20 cities and provinces join “Earth Hour” campaign

With a message “small action for a big change”, the Hanoi municipal People’s Committee asked the municipal Department for Electricity to switch off lights at a number of famous public places, such as Ngoc Son Temple , Turtle Tower , The Huc Bridge, the Hanoi Opera House and the West Lake . 

According to the National Electricity System Control Centre, Vietnam has saved 500,000 kWh after switching off the lights in the rush hour for using electricity, from 8.30 pm to 9.30 pm. In HCM City alone, 67,000 kWh was saved. 

The global campaign, which was initiated by the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF), started in Sydney , Australia in 2007. Since then, many countries around the world has participated in the campaign in a bid to minimise impacts of the climate change. 

Some 1 billion people from 4,000 cities and towns in 88 countries and territories worldwide joined the campaign this year, according to WWF.

Highland education organisation honoured

Hanoi (VNA) - The Highland Education Development Organisation (HEDO) and its Director were presented high distinctions at a ceremony to mark the organisation’s 20 th anniversary in Hanoi on Mar. 28.

HEDO, a domestic non-governmental organisation, got the Labour Order, third class, while Director Trinh Ngoc Trinh received the Labour Order, second class, by the State President for their outstanding contributions to developing education and improving health for people in disadvantaged areas of the country over the past 20 years.

Speaking at the ceremony, Trinh informed that HEDO has carried out over 200 programmes and projects, which benefited people in mountainous areas of 43 cities and provinces from northern region to the Central Highlands , as well as from central to southern regions. 

The organisation has become a bridge for solidarity, friendship, cooperation and development of Vietnamese ethnic minority groups and international friends, Trinh said.

Those projects helped build centre for illiteracy, provide equipment for vocational training centres and scholarship for pupils, students and teachers in mountainous areas to study in major education centres in the country and abroad.

HEDO has also invited foreign experts to Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Dong Nai, Tuyen Quang, Lao Cai and other localities to teach English.

The organisation gave much medial assistance to northern mountainous provinces and the Central Highlands. Through HEDO, many foreign medical organisations helped build medical stations and provided medical equipments to poor mountainous communes.

It also invited doctors and experts from the US , the UK and Singapore to Vietnam to share experiences to health workers in those disadvantaged areas and send hundreds of them abroad for training.

Besides, HEDO has helped farmers in those areas apply science and technology into production。

Party elites complete draft documents, personnel for 11th congress

Hanoi (VNA) – The 12 th meeting of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC) (tenth tenure) wrapped up in Hanoi on March 28 with completion and fundamental preparations of draft documents and personnel issues for the Party’s 11 th Congress.

Closing the meeting, Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh said the contents discussed and decided at this CPVCC meeting bear an extremely importance, showing the completion and fundamental preparation of draft documents to be made public to garner opinions from party congresses at all levels and of the National Assembly as well as from the public before being submitted to the 11 th National Party Congress slated for January 2011.

Affirming “the political platform is the combating flag of the Party”, the Party Chief emphasized that “the context of international arena and the revolutionary reality in Vietnam have required our party to maintain set orientations and at the same time supplementing and developing the 1991 Platform to fit requirements for the country’s development in the new period.”

According to the platform, by the end of the transitional period to socialism, the country would have to gain an overall goal of building fundamental socialist economic establishments with a developed and proper cultural, ideological and political superstructure, thus creating a foundation to turn the country into a prosperous socialist republic.

From now to the middle of the 21 st century, the entire Party and the entire people should spare no effort to build Vietnam as a socialist-oriented modern industrialised country, the Party Chief said.

Underlining the nation’s great and enormous achievements recorded after a decade of implementing the 2001-2010 socio-economic development strategy, Manh reflected the viewpoints of the 2011-2020 development strategy.

The viewpoints look forward achieving fast growth combined with sustainability, promoting sustainable development as the mainstream of the strategy and in the course of implementing the strategy, undertaking economic and politic renewals uniformly and appropriately for the goal of building a strong socialist republic of Vietnam with rich people and a democratic, just and civilised society.

The 2011-2020 strategy sets forth a general goal that by 2020, Vietnam will basically become a modern industralised country with stable, consensus, democratic and disciplined politics and society.

By 2020, the material and spiritual life of the people are set to be further improved, the country’s independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity be maintained, and the nation’s position and prestige in the international arena be continued to heighten, thus creating a solid premise for the country to advance to a higher development stage in the coming time. 

Apart from devising the goals, the strategy also outlines a system of norms and specific targets and also defines development orientations.

In his closing speech, Party General Secretary Manh also mentioned the Party’s political report to be delivered at its 11 th congress. The report has the theme “Continuing to strengthen the Party’s leadership and combative capacity, promoting the aggregate strength of the entire nation, stepping up the renovation comprehensively, and creating a foundation for the country to become a modern industralised country by 2020”.

The report defines overall goals for the country in the 2011-2015 period, setting to continue to step up the renovation; raise the Party’s leadership and combative capacity; build a strong and pure political system; promote democracy and the entire people’s great unity; develop economy in a fast and sustainable manner; further improve the people’s living conditions in terms of materials and spirit; maintain socio-political stability; enrich external activities; defend firmly national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity; and provide a foundation for the country to become a modern industrialised one by 2020. 

To achieve the defined overall goal, the Party Chief underlined the main tasks that the entire nation needs to do, entailing stabilising the macro-economy, reforming the growth model and economic structure, improving the quality and effectiveness of sustainable development, mobilising and using effectively all resources, step by step developing a modern infrastructural structure, and continuing to perfect the socialist-orientated market economic institution.

