The 14th meeting of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC), 10th tenure, closed in Hanoi on December 22, following 10 days of sitting.

Vietnam has successfully defended its national report on the implementation of human rights under the Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Councils, which has earned international plaudits.

On December 22, Chairman of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO) Vu Xuan Hong presented the Friendship Order, the Vietnamese State’s highest decoration, to Mr Ramesh Singh, former General Director of ActionAid International organisation in Vietnam.

2010 is a successful year of Vietnam’s National defence work, said Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, Deputy Minister of National Defence, at an interview granted to VOV on the 66th anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army (December 22).

Vietnam’s Anti-Corruption Initiative programme for 2011 was introduced at a seminar in Hanoi on December 21.

After the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) removed tra fish from the Red List, Vietnam’s tra breeders have to decide whether to apply the WWF’s Aquatic Stewardship Council (ASC) standards or not.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on December 21 held a reception for Thai ambassador Pisanu Chanvitan who ended his term of office in Vietnam.

A seminar on Vietnam-Republic of Korea (RoK) strategic partnership, RoK-ASEAN: opportunities and challenges was held in Hanoi on December 21.

The Speaker of the Indonesia People’s Consultative Assembly (MDR), Taufiq Kiemas left Hanoi on December 21, concluding their three-day official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Phu Trong.

Fredrick Brown, a scholar from the Foreign Policy Institute under Johns Hopkins University, has affirmed that the listing of Vietnam as one of countries of particular concern in terms of religious freedom is not useful and beneficial.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on December 20 received in Hanoi Nakamura Hirohiko, President of the Special Committee on Official Development Assistance (ODA) of the National Diet of Japan.

A ceremony was held at a cemetery in Ha Tien town, southern Kien Giang province, on Dec. 20 to bury the remains of 109 Vietnamese volunteer soldiers and experts who had died in Cambodia.

The seventh meeting of the Vietnam- RoK Sub-Committee for Energy and Mineral Cooperation was held by the Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) in collaboration with the Republic Korea’s Ministry of Knowledge Economy in Hanoi on December 20.

The 50th anniversary of the National Liberation Front (NLF) of South Vietnam was celebrated in HCM City on December 20 by the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF)’s Central Committee and the HCM City’s administration.

Vietnam and Indonesia are resolved to foster and further develop their traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation, especially in legislation.

The Party, State and people of Vietnam have always acknowledged the great contributions of the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam, the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam and the alliance of Vietnamese pro-nation, democracy and peace forces.

The Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on December 18 that the H.Res. 20 resolution adopted by the US House of Representatives on December 17 is not objective and does not reflect current realities in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese delegation to the 17th World Festival of Youth and Students held a ‘Vietnam Day’ and a conference on December 18 to introduce the role of the Vietnamese youth in building and defending their socialist nation.

The Lao province of Khammouane wants to expand cooperation with southern Vietnamese localities, particularly Ho Chi Minh City.

A friendship meeting between Vietnamese and Chinese women was held in Beijing on December 17 to mark the 60th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties.

State President Nguyen Minh Triet on December 17 sent messages of condolence to his Venezuelan and Colombian counterparts Hugo Chavez and Juan Manuel Santos over the recent natural disasters in the two southern American countries.

A presentation day was held in Riazan province of Russia on December 16 to introduce Vietnam’s potential for economic investment in trade and tourism.

BlomInfo A/S of Denmark has won the bid to produce a new set of maps of the national border between Vietnam and Cambodia.

Cooperation between the parliaments of Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) will be further strengthened through important development steps, said National Assembly Vice Chairwoman Tong Thi Phong while receiving her RoK counterpart Chung Ui-hwa in Hanoi on December 17.

A high-ranking delegation of the Mongolian Parliament, led by its Chairman Demberel Damdin, left Hanoi on December 17 after concluding its official visit to Vietnam.

A National Assembly delegation, led by Nguyen Van Thuan, Head of the Committee for Legal Affairs, has finished its official visit to Egypt to learn about Egypt’s legal system and the administration of judicial agencies.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs opened a two-day international seminar in Ho Chi Minh City on December 17 to promote the Master Plan for ASEAN Connectivity.

A Vietnamese National Assembly delegation led by Dr. Ngo Duc Manh, deputy head of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the National Assembly paid a working visit to Thailand on December 13-16.

A meeting was held at the Vietnamese Embassy in Moscow on December 16 to introduce Ryazan province’s economic and investment potential.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Middle East need to increase cooperation in foods and energy, said Deputy Foreign Minister Doan Xuan Hung at the third Asia-Middle East Dialogue Ministerial Meeting (AMED III) in Bangkok on December 15-16.