Political News Headlines 4/4  President Sang welcomes visiting Busan Mayor The Viet Nam-South Korea relations have further cemented over the recent past by exchange visits of high-ranking officials, representatives of ministries, businesses, and people of the two countries.   President Truong Tan Sang (R) meets with Mayor of Republic of Korea (RoK)'s Busan city Hur Nam Sik in Ha Noi yesterday. This was stated by President Truong Tan Sang in Ha Noi yesterday, April 3, while receiving Mayor of Republic of Korea (RoK)'s Busan city Hur Nam Sik, who is leading a delegation of businessmen and intellectuals on a working visit to Viet Nam. The leader requested the RoK government and Busan authorities to offer further assistance to the Vietnamese community in the country in order to integrate them into the local community. He affirmed that the Vietnamese state was ready to assist the RoK businesses to operate in Viet Nam just as in their own home country. For his part, Mayor Hur avowed that Busan authorities hoped to develop further relations in various fields with many cities in Viet Nam, besides HCM City, with which they have enjoyed close relations over the past two decades. Vietnam demands fair treatment for businesses in US Vietnamese businesses have not dumped tra and basa fish on the US market, and they must receive fair treatment as Americans do. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh made the statement at a regular press briefing in Hanoi on April 3, after the US Department of Commerce (DOC) ruled it would continue to impose anti-dumping tariffs on tra fish imported from Vietnam Vietnamese businesses should be treated equally and without prejudice, Binh said. Binh emphasized that Vietnam businesses have not dumped tra fish or other products on the US market and the allegations are quite simply untrue. Trade issues between the two countries should be considered fairly and objectively in the spirit of trade liberalisation, as well as in line with their fine economic and trade relations, he concluded. DPM Vu Duc Dam heads national AIDS control committee The PM has assigned Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam as Chairman of the National Committee for AIDS, Drugs and Prostitution Prevention and Control (NCADPPC). The post was previously held by Deputy PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc. The National Committee is the interdisciplinary agency tasked to assist the PM in directing and coordinating AIDS, drugs and prostitution prevention and control. The National Committee helps the PM establish strategies and projects, launch, integrate and coordinate programs and resources as well as evaluate activities of ministries, departments and localities on AIDS, drugs and prostitution prevention and control. It also helps the PM direct international cooperation activities in AIDS, drugs and prostitution prevention and control. Revisions to state-owned housing regulations for officials During a conference on housing law held on April 2, the NA's Standing Committee emphasised the need to revise policies related to housing subsidies for state officials while they serve. Officials are allowed to stay in state-owned homes while working far from home. However, according to the committee, the current policy favours high-ranking state officials, while giving much less support to younger ones who are in more need of it, causing some friction. The committee suggested that the government give officials a subsidy, adding it to their monthly wages and allow them choose appropriate living quarters on the open market. Deputy Tran Ngoc Vinh said, "Several officials have refused to return their apartments to the state after their terms in office had ended. There are cases where officials lease out their apartments for more money than what they pay. We need more specific regulations on matters such as how many square metres a minister should be given." Deputy Nguyen Sy Cuong said the core problem is the low rental rate they are afforded. He said, "An official may only have to pay a few hundred thousand VND for an apartment that might normally cost VND10 million (USD476). Government should charge the actual cost once the terms of their service have ended." Minister of Construction Trinh Dinh Dung said he is open to all opinions in considering this issue, especially those related to giving support to all officials instead of favouring high-ranking ones. Recently, it was pointed out that many officials in a state-owned building on Hanoi, had not left their apartments even though they had been retired for years. Many allow let their relatives to stay while they live in other houses. In some reported cases, the relatives continue to live in the apartments even after the officials' death. "I stay because no one has asked me to leave," said the former deputy minister of Natural Resources and Environment. Vietnam, Bulgaria eye strategic partnership Bulgarian Prime Minister Plamen Oreshaski will pay an official visit to Vietnam from April 6-9 in the context that the two countries are working towards a strategic partnership. The