He also referred to the need to develop and raise the quality of education and training as well as the quality of human resources, promote the development of science, technology and knowledge-based economy.

The entire country should work to make obvious changes in social advancement and fairness, continue to reduce poor households, improve healthcare services for the people, preserve and promote the nation’s age-old good cultural values, protect the environment, take the initiative in preventing and countering national disasters and dealing with climate change, the Party Chief said.

He underlined the must to intensify the national defence and security strength and power; maintain socio-political stability, independence, sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, and ensure social order and security; deter and foil all schemes and plots of hostile forces; expand and heighten the effectiveness of external affairs and international integration.

Party General Secretary Manh pointed to the need to continue promoting democracy and the national great unity, perfecting and enhancing the effect and effectiveness of the operation of the socialist law-governed state, renewing and improving the operational effectiveness of the National Assembly, the Government, and local administrations, boosting administrative and judicial reforms, carrying out the fight against bureaucracy, corruption and wastefulness efficiently, and renewing and raising the quality of the operation of the Fatherland Front and mass organisations.

He emphasised the necessity to step up the building and strengthening of the Party in terms of politics, ideology and organisation, gradually “learn and follow the moral example of Ho Chi Minh”, enhance the Party’s leadership and combative capacity, build a pure and strong Party, raise the quality of Party members and officials, and continue to renew the Party’s leadership modes.

The General Secretary underlined that reviewing the implementation of the Party Statute is important and necessary for the cause of building the Party’s organisation in general. The CPV is the ruling party, building and strengthening its organisations from the central to grassroots levels must be associated with the process of building and strengthening the new regime’s political system under the leadership of the Party. The review process will help trace what provisions of the Statute should be revised and amended in conformity with the development process and the Party’s leadership tasks in the new period.

Regarding the personnel work for the CPVCC 11 th tenure, General Secretary Manh stressed how to build the 11 th CPVCC capable of fulfilling tasks in the new revolutionary period is a core issue of building the party. 

The process of nominating personnel for the Central Committee is important and needs to be conducted in a scientific manner to ensure democracy, accuracy, objectivity and responsibility. 

Highlighting the importance of the year 2010, General Secretary Manh called on the entire Party, people and army to bring into play the obtained achievements, seize opportunities, overcome difficulties, strengthen unity and unanimity in ideology and actions and exert efforts to fulfill the targets set out in the plan.-Enditem

State leader praises Treasury’s performance

Hanoi (VNA) – The State Treasury has made important contributions to helping the country overcome the economic crisis last year, said State President Nguyen Minh Triet while lauding the agency’s performance over the past years. 

Triet delivered his remarks on March 28 during his working visit to the Treasury on the occasion of its 20 th anniversary. 

The State Treasury has not only managed well the state budget but also implemented well its function of mobilising capital for development investment through issuing the government bonds, Triet said. 

However, the state leader urged the State Treasury to overcome its weaknesses and timely propose proper options and policies for sustainable development of the country’s economy. 

The State Treasury is working with taxation and customs authorities in a scheme to reform methods of tax payment, said State Treasury Director General Nguyen Thi Nhon, adding that organisations and individuals will step by step pay taxes through the country’s banking system in stead of directly at the agency’s offices as present. 

The State Treasury has so far mobilised a total capital of 350 trillion VND from the sale of government bonds, helping balancing the state budget.

Vietnam boosts trade cooperation with China’s city

Hong Kong (VNA) – A trade fair and an investment promotion forum to boost economic ties between Zhongshan city, Guangdong province of China , and Vietnamese businesses is being held in Zhongshan from Mar. 28-30.

Over 100 Vietnamese businesses are displaying their products at the event, which is part of celebrations of the 60 th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and China .

Addressing the opening ceremony, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien said that in the circumstances of economic, trade and investment cooperation between Vietnam and Zhongshan and Guangdong in particular, and China in general, is strongly developing, the event serves as an important bridge to strengthening friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

Zhongshan city obtained many achievements in development of modern services and advanced manufacturing industry in recent years. Relations between the city and Vietnam also saw enhancement in the same time.

Last October, a fair-cum-conference on economic and trade cooperation with Zhongshan’s products took place in Hanoi with contracts signed during the event valued at 1.82 billion USD.

New domestic air route to Mekong delta launched

Can Tho city (VNA) - The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines on Mar. 28 launched a new air route from Ho Chi Minh City to the Mekong delta city of Can Tho and the southern resort island of Phu Quoc and vice versa.

The first flight of the route was carried out on ATR-72 plane.

The HCM City-Can Tho-Phu Quoc flights will serve passengers every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

Vietnam Airlines offers passengers to the newly-open route with a discount price of 304,000 VND (18 USD) for each section (from HCM City to Can Tho, Can Tho to Phu Quoc and vice versa) till May 30.

This was Vietnam Airlines’ 31 st domestic air route and the third one to the Mekong delta region.

In recent years, demands for travelling from Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho increased sharply. The airlines expects that along with the Hanoi-Can Tho route, the new air route would help bring passengers to Can Tho and other Mekong delta provinces, even to Phu Quoc, the country’s largest resort island, off shore Kien Giang province.

In the first quarter of this year, Vietnam Airlines opened five new domestic and international air routes and is actively making preparations to join the global airline alliance Skyteam in June.