Government News 17/12 Vietnam-Venezuela diplomatic ties marked in Hanoi A friendship meeting was held in Hanoi on December 16 to mark the 25th anniversary of Vietnam-Venezuela diplomatic ties. Addressing the event, Chairman of Vietnam-Venezuela Friendship Association Vu Van Hien said Vietnam has deep respect for late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who played a great role in strengthening and reinforcing the ties between the two countries. Thanking the Venezuelan people for their support to the Vietnamese people over the past time, he depicted Vietnam as an advocate of Venezuela and its Bolivarian revolution. Venezuelan Ambassador to Vietnam Jorge Rondon Uzcategui stressed that 2014 marked the 50th year since a group of Venezuelan guerillas kidnapped a US officer to ask the US-backed Saigon regime to release young Vietnamese patriot Nguyen Van Troi during the war against the US. Highlighting the progressing bilateral relations, he said that Vietnam is regarded as Venezuela ’s trustworthy partner during its national construction and development. S olidarity, friendship and cooperation between the two countries have developed fruitfully over the past 25 years, especially after Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet’s visit to Venezuela in 2008. He noted that a number of cooperation agreements have been implemented in the fields of energy, agriculture, technology, education and culture. The Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and Venezuela’s state-owned oil and natural gas company (PDVSA) have established their joint venture PetroMacareo, with a designed capacity of 200 , 000 barrels of crude oil per day. The ambassador revealed that the two countries will continue to implement their cooperation plans in the spheres of agriculture, trade, electricity, education and telecommunications. Vietnam congratulates Japan over lower house election Vietnam congratulates the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and the Komeito Party of Japan over its victory in the recent Lower House election, Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh said on December 16. “We believe that under the leadership of the ruling coalition, Japan will prosper further and the extensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Japan will go from strength to strength, meeting the interests and aspirations of the two peoples and contributing to peace and stability in the region and the world,” the spokesman said in reply to reporters’ queries. Deputy PM stresses prospects for Qatar-Vietnam ties Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has emphasised strong growth prospects for the Vietnam-Qatar ties, which is based on positive diplomatic relations and substantial and steadily increasing trade between the two countries, in his recent interview with Qatar Tribune. "Vietnam and Qatar enjoy very good political and diplomatic relations, and we have recorded a number of achievements in recent years. The potential for further promoting our bilateral relations is huge and needs to be tapped in the future. What we have achieved so far is not commensurate with this potential, and we hope that in future we will make further efforts so that we can increase cooperation in many areas,” the Deputy PM said. Vietnam and Qatar first established diplomatic relations 20 years ago, he said, adding that his official visit to Qatar on December 14-15 was to further and promote bilateral relations in several spheres, including economic, cultural, social as well as in terms of investment and tourism. In recent years, Vietnam and Qatar have been seeing their relations developing in various sectors, according to the Deputy PM. The two countries have exchanged a number of high-level visits, while the bilateral economic relations between Qatar and Vietnam also enjoy steady development. He noted that bilateral trade turnover reached 265 million USD in 2013, an 8 percent increase over the previous year."This tendency will also continue in the future," he added. Coinciding with the official visit, 'Vietnam Days in Qatar 2014' was held in Doha, including a series of political, economic, and cultural activities to strengthen the cooperative and friendly relationship in various sectors and to promote cultural exchanges between Vietnam and Qatar. He said his official visit to Qatar as well as 'Vietnam Days in Qatar' demonstrate that the government of Vietnam attaches great importance to relations with Qatar. “We would also like to maintain a good exchange of high-level delegations and bring to Qatar the images of the Vietnamese people, and of our country. We have a lot of activities that will take place in the coming days," he added. The Deputy PM attended the Vietnam-Qatar Economic Cooperation Forum, a highlight of Vietnam Days in Qatar 2014. He praised Qatar's rapid development and its people's hospitality, congratulating the country on its fast development in such a short period of time. Army’s 70th founding anniversary marked in China, Malaysia The Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) has received valuable support and assistance from peace lovers and armies throughout the world, including those from China, to create glorious feats of arms over the past seven decades, Vietnamese Ambassador to China Nguyen Van Tho has stated. Addressing a Beijing ceremony on December 16 to mark the 70th founding anniversary of the VPA and 25 th All People’s Defence Day, the diplomat recalled the 70-year development history of the army. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam and late President Ho Chi Minh, the 34-strong force at first grew rapidly and worked together with all people to win glorious victories during the country’s struggles for national liberation and sovereignty, he added. Regarding the Vietnam-China defence relation, he affirmed that it has seen positive developments with the two armies’ tightened cooperation in both land and sea patrols, search and rescue operations and crime combat. On this occasion, an art troupe from the northern province of Quang Ninh toured the two Malaysian states of Johor and Selangor to serve Vietnamese people there. Vietnam, Laos vow to work together for stable shared border Vietnam and Laos have agreed to continue working closely to build a shared border of stability and comprehensive development in a view to boosting the socio-economic growth and improve living conditions for border residents. The agreement was reached during the talks between the Steering Committee for the Northwestern Region (SCNR) and a Lao working group on December 16 in the northern province of Yen Bai. Both sides will focus on putting into operation two village clusters in upper Laos, increasing collaboration in ensuring border security and solving illegal migration across the border, as well as boosting the efficiency of investment partnership. They will maintain and promote coordination mechanisms and annual talks between the SCNR and the Laos’ Central Committee for Rural Development and Poverty Reduction. SCNR Deputy Head Truong Xuan Cu said Vietnam will effectively implement investment and development cooperation activities, with its northern provinces giving continued training assistance to Lao localities. Participants agreed that this year saw positive outcomes in collaboration between Vietnam ’s ministries and northwestern localities and Laos ’ Central Committee for Rural Development and Poverty Reduction, which contributed to ensuring political, security and defence stability in border areas. Meanwhile, bilateral partnership at provincial level has been improved, they said, noting that Vietnamese and Laos border localities have organised regular meetings and worked closely together in popularising the two countries’ policies and laws. Both sides have also collaborated in building infrastructure at border gates and markets while creating favourable conditions for economic organisations to increase exchanges and join trade fairs. Vietnam’s northwestern localities have trained more than 2,000 Laos officials and students. VNA/VNN