Government News 29/7 UK Prime Minister David Cameron pays official visit to Vietnam At the invitation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland David Cameron has commenced an official visit to Vietnam. The UK Prime Minister is accompanied by Downing Street Chief of Staff Edward Llewellyn, National Security Adviser Kim Darroch, British Ambassador to Vietnam Giles Lever, Minister of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Hugo Swire, Minister of State for Trade and Investment Francis Maude, Foreign Affairs Assistant to the Prime Minister Jack Fitzgerald and many other senior officials. David Cameron was born on October 9, 1966 in London. He studied at Eton College before graduating from Oxford University with a first class degree in politics, philosophy and economics. He was elected as the Conservative MP for Witney in West Oxfordshire in 2001 and was a member of the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee from 2001 to 2003.David Cameron became Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party from 2003 to 2004. Later, he was appointed Front Bench Spokesman for Local Government Finance before becoming Head of Policy Coordination in the run-up to the 2005 General Election. He was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Skills after the 2005 General Election and later that year, in December, he was elected Leader of the Conservative Party. He became Prime Minister in May 2010 and was re-elected in May 2015. David Cameron is married with three children. President urges improved civil judgment enforcement and judicial reform President Truong Tan Sang on July 28 worked with the Party Committee of the Ministry of Justice to review civil judgment enforcement and judicial reform in enforcement agencies over the past nine months. As reported by the Ministry of Justice, from October, 2014 to June, 2015, the civil judgment enforcement system settled nearly 355,000 cases, collecting over VND31 trillion in fines. However, shortcomings and limitations still remain in civil judgment enforcement work due to the lack of management mechanisms on the assets of cadres, civil servants, and citizens. Speaking at the session, President Truong Tan Sang who is also Head of the Central Steering Committee on Judicial Reform highlighted that cash dominance in market transactions posed a challenge to monitoring organisational and individual assets. He hailed the judicial sector’s drafting of the bill on auctions and its proposal of the law on property registration and bailiffs as important steps towards transparency and asset identification for judgment enforcement. President Sang called for more research into developed countries’ models of property registration and asset attachment to ensure successful judgment enforcement. The State leader also urged closer co-ordination among enforcement agencies and relevant agencies, sectors and localities in order to improve judgment enforcement and judicial reform. Vietnam accelerates nuclear power development Vietnam has completed the necessary legal framework to push forward the application of atomic energy to develop nuclear power, furthering socio-economic development. The Atomic Energy Law issued in 2008 regulates the establishment of the Vietnam Agency for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (VARANS) that will be in charge of atomic energy safety management, including radiation waste and used nuclear fuels. In a bid to implement the Law, the Ministry of Science and Technology promulgated a circular specifying the principals to manage radiation waste. Regulations were issued on 2014 on financial obligations of organisations owning nuclear power plants which include funding for radiation waste treatment. The Prime Minister also ratified an overall plan for radioactive waste storage and disposal sites by 2030. VARANS Director General Vuong Huu Tan said that warehouse construction for low-level radiation waste disposal will be implemented in six years, starting from 2015, saying that the warehouse will become operational in 2020, tackling radioactive waste from the first nuclear power plants. He highlighted that policies on used nuclear fuel treatment and sites for the permanent burying of high-level nuclear waste will be mapped out from 2030-2050. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vietnam needs to build additional legal documents such as strategies for high-level nuclear waste and used fuel management as well as technical standards on radiation waste treatment. Parties work to tighten Vietnam-Mexico ties There is enormous cooperation potential between the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and the Mexican Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) which could propel the two countries’ collaborative ties forward. Secretary for External Relations of the PRI Javier Vega Camamarrgo, who is on a working visit to Vietnam from July 25-29, told the press that once the two parties create a cooperation mechanism, it will positively enhance Vietnam-Mexico cultural and economic relations. He added that the PRI could learn from the CPV’s experience in stabilising the country and ensuring social welfare and security for the people. The PRI has experience in personnel training and sees opportunities for bilateral cooperation in the field after working with officials from the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and Public Administration, he said. Camamarrgo proposed young cadres of the two countries promote exchanges to enhance their leadership. The official said he has heard a great deal about Vietnam through his colleagues and friends who were former Vietnamese Ambassadors to Mexico. Camamarrgo said he has witnessed incredible things in the Southeast Asian country during his current working visit and he would share his favourite memories with his friends. He also expressed interest in returning to Vietnam in the near future. President Sang meets outstanding trade union members President Truong Tan Sang met with 70 outstanding members of trade unions within the Ministries of Public Security and National Defence in Hanoi on July 28. The event took place on the occasion of the 86th founding anniversary of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (July 28). President Sang spoke highly of the roles of trade unions at all levels in patriotic emulation campaigns and the initiative to study and follow the moral example of President Ho Chi Minh in practical activities. He called for more publicity campaigns to introduce the models to all levels and sectors, adding that their efforts have contributed to sector achievements in building and protecting the nation. Over the past five years, the Ministry of National Defence’s trade union has implemented 16,850 innovation projects, contributing nearly three trillion VND (nearly 140.2 million USD) to the