The judicial agencies should be well-equipped with strong staff and a sound legal system to meet their duties when the country enters a new phase of development and further integration.

Vietnam should obtain a GDP growth rate of 8.5 percent, accelerate administrative reform and intensify the fight against corruption in 2007, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said at the regular Cabinet meeting in Hanoi on December 26-27.

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa has praised Vietnam’s achievements in recent years and considered Vietnam a model for developing countries like Sri Lanka to follow.

State President Nguyen Minh Triet has asked the Presidential Office to renew its organisation and operation, increase the number of researchers and pay attention to personnel training to perfect its performance.

The National Assembly Committee for Ethnic Minorities will focus on building the Ethnic Minorities bill and a comprehensive development scheme for ethnic minorities in the northwestern, Central Highlands and Mekong delta regions for the 2010-2020 period.

The Special Working Boards (SWBs) of the Vietnamese and Lao Governments met on December 25 in Vientiane to discuss their continued cooperation in seeking and repatriating the remains of Vietnamese voluntary soldiers who died in Laos during the war.

Vietnam and Cambodia should maintain and promote comprehensive cooperation in all areas to develop their common borderline into an area of political and security stability and prosperity thus meeting the aspiration of the people living along the borderline and contributing to bilateral relations.

A meeting to discuss mass mobilisation in nine north-western provinces in 2006 was held in north western Son La province on December 25.

A plan for information and culture cooperation in the 2007-08 period was signed by Vietnamese Minister of Culture and Information Le Doan Hop and Lao Minister of Information and Culture Mounkeo Olaboune.

President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Pham The Duyet has expressed his wish that Catholic dignitaries would further encourage believers to join in the country's activities to uphold the power of national unity.

Two large Protestant sects in Ho Chi Minh City - the Vietnam Seventh-Day Adventist Church and the Vietnam Grace Baptist Church - have officially received certificates of religious practice.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on December 23 ordered the construction of the Vung Ang 1 thermal power plant in Vung Ang open economic zone in Ky Anh district, Ha Tinh province.

State President Nguyen Minh Triet on December 22 told local authorities in the central province of Ninh Thuan to focus on improving the living conditions for ethnic minorities and people living in mountainous areas.

US Chargé d'Affaires in Vietnam Jonathan M. Aloisi has praised the Vietnamese Government’s anti-corruption efforts and said the US is ready to help Vietnam in this field.

Lao Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh has expressed thanks to the Party, Government and people of Vietnam for their effective assistance in many areas, including information and culture, to his country.

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong visited the High Command of Border Guard on December 21 to mark the 60th anniversary of the National Resistance Day, the 62nd anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army and the 17th anniversary of All- People Defence Day.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Dung on December 21 welcomed the signing of permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) legislation for Vietnam by US President George W. Bush, marking full normalisation of the relations between Vietnam and the US.

Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Phu Trong has asked southern Ba Ria - Vung Tau province to draw up a marine-based economy development strategy and develop the service sector during a working session with provincial authorities on December 21.

Nguyen The Doanh, deputy head of the Standing Board of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs, has extended Xmas greetings to Catholics and Protestants during a visit to the General Confederation of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (North) on December 21.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his entourage left the Thai Royal Air Force Airport in Bangkok, Thailand and return to Hanoi on the morning of December 21, successfully concluding his official visits to the three countries of Cambodia, Laos and Thailand from December 18-21.

There're amazing changes taking place in Vietnam as the economy has opened up and the country is demonstrating a strong commitment to economic reform, said US President George W. Bush.

The National Defence Academy has done its best to accomplish all assigned tasks, making great contributions to the military development, as well as national construction and defense over the past 30 years, said Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh.

The two sides have agreed to continue increasing their economic and trade cooperation to fully exploit the two countries' potential and achieve the set target for US$5 billion in two-way trade in several years to come.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has emaphasised Vietnam's consistent policy of attaching great importance to developing relations with neighbouring countries, including Cambodia, in the interest of the people of each nation and in the sake of peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

Four new laws on Vietnamese working abroad, amendments and supplements to a number of articles of the Labour Code, residence and vocational training were made public at a press briefing held by the President's Office on December 20.

National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong has expressed satisfaction at efficient operations by the Phu My Gas, Electricity and Fertilizer Factory in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on December 20 attended the inauguration of a friendship bridge over the Mekong River linking Laos and Thailand, which is expected to promote economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries as well as others in the region.

“Over the past 25 years, although US veterans who participated in the war in Vietnam have caused many sufferings for Vietnamese people, we are warmly welcomed each time we visit Vietnam. This makes us feel moved,” said chairman of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) Bobby Muller during a meeting with VOVNews on December 20.

Vice Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City Fatherland Front Vo Thi Dung has assured Catholics and Protestants of its continued efforts to create good conditions for religious practice.

Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Phu Trong on December 19 paid a working visit to the Quang Trung Software Park, an emerging information technology (IT) centre in the southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City.