The National Committee for ASEAN 2010 held its eighth session in Hanoi on October 21 to review Vietnam’s ASEAN presidency and prepare for the 17th ASEAN Summit and related summits that will take place in Hanoi from October 28-30.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on October 21 received the Minister of Gender Equality and Family of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Paik Hee Young in Hanoi.

Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III will pay a state visit to Vietnam on October 26-27.

A Vietnamese delegation led by State Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan attends the 13th Francophone Summit in Montreux, Switzerland, from October 22-24.

It is essential to turn Thai Nguyen province into a modern industrial province by 2020, said Party leader Nong Duc Manh at the 18th Congress of the provincial Party Committee (2010-2015 tenure) that opened on October 21.

Vietnam will grow rapidly in the next few years, the President of the US Council on Foreign Relations, Richard N. Haass, said at a meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Hanoi on October 21.

The central city of Da Nang is striving to become a hi-tech city by 2015 with IT human resource growth of 5-10 percent and the number of software businesses increasing by 30 percent.

The 2010 conference of the ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organisations (CAFEO 28) will be held in Hanoi from November 30 – December 4.

The Party always attaches great importance to promoting women’s roles in the country’s modernisation and industrialisation process as well as in national defence and construction.

Vietnam wants to join with Cuba in exploring new and effective methods of cooperation to benefit their people, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has said.

The 14th General Assembly of the ASEAN Confederation of Women’s Organisations (ACWO) closed in Hanoi on October 20 after adopting a resolution for the 2010-2012 period.

The Vietnam Communist Party, State, mass organisations, and families are responsible for the women’s liberation movement.

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong on October 20 met with Guo Shengkun, Secretary of the Communist Party of China Committee of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

The 17th ASEAN Summit, scheduled to take place in Hanoi from October 28-30, will review the bloc’s achievements in 2010 and discuss measures to promote cooperation with ASEAN partners in 2011. 

The eighth session of the 12th National Assembly (NA) opened in Hanoi on October 20, with Party and State leaders, revolutionary veterans, international guests and more than 400 NA deputies taking part.

More than 44.6 percent of online survey respondents said that administrative procedures relating to land use rights certificates was the most annoying issue, announced the UNDP and e-newspaper VietNamNet at a press briefing in Hanoi on Oct. 19.

Belarus is interested in enhancing its bilateral and multilateral relationships with Vietnam and wants Vietnam to provide support and act as a bridge for Belarus to promote ties with other ASEAN nations, affirmed Chairman of the Belarusian House of Representatives Vladimir Andreichenko.

National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong has praised the army-run newspaper, Quan doi Nhan dan (People’s Army), for enthusiastically contributing to promoting patriotism and the spirit of national unity, as well as solidifying trust among officers, Party members, the entire army and people over the past 60 years.

The Tuyen Quang provincial Party Committee needs to devise specific measures to shed its status as an underdeveloped and poor province, said Party leader Nong Duc Manh at the province’s XVth Party Congress (2010-2015 tenure) that began on October 19.

The south-central province of Ninh Thuan has set the target of fast but sustainable economic growth by 2020 to become one of the top 20 provinces with the highest GDP growth rates.

Concrete steps for regional cooperation in forming a common ASEAN method of compiling statistics by 2015 will be the focus of a meeting of the heads of ASEAN statistics departments, in Hanoi on October 7-9.

Deputies to the 12th National Assembly will discuss draft documents to be presented to the Party’s XIth National Congress and hear the Government’s report on Vinashin’s post-debt crisis management at their eighth session due to start on October 20.

A high-ranking delegation of the Defence Ministry of Vietnam, headed by Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Huy Hieu, is on a three-day visit to Romania from October 18.

The Vietnam Union of Friendship Associations (VUFO) on October 18 presented the insignia, “For peace and friendship among nations” to the outgoing Ambassador of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Ma Chol Su.

Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh has sent a dispatch to condole with flood victims and provide guidance for coping with natural disasters in provinces from Nghe An to Thua Thien-Hue.

348 delegates representing Party members in An Giang attended the 9th congress of the provincial Party Committee on October 18 in the presence of State President Nguyen Minh Triet.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has issued a decision to upgrade Thai Nguyen City to a first-tier city, affiliated to Thai Nguyen province, a milestone in its 48-year growth and development.

A Vietnamese delegation led by Vice State President Nguyen Thi Doan left Hanoi on the evening of October 16 for an official visit to Bulgaria from October 16-21 and attending the 13th Francophone Summit in Montreux, Switzerland. 

The Central Office of the Communist Party of Vietnam, which plays an important role in the Party’s leadership, has celebrated its 80th birthday in Hanoi.

State President Nguyen Minh Triet met with voters in HCM City on October 16 to inform them of the agenda of the 8th session of the 12th National Assembly.