Political News Headlines 18/4 NA committee discusses 2012 budget, casino business Members of the National Assembly Standing Committee on April 17 focused their discussions on reviewing the 2012 State budget balance and the issuance of a decree on casino business activities. They agreed with the Government’s report on the budget issue, saying that ministries, agencies and localities performed well in their budget collection, planning and spending. According to the Government report, budget revenue exceeded the estimates set by the NA by 1.9 percent, ensuring resources for State management, the implementation of socio-economic development goals and maintenance of defence and security. Budget expenditure totalled VND1,171 trillion (US$55.76 billion), 8.3 percent higher than the estimates. Regarding the casino business development, the committee members agreed with reports by the Government and the NA’s Finance-Budget Committee on the issuance of a decree on casino business activities. However, they noted that casino business development is a big issue that has great impact on the country’s socio-economic development and investment attraction, so it needs close management. New casino business projects are only licensed if the casino business development planning is approved, they said. National Assembly (NA) Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung has affirmed that the Vietnamese NA will do at its utmost to foster bilateral relations between At a reception for Edelgard Bulmahn, Vice President of the German Bundestag (parliament), in He said Vietnam-Germany investment cooperation remains modest and yet to match their potential. He proposed the German Bundestag encourage German businesses to invest in Hung hailed For her part, Edelgard spoke highly of the Vietnamese legislature’s recent adoption of the new Constitution to promote social progress and democracy. She proposed that the two countries’ parliaments support and foster bilateral relations in the future. She said the two countries should strengthen cooperation in energy and heavy industry which play to Vietnam-strategic partnership develops well The strategic partnership between The view was shared by Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Vinh and his Indian counterpart Anil Wadhwa, at the sixth political consultation and the third strategic dialogue of Both sides exchanged measures to effectively implement the 2013-2015 programme of action to strengthen the strategic partnership, primarily in key areas of politics, economics, security-defence, science-technology, and culture-education. They agreed to thoroughly prepare for the upcoming visit to They reached a consensus on a number of regional and global issues of mutual concern, including ensuring peace, stability, security and maritime safety in the Both sides agreed to work closely together at regional and international forums, notably the ASEAN-India cooperation, the East Asia Summit (EAS), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the Mekong-Ganga cooperation (MGC), as well as at the United Nations. Vinh and Wahwa agreed to hold the 7th political consultation and the fourth strategic dialogue in On this occasion, the Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies under the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam and the Vivekananda International Foundation of India signed an agreement on expanding research on strategic issues and exchanging scholars. Vietnamese Government Office officials visit Laos Prime Minister of Laos Thongsinh Thammavong received a delegation from the Vietnamese Government Office led by its Minister-Chairman Nguyen Van Nen on April 17. At the meeting in In 2015, the two sides will continue to increase the sharing of information, delegation exchanges, and personnel training and help upgrade the Lao Government’s website into a portal. The Lao leader valued progress in the cooperation between the two offices over the past time and thanked the Vietnamese Government Office for its support for the operation of its Lao counterpart. He also expressed his hope that the two offices will further enhance their connection and gradually raise the quality of their works, with the aim of building a modern administrative system to serve the development of each country. Condolences to RoK sunken vessel victims Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Hai Binh has extended Sewol, carrying 459 people, mostly school students and teachers, was travelling from Incheon port to the southern resort Sources say about 174 people have been rescued and more than 300 others remain unaccounted for. “We do hope that increased search and rescue efforts of the RoK government will help find those still missing,” said spokesperson Binh at a regular press briefing in Hanoi on April 17. Binh also said He called on parties concerned to refrain themselves from complicating the situation and causing losses to local people, and to hold peaceful dialogue to meet the legitimate interests of the parties and aspirations of the people. Ensuring legitimate rights of overseas Vietnamese Binh was responding to reporters’ queries at a regular press briefing in According to the 2008 Nationality Law, Overseas Vietnamese who want to acquire Vietnamese nationality must register with diplomatic representative agencies overseas as of July 1, 2014, or they will lose their legal status. However, only a few among 4.5 million Vietnamese residents overseas have completed the procedures. Binh quoted Relevant authorities are looking in to procedures to devise proper solutions to ensure legitimate rights and interests of Vietnamese residents overseas, Binh stressed. President meets with role model disabled President Truong Tan Sang had a meeting in Hanoi on April 17 with role model people with disabilities and the disabled people’s organisations on the occasion of the Vietnamese Day for People with Disabilities (April 18). The President confirmed that the Party and State always pay special attention to the disabled through concrete policies. Care for the disabled has been improved, however, there remain prejudices against them, hindering their efforts to integrate into the community, he said. President Sang asked relevant agencies and all people to continue taking care of those disadvantaged people. The Vietnam Disabled People’s Association has 17 member societies in provinces and cities nationwide. It has launched activities to raise public awareness on people with disabilities and given comments to the legal documents built for the disadvantaged people. Also on the occasion, a festival for visually-impaired people was held in the capital This year’s festival, the second of its kind, honoured ten outstanding blind individuals along with a cultural and sports exchange between city students and the blind. A job placement event was organised for the visually-impaired participants. The first festival was held in 2011.- Lawmakers become more involved in FTA negotiations The National Assembly (NA) Committee for External Relations and the US Agency for International Development on April 17 held a conference to provide information about Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) for NA deputies. Speaking at the Participants agreed that the connection between negotiators, NA deputies and businesses is an effective way to raise the efficiency of the negotiation process. Silvia Hernandez, former Tourism Minister of Participants also exchanged views on a new generation of FTAs, their influences on Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh said that a new-generation FTA, which is being pursued by the US and the European Union, does not limit trade to goods exchanges but expands to services, investment and intellectual property. Khanh also stressed the need for To date, The consensus was reached during talks between Chairman of the National Assembly Committee for Science, Technology and Environment Pham Xuan Dung and visiting Vice Chairman of Russia’s State Duma Committee on Energy Levchenko Sergey Georgievich in Georgievich, who is also President of the Both host and guest stressed the need to realise agreements reached in the past, and share professional experience through regular visits. They vowed to share expertise in law-making and monitoring major projects while devising the details of joint work in the coming time. Source: VNA/VOV/VNN |
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