state budget. The Ministry of Public Security’s trade union has also developed more than 360 initiatives in production, generating dozens of billions of VND. The Vietnam General Confederation of Labour currently has more than 8 million members. Vietnam, Laos hold friendly exchange A friendly Vietnam-Laos exchange is underway in the Lao province of Khammouane and the central province of Nghe An from July 25-29 with Party and Government officials taking part. The event is to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the August Revolution (August 19) and National Day (September 2) as well as the 40th anniversary of the Lao National Day (December 2) towards the National Party Congress of each country. Attending the event were Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Thoonglun Sisulith, Head of the Lao Party Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations Sunthon Saynhachac and his Vietnamese counterpart Hoang Binh Quan together with leaders of Nghe An and Khammouane provinces. Participants engaged in sharing experiences and sports and music performances. On the occasion, they also paid tribute to the late Presidents Ho Chi Minh and Kaysone Phomvihane at their relic sites in Khammouane, visited the Ho Chi Minh monument in Nghe An and presented gifts to war invalids and martyrs in the two provinces. Life of Hugo Chavez featured at seminar in Hanoi A seminar on the life and career of late Venezuelan Commander-in-Chief Hugo Chavez Frias was held in Hanoi on July 28 on the occasion of his 61 st birth anniversary. Venezuelan Ambassador Jorge Rondon Uzcategui reminisced about the life and political career of Hugo Chavez, who founded the Revolutionary Bolivarian Movement in his youth in the early 1980s and became President of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013. In his speech, Associate Professor Nguyen An Ninh from the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and Public Administration, said Hugo Chavez himself initiated and materialised a new socialism model of the 21 st century, an administration of the people and a new internationalism in Latin America. Chavez appeared in public as a statesman, a political leader, a soldier ready to fight for the nation and one of the greatest thinkers of all time, he said. The seminar closed with the screening of a 40-minute documentary “Hugo-my friend” by well-known American director Oliver Stone. The film portrays the simple life of the Venezuelan leader through narratives of his close associates. The seminar was co-hosted by the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations and the Venezuelan Embassy in Hanoi, attracting representatives from the Party Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations, the Foreign Ministry and students from Hanoi University.- Southwest religious officials praised Leaders of the Steering Committee for the Southwest Region praised the efforts of officials in charge of religious affairs from regional localities in advising the Party and State on religious policies, enhancing the efficiency of State management in the field. In recent years, officials have significantly contributed to encouraging religions to engage in national defence and construction, said Duong Quoc Xuan, Deputy Head of the committee at a meeting in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho to mark the 60th anniversary of State management of religion. Xuan noted that the implementation of religious policies in the region have been on the right track. Regional localities have created favourable conditions for religious organisations to operate in line with the law while guiding followers to adhere to registered programmes and handle their requests on religious activities and the building and upgrade of worship facilities, he added. He also expressed delight that all major events of various religions in the region have been held in conformity with the law. The southwest region, covering 13 Mekong Delta localities, is home to a diversity of religions, including Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, the Cao Dai Church, Hoa Hao Church and Islam. Together with 4,646 worship facilities, the region has over 11,000 religious dignitaries and 6 million followers, accounting for 30 percent of the total population.- Conference promotes coordination in religious work Measures to improve the efficiency of religious works in the remaining months of this year towards ensuring the implementation of Party and State policies in the field were discussed during a conference in Hanoi on July 28. The event reviewed coordination between the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front with its local chapters and relevant agencies in the two first quarters of the year, which recorded positive results. During the period, the popularisation of Party and State regulations and policies on religion and belief were intensified. The agencies worked closely to look after community living conditions while reviewing proposals and meeting the demands of religious organisations and individuals. Patriotic movements in religious communities were encouraged and the VFF teamed up with State agencies to resolve arising issues concerning religion as well as contributed its opinions to the draft Law on Religion and Belief. The conference heard that religious dignitaries and followers felt the Party and State’s policy of respecting the freedom of religious beliefs was successfully implemented. Religious activities and the training and appointment of religious dignitaries received due attention. However, the coordination also showed a number of limitations and shortcomings in sharing information and dealing with arising issues. In the remaining months of the year, the VFF, its local chapters and central authorities will further enhance coordination to implement a Politburo project on promoting unity among religions in the country and renovating the VFF’s religious efforts. They will also work together to enhance dialogue with religious communities and collect feedbacks, recommendations and opinions to timely report to the Party and State, while engaging in policy making process in order to promote the role of religious organisations in social activities. The VFF and its member organisations signed a programme with the Vietnam Episcopal Council to promote patriotic movements and humanitarian activities in the community, especially in areas of high religious concentrations. They will also work together to protect human rights and prevent religion-related human rights abuses. Vietnam is home to many religions and beliefs whose followers are working with a strong patriotic spirit. The main religions in Vietnam include Buddhism with 6.8 million followers, Catholicism (5.7 million), Hoa Hao (1.4 million), Cao Dai (808,000), Protestantism (734,000), Islam (73,000) and Brahmanism (56,000). VNA