two countries established their diplomatic ties on February 8, 1950. President Ho Chi Minh’s official friendly visit to Bulgaria in 1957 was considered a milestone in the history of bilateral relations. Bulgaria gave Vietnam precious spiritual and material support in its past struggle for national liberation. The two countries have maintained exchanges of high-level delegations, most recently a Bulgaria visit by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan and National Assembly Vice Chairman Huynh Ngoc Son in September 2012 and an official visit to Vietnam by President Rosen Plevneliev last year. During the Bulgarian President’s visit, the two countries issued a joint statement on the development of their ties towards a future strategic partnership. They have also coordinated closely at multilateral forums. Bulgaria backed Vietnam’s entry into the World Trade Organisation and the country’s bid to join a number of international organisations, including the United Nations Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council. Meanwhile, Vietnam supported Bulgaria’s nomination for a seat at the UN Economic and Social Council and the Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, as well as for the Director-General post at UNESCO and Judge of the International Court of Justice. Two-way trade between the two countries has increased gradually in recent years, from 58.7 million USD in 2012 to 67.7 million USD in 2013. It hit 12.2 million USD in the first two months of 2014, representing a year-on-year increase of 21 percent. Bulgaria now has 10 FDI valid projects with a total capital of 30.94 million USD, ranking 58 th out of the countries and territories investing in Vietnam. In terms of education and training, before 1990, Bulgaria helped train more than 3,600 scientists and experts and about 30,000 skilled workers for Vietnam, mainly in the fields of construction, architecture, information technology and agriculture. During Bulgarian Education Minister Dmiter Dmitrov’s visit to Vietnam in February 2001, the two countries signed a cooperation programme to resume scholarship exchanges between them. Today, more than 1,000 Vietnamese people, including 44 students, are living and working in Bulgaria, which is considered a favourable condition for strengthening bilateral ties. The two countries have also signed a number of cooperation agreements on economics, trade, culture, health and tourism. President Sang backs joint university project President Truong Tan Sang yesterday asked municipal authorities as well as concerned central government agencies to remove obstacles for investors and contractors of the Viet Nam-Japan University during a visit to inspect progress made in building the university.   President Truong Tan Sang yesterday asked municipal authorities as well as concerned central government agencies to remove obstacles for investors and contractors of the Viet Nam-Japan University during a visit to inspect progress made in building the university. Covering a total area of 36.6ha in the Hoa Lac High-Tech Park to the west of Ha Noi, the university is being constructed at an estimated cost of US$330 million, including $200 million in ODA from the Japanese Government. Currently, 23ha of the project area have been cleared, the President was told. Work on the university began in 2013 and it is expected to open in 2019 with the capacity to accommodate 6,000 students. President Sang stressed the significance of the project, which he said would help Vietnamese students learn about the latest scientific and technological developments in Japan. The success of the project will not only contribute to deepening the friendship between Viet Nam and Japan, but also mark a bright spot in attracting foreign investment into the education and training sector, he said. He asked ministries and capital city authorities to exert more efforts in removing obstacles for the project's investors and contractors so that it can be completed on schedule. Currently, the Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park hosts 70 projects with a combined capital of VND5.4 trillion ($253 million). It has earmarked 1,586ha for the construction of universities. Deputy PMs busy with overseas trips next week Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh will pay official visits to Sweden from April 9-11 and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from April 14-17. During the trip, parties concerns will discuss measures to promote the strategic partnership with the UK and ties of traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Sweden, especially in economics, investment and other areas of their strength. Meanwhile, Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam will attend the 2014 Boao Forum for Asia annual conference in Hainan, China, from April 8-11. He is scheduled to deliver a speech at the opening ceremony of the meeting. Francophone forum to bolster economic ties A two-day forum of French-speaking countries in the Asia-Pacific region that opened yesterday targets measures to boost economic co-operation among members as well as a strategy for the community.   