough in the fight against transnational crime. On the sidelines of the meeting, Minister Quang held talks with officials from the Lao Ministry of Security and meetings with the heads of delegations from Singapore, Cambodia, China, Thailand, Japan, and Myanmar. VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA