Government News 14/2 Mexico eager to augment cooperative ties with Vietnam Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto affirmed his nation’s desire for increased cooperation with Vietnam while receiving Ambassador Le Linh Lan who came to present her credentials on February 13. The Mexican President told his guest that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will open up monumental opportunities for furthering economic and trade links between the two countries. President Nieto voiced his support for promoting exchange visits at all levels in 2015 which witnesses the celebration of the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations, and asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help the Vietnam Embassy hold celebratory activities in Mexico. He thanked Vietnamese leaders for extending an invitation to visit Vietnam on the occasion of the APEC Summit in 2017. Ambassador Linh Lan expressed sincere thanks to the Mexican people and government for their valuable support for the past struggles for national independence and the current Doi Moi (Renewal) process, noting that Vietnam pritotizes developing the ties of friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Mexico. The Vietnamese diplomat said she hopes with the 40-year fine traditional friendship, huge potential for stronger economic growth and the early TPP signing, Vietnam and Mexico would fully utilize tremendous opportunities for boosting bilateral cooperation in economics, trade, investment, culture, science and technology, health care and education in the interests of the two peoples for peace and development in the two regions and the world as a whole. Ambassador extols sound Vietnam-Laos relations Calendar year 2004 proved the time-honoured friendship and special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos to be a great resource for the cause of national construction and development that will continue to make great strides in 2015. Vietnam Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Manh Hung made the statement while recently reviewing the bilateral relations between the two nations over the past year. Hung said last year was a busy year for delegation exchange with more than 410 delegations conducting reciprocal visits to share experience in socio- economic development, especially in Party building work and prepare for the Party Congresses at all levels towards the National Party Congress of the two parties. In 2014, Vietnam remained one of the three leading foreign investors in Laos with nearly US$5.1 billion invested in over 400 projects. The two-way trade volume surged over 14% to US$1.4 billion for the first time, providing a springboard for increasing bilateral trade volume by at least 40% to US$2 billion by the end of 2015. Education and personnel training was one of the priotized areas of Vietnam-Laos cooperation as Vietnam provided more than 700 scholarships for Lao students in 2014. Regarding the relationship between the two nations in 2015, Ambassador Hung affirmed the Vietnam-Laos traditional friendly relations and comprehensive cooperation will continue to grow and flourish and believed that the relationship nurtured by generations of the outstanding people will stand firm forever. Hanoi, Cape Town to boost cooperation ties Vietnamese Ambassador to South Africa Le Huy Hoang and the Executive Deputy Mayor of Cape Town city Ian Neilson discussed measures to foster cooperation between Hanoi and Cape Town city in a meeting on February 12. At the meeting, Deputy Mayor Neilson affirmed that Cape Town always hopes to expand cooperation with Hanoi across fields of trade, investment and experience sharing in urban development management. He added that the city is undertaking necessary procedures in order to early sign a cooperating agreement with Hanoi. On his part, Ambassador Hoang underscored a number of strengths and potentials of Hanoi, an economic hub with good economic growth in the past few years and a popular destination for tourism and investment. He said cooperation between Hanoi and Cape Town will contribute to the friendship collaboration between two countries. Cape Town city is the second largest economic hub in South Africa and a leading tourism destination, attracting 10 million holiday makers every year to its famous sites such as Cape of Good Hope and Table Mountain.- Leaders pay tribute to President Ho Chi Minh on Tet occasion A delegation of Vietnam’s top leaders paid floral tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his Mausoleum in Hanoi on February 14 on the occasion of the quickly-approaching traditional lunar New Year (Tet). Prominent among the delegation were Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President Truong Tan Sang, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung, and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. The delegation also laid a wreath at the Fallen Soldiers Memorial Monument. They then paid respect to fallen soldiers, veteran revolutionaries and senior Party and State leaders, who are resting in peace at Mai Dich cemetery. The same day, delegations from the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defence; the Central Public Security Commission and the Ministry of Public Security; the Party Committee and People’s Committee of Hanoi also paid tribute to President Ho Chi Minh and fallen soldiers at their memorial monument. Vietnam, RoK enjoy fruitful relations: Ambassador Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) enjoyed another year of successful cooperation in 2014, affirmed Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Pham Huu Chi. In his interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency on the occasion of the lunar New Year, the ambassador said Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s State visit and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s working trip to the RoK to attend the ASEAN-RoK Summit contributed importantly to lifting the bilateral ties to a new height. The diplomat described economic cooperation as the highlight in the two countries’ relationship, with the RoK becoming Vietnam’s largest investor with a total capital of 37 billion USD, and two-way trade reaching 28 billion USD. He was confident that the bilateral relations will thrive further in 2015 and the goal of 70 billion USD in two-way trade by 2020 is quite within reach. Regarding Vietnam’s labour export to the RoK, Ambassador Chi said there is a good possibility that a memorandum of understanding on receiving Vietnamese guest workers under the Employment Permit System (EPS) programme would be extended. Under the MoU, around 6,000 Vietnamese workers were sent to the RoK in 2014. He went on to say that there are now 60,000 Vietnamese brides in the RoK, most of whom enjoy happy marriage. However, he also recalled the murder of two Vietnamese brides in recent months, saying that the Vietnamese embassy had worked hard with involved offices of the RoK to deal with the problems and prevent similar cases. On the threshold of the traditional Tet (Lunar New Year) – the largest festival of Vietnamese, the 130,000-strong Vietnamese community in the RoK is busily preparing for the celebration, the ambassador said. He added that the embassy is also coordinating with the Overseas Vietnamese Association in holding Tet programmes at all big cities in the country. Vietnam, Algeria seek stronger partnership Vietnam and Algeria are eyeing increased future partnership, stated Vietnamese Ambassador to Algeria Vu The Hiep. The diplomat noted that over the past years, the two countries have experienced strengthened friendship and cooperation in all fields, while sharing a common viewpoint in almost all bilateral and international issues. Particularly, economic connections between the two sides have grown significantly, posting an annual average growth rate of 30 percent. In 2014, two-way trade reached 365 million USD, up 80 million USD from 2013, he noted. Currently, over 1,000 Vietnamese are working in Algeria while the BIR SEBA oil and gas joint venture of Vietnam, Algeria and Thailand is ready for commercial exploitation. The ambassador held that Vietnamese enterprises could explore investment opportunities offered by Algeria in infrastructure and housing, labour export, aquaculture, apparel and footwear, health care, pharmaceuticals, and tourism. Bilateral affiliation in culture, education, sports, and other areas have been promoted, he said. The diplomat emphasised that the warm sentiment that Algerian people gave to Vietnam, especially to late President Ho Chi Minh and General Vo Nguyen Giap, is an invaluable treasure of both countries. He stated that in the future, the two sides should better implement agreements reached during the 11th meeting of the Inter-Governmental Committee and the second political consultation and further improve the operation of the mechanisms. He pointed to the need to form new cooperative mechanisms, in particular those between the two parliaments, the ruling parties, and among ministries and localities. The diplomat also suggested the Vietnamese State encourage and support Vietnamese firms to invest more in Africa and Algeria, while reviewing signed cooperation agreements between the two countries for timely adjustments. NA Chairman makes New Year visit to broadcast agencies National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung visited national broadcasters Vietnam Television (VTV) and Radio The Voice of Vietnam (VOV) on February 13 on the occasion of the lunar New Year (Tet) and the International Broadcasting Day. VTV General Director Tran Binh Minh reviewed significant achievements and developments of the Government-run television agency. VTV currently has 54 subsidiaries and a total staff of more than 3,700. Chairman Hung urged VTV to accelerate the modernization of technology and production process and renovate programmes’ content to better carry out its political tasks in the international integration process. On the same day, the NA Chairman also visited VOV, which currently runs 6 radio channels, 2 TV channels, and programmes in 11 foreign languages and 12 ethnic languages. Chairman Hung noted that over the past 70 years, the VOV has grown very familiar to all Vietnamese and serving as the voice of the Party, the State and the people. The Chairman called at the headquarters of the newly-established TV channel of the National Assembly, where he sent Lunar New Year greetings to all National Assembly deputies, people, soldiers and voters nationwide via the channel.- Great potential for Vietnam-Australia cooperation Ambassador to Australia Luong Thanh Nghi has highlighted huge potential for Vietnam-Australia cooperation, noting that both sides need to maximize efforts to deepen their comprehensive partnership. In a recent media interview, the Vietnamese diplomat hailed the positive development of bilateral relations in politics, national defence-security, economics-trade-investment, and cross-cultural exchange. The two countries have maintained strong political trust, comparing notes on issues of mutual concern and outlining an action plan for the period 2015-2017. However, Nghi touched upon limitations in the bilateral ties including trade and investment levels still far below expectations. It is imperative to create a favourable business environment and loosen trade barriers and quarantine procedures for each other’s products, Nghi said. He also urged Australia to consider easing quarantine requirements for Vietnamese fresh and frozen shrimp, and speed up the approval for Vietnamese fresh lychee imports. The two countries still have differences in their viewpoints on democracy and human rights, the ambassador noted, adding that 11 rounds of talks over these issues have been conducted in a constructive, straightforward and understanding manner. He used the occasion to call on Australian politicians and researchers to visit Vietnam to get a better understanding of its human rights situation. The ambassador gave recommendations to foster the Vietnam-Australia ties by strengthening high-level exchange visits and effectively realising commitments in politics, security-defence, economics, science-technology, education, and training. Vietnam and Australia should promote coordination and mutual support at regional and global forums, such as the ASEAN Regional Forum, Asia-Europe Meeting, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, and the UN, Nghi said. VNA