Delegates attend a forum on economic co-operation among French-speaking countries in the Asia-Pacific opened yesterday in Ha Noi.  In his opening address, Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc said that the community, with 77 member nations and governments and a combined population of over 800 million, was an important group in dealing with international issues, including economics. He noted that economic co-operation was among the top priorities that Francophone leaders had inserted into the community's charter, which was approved in Hanoi in 1997. Anissa Barrak, Asia-Pacific Regional Director of the Francophone International Organisation, noted the growing partnership within the community in several areas including teaching the French language, enhancing scientific research and judicial capacity, creating jobs for the youth, and co-operation among businesses. She described ASEAN, which has Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand as Francophone members, as an active economic region that can further the community's agenda. Barrak hoped that the two-day forum would come up with suggestions for formulating a Francophone economic strategy as also measures to boost economic co-operation within the community. Forum highlights implementation of Constitution How to implement the 2013 Constitution during Vietnam’s legal and judicial reform lies at the heart of the 10th legal partnership forum held in Hanoi on April 3. Minister of Justice Ha Hung Cuong said the amended Constitution reflects the renovation in political thought, theoretical awareness and the leadership capability of the Vietnamese Party, State and people on the country’s path of development. It also manifests the process of reforming the State apparatus, with a number of new points promoting democracy and ensuring human and citizen rights as well as implementing judicial, administrative and socio-economic management reform. Meanwhile, UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam Pratibha Mehta said the amended Constitution and Law on Land require the State management offices to adjust a set of laws and regulations to ensure equality, efficiency and the commitment to protect human rights for all people. Director of the Justice Ministry’s Department of Criminal and Administrative Laws Nguyen Thi Kim Thoa highlighted the revision of all laws, ordinances and other legal documents issued before the day the Constitution took effect as a key task of local offices. She raised preliminary statistics from the NA Standing Committee and the Government that show that as many as 88 draft laws and ordinances, excluding those on tax, must be modified, supplemented or newly enforced. Eighty-two of such documents are expected to be submitted to the NA and the committee between 2014 and 2016, including 28 on human rights and the fundamental rights and obligations of citizens. Participants also touched upon the opinions raised by UN agencies on implementing the 2013 Constitution in line with the international conventions that Vietnam is a member. The forum is part of a joint project between Vietnam and the UNDP on enhancing legal access and rights protection in the country. The revised Constitution came into force on January 1, 2014. It has 11 chapters with 120 articles (one chapter and 27 articles fewer than the previous version). VFF aspires to stronger Vietnam-Germany friendship Vietnam and Germany should work out a detailed plan to mark 40 years of diplomatic ties in 2015, said Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee President Nguyen Thien Nhan.   VFF President Nguyen Thien Nhan (R) pushed for stronger Vietnam-Germany relations at a meeting with German ambassador to Vietnam Jutta Gisela Frasch in Hanoi on April 4. While receiving Germany ambassador to Vietnam Jutta Gisela Frasch in Hanoi on April 4, Nhan noted the strategic partnership between Vietnam and Germany has developed strongly in all areas, from politics, diplomacy, economics, trade, investment, to development cooperation and education-training. He particularly spoke highly of bilateral cooperation in vocational training over the past five years, generating qualified human resources for Vietnam. The Vietnam Fatherland Front will do its utmost to support the development of the strategic partnership between the two countries, Nhan assured his guest. He revealed Vietnam will create the best possible conditions for Germany to carry out the German House and Vietnam-Germany University projects in HCM City. The VFF President also thanked Germany for selecting HCM City to host the 14th Asia-Pacific Conference of Germany Businesses on November 20-22, 2014, saying the biennial event will offer regional politicians and business circles the chance to exchange views on various economic areas. Ambassador Frasch expressed hope that both countries will work closely together to boost bilateral ties in the future, especially in economics, trade, investment, and development cooperation in education-training. VOV/VNS/VNA/Dantri/VGP