Political News Headlines 4/3 President offers support to Mekong sea defences President Truong Tan Sang praised the importance of dyke projects while inspecting development in the Mekong Delta provinces of Tra Vinh and Soc Trang.   President Truong Tan Sang visits an important dyke system in Hiep Thach Commune, Duyen Hai District, Tra Vinh Province. The Mekong Delta is one of the three most vulnerable delta regions facing the harsh effects of climate change and is home to thousands of metres of protective dykes. Sang said the sea dykes had helped to control tides, prevent salinisation, protect coastal property, support national security and reduce the risk of drowning. However, local officials told Sang that strong tides and waves had damaged thousands of metres of sea dykes and flood-preventing forests in recent years, causing devastating property damage to local housing areas. During the past two decades, the sea has encroached on the mainland in Duyen Hai district, Tra Vinh province, by a startling 2.5 kilometres, swallowing 6,000 hectares of coastal land. Meanwhile, serious landslides had also been reported along the 22-km sea dyke in Cu Lao Dung district, Soc Trang province. The province houses seven anti-salinity culverts and seven bridges. Despite residents in Tra Vinh and Soc Trang provinces pouring tens of billions of dong into upgrading dykes, they have found little success in preventing landslides and sea encroachment, which threatens local aquaculture. It is forecast that sea water levels may rise by one metre by the end of the century, submerging 40 per cent of the Mekong Delta, 11 per cent of the Red River Delta and 3 percent of coastal provinces. Sang also visited several families in the two localities and supervised the implementation of the Duyen Hai Electricity Centre project in Tra Vinh province. Viet Nam hopes to build on relations with Indonesia Viet Nam and Indonesia reached an agreement to foster comprehensive co-operation, particularly in economics, culture, education and peace in the East Sea, during talks in Ha Noi yesterday, March 3.   National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung meets Speaker of the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly Sidarto Danusubroto.  Meeting with Speaker of the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly Sidarto Danusubroto, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung said he believed the visit would tighten ties between the two nations, in particular their legislatures. He expressed hope that Indonesia would realise its goal of becoming one of the world's top 10 economies by 2025. Viet Nam strongly prioritised relations with ASEAN member countries, including Indonesia, he noted, and the establishment of a strategic partnership between the two countries in June 2013 indicated the considerable progress that had been made over the past 60 years. The host also wished that both legislative bodies would co-operate to enhance peace, stability and development in the region, bringing ASEAN nations closer to their goal of achieving a common Community by 2015. He hailed Indonesia's Six-Point Principle Initiative in the East Sea and suggested signed agreements be realised in earnest to ensure peace and security, both in the water and on land. The top legislator took the occasion to invite Sidarto Danusubroto to attend the 132nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Ha Noi in March 2015. Danusubroto said he was confident that Viet Nam would reap more development successes and increasingly confirm its role in both the region and the world at large. The Speaker expressed interest in strengthening connections with the Vietnamese NA, ratifying joint co-operation agreements and monitoring their implementation. The East Sea issue, he said, should be solved by peaceful means and dialogue. UNICEF representative recognised for her work Lotta Sylwander, Representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Viet Nam, has been awarded the "For Peace and Friendship among Nations" commendation for her humanitarian work. President of the Viet Nam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) Vu Xuan Hong presented the award to the UNICEF Chief Representative in Ha Noi yesterday. With her 20 years of experience, Lotta Sylwander has led UNICEF in Viet Nam to focus on issues such as child protection, social sponsoring, the disabled and ethnic minority groups. She has also actively taken part in high-ranking exchanges and meetings with the Vietnamese Government, multilateral and bilateral partners, and other non-governmental organisations to promote children's rights and social policies for them. Over the past three years, as Chief Representative of UNICEF in Viet Nam, she has teamed with various ministries to establish policies and laws on protecting local children, as well as improving the legal framework on adoption. Addressing the ceremony, Hong thanked Lotta Sylwander for her efforts and contributions in working to reduce poverty in Viet Nam and assisting in the country's development. Sylwander said she was honoured to receive the award and, further, said she would continue supporting Viet Nam's development and humanitarian work. Singaporean naval ship anchors at Da Nang port Singapore’s naval ship RSS Resolution with 250 crew members aboard anchored at Tien Sa port in the central city of Da Nang on March 4, beginning its four-day visit to Vietnam. During their stay, officers and the crew will pay courtesy visits to leaders of the municipal People’s Committee and the High Commands of the Military Zone 5 and Naval Region 3. They will join the Vietnamese navy in an exercise on search and rescue at sea as well as sport activities. This is the ninth visit to Vietnam of a naval ship of Singapore. The visit is expected to further consolidate the friendship between Vietnam and Singapore in general and the two armies in particularly, especially in the context that they are speeding up cooperative activities within the framework of their strategic partnership signed in September last year. Vietnam attends ASEAN defence chief informal meeting Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army Senior Lieutenant General Do Ba Ty is leading a high-ranking delegation of the Defence Ministry to the 11 th ASEAN Chiefs of Defence Forces Informal Meeting (ACDFIM-11) in Myanmar. ACDFIM-11 will be held from 4 th - 6 th March under the theme “Defence Cooperation