The Party and State always create the best possible conditions for Vietnamese nationals abroad to live a stable life, preserve traditional cultural identity and turn their hearts and minds to the homeland.

National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong made a fact-finding tour of the north-central province of Thanh Hoa on January 8-10 to explore its development models and prepare draft reports for submission to the upcoming National Party Congress.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has asked localities lying in the site of the Son La hydro-electric power plant to hasten the relocation of those people who have given up land for the plant.

The Prime Minister has approved an adjusted master plan for Ho Chi Minh City through 2025 to develop it into a special municipality – an international exchange centre and an industrial and multi-modal service centre for the southern region and Southeast Asia.

Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh has asked the Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU) and its chapters across the country to increase their operational efficiency to make their exemplary role model campaigns more practical. 

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will pay an official visit to Vietnam from January 12-15.

A meeting was held in Hanoi on January 8 by the Military Strategy Institute under the Ministry of National Defense to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its establishment and receive the State’s National Protection Order, first class.

State President Nguyen Minh Triet has urged the Central Highland province of Dak Nong to make full use of its potential in land, agriculture, mineral resources and favourable location for transport and trade.

Vietnam attaches great importance to developing relations with traditional friends, including Mongolia, said Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh while receiving his Mongolian counterpart Ukhnaa Khurelsukh in Hanoi on January 7.

Vietnam will work closely with other ASEAN member countries to fulfil its duties as the chair of the regional grouping in 2010, says Deputy Foreign Minister Dao Viet Trung.

In 2010 the government will continue to introduce solutions to maintain macro-economic stability and achieve a higher GDP growth rate than in 2008, says Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Defence on January 6 inaugurated and handed over a five-storey building complex to its Laotian counterpart at the Kaysone Phomvihane Defence Academy in Laos.

State President Nguyen Minh Triet has asked the Nhan Co Alumin Joint Stock Company and functional agencies to get real on the environmental cost of bauxite exploitation projects and seek measures to protect the environment.  

The President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee, Huynh Dam, received a delegation of the India-Vietnam Solidarity Committee led by its president Geetesh Sharma in Hanoi on January 7.

Vietnam just has taken over the Chairmanship of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR) to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) from Thailand.

The Chinese Communist Party and Government always attach great importance to developing friendship and cooperative relations with Vietnam, stated Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Sun Quoqiang at a press conference in Hanoi on January 6.

Officials working in information dissemination and education should keep abreast of the reality and constantly update their working methods to meet new requirements in the coming years, said a senior Party official.

Speaker of the Finnish Parliament Sauli Niinisto will pay a friendship visit to Vietnam from January 10-13, according to the National Assembly External Relations Committee.

The first Congress of Ethnic Minority Groups in the Central Highland province of Dak Lak took place on January 6, drawing 353 delegates representing 40 ethnic minority groups in the province.

The southern province of Binh Phuoc should boost industry, services and trade to develop the household economy and raise local living standards, said State President Nguyen Minh Triet.

This year the government will give priority to stabilising the country’s macro economy, boosting economic growth and keeping inflation and trade deficit in check, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at a monthly cabinet meeting in Hanoi on January 5.

The second international conference on Vietnamese literature to the world opened at the My Dinh National