towards Peaceful and Prosperous ASEAN Community”. The meeting will discuss measures to enhance trust and coordination among ASEAN armies in coping with security challenges, particularly non-traditional ones, thus making practical contribution to the formation of a peaceful and prosperous ASEAN Community by 2015. The ASEAN military intelligence informal meeting and ASEAN military operations informal meetings will also take place within the framework of ACDFIM-11. Course for Party Central Committee members opens A refresher course opened in Hanoi on March 3 for 111 senior strategic officials from central agencies and provinces and centrally-run cities. Addressing the opening ceremony, Dinh The Huynh, Politburo member and head of the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Education and Popularisation, emphasised that all Party members, particularly senior officials, must ceaselessly improve their political spirit, morals and professional capacity to meet their crucial tasks. For this reason, the Political Bureau and Secretariat decided to open the course for members of the Party Central Committee, said Huynh, who is also President of the Central Theory Council. Trainees will be taught new concepts and interpretations of socialist theory, Party-building issues, democracy and political system renovation, economic, social and cultural development policy and leadership, among other subjects. The curriculum is based on domestic and international studies and the experience of Vietnam’s scientists, leaders, managers and activists. Earlier in last December, a similar course was organised for 43 participants. Foreign military officers visit Vietnam Sen. Lieut. General Ngo Xuan Lich, Chief of the General Political Department under the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA), on March 2 received senior military officers from Laos, Cambodia and China. The distinguish guests were Colonel Syphanphut Thavong, Head of the Border and Mapping Department under the Lao People’s Army’s General Staff, Major General Li Lemin, Chief of the Political Department of the Border Defense Authority under the China Ministry of Security, and General Meas Sophea, Commander of the Royal Cambodian Army. Lich spoke highly of the time-honoured relationship between the armed forces and border guards of Vietnam and the three neighbouring countries. Through joint patrols and conferences, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and China have strengthened cooperation in national defence and exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual concern, he said. He noted the current exchange programme on border friendship aims to foster the traditional friendship and cooperation among the four countries. He also suggested armed forces of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and China promote exchange, share experience among their border guards, build up plans on joint patrols, and combat trans-national crime to build common borders of peace, stability, friendship and development in each country. National border guard force receives Ho Chi Minh Order The Viet Nam Border Guard High Command was awarded the Ho Chi Minh Order at a ceremony on Sunday, March 2, marking the force's 55th founding anniversary. This is the third time the force has been honoured with the Ho Chi Minh Order, the country's second highest award. Upon presenting the noble decoration to the force, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung hailed the force's great achievements. He highlighted accomplishments in protecting national sovereignty and security in border areas, sea and islands, as well as the force's role in socio-economic development in border areas. The top legislator asked the force to continue doing its best to strengthen its capacity in national defence, while continuing to maintain peaceful and friendly borderlines with neighbouring countries in line with the Party and State's external relations policy. On the occasion, President Truong Tan Sang also sent a congratulation letter to the border guard force's officers and soldiers and people in border localities throughout the country. Vietnam supportive of Palestine goals Vietnam fully backs the just fight of the Palestinian people to reclaim their basic rights, including the rights to self-determination and the establishment of an independent Palestinian State. Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Phuong Nga has made the statement at the second Conference on Cooperation among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD) in Jakarta on March 1.   Nga clearly stated that Vietnam supports all regional and global efforts to seek a comprehensive, fair and sustainable solution to the Israeli-Arabian/Palestinian conflict in harmony with the United Nations’ Resolutions, ensuring legitimate interests of all parties concerned for peace and stability in the region. Chairing the event, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said in his keynote remarks that the CEAPAD follows the United Nations’ January declaration of 2014 as an International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Co-chairing the conference, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said CEAPAD is a key part of the Middle East peace process, stressing that it is time CEAPAD moves “from discussion to action to realise its goals.” Participants focused on discussing concrete capacity-building programmes to be utilised in Palestine. After the two-day talks, they adopted the Joint Declaration “East Asia Partnership for Palestine” which will provide a platform to facilitate Middle East peace and work out a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine on the basis of UN resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative. As part of the event, Nga also met with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad mal-Maliki to discuss ways to further multifaceted cooperation between Palestine and Vietnam. On the fringes of the event, the CEAPAD business forum and trade exhibition also took place on March 1-2 to assist Palestinian firms, especially private ones. This year’s CEPAD gathered 27 delegations representing 22 of its member nations, five international organisations and observer countries. Initiated by Japan, the first CEAPAD was held in Tokyo in February 2013, attracting nine member countries, including Vietnam, and four international organisations. VNN/VOV/VNS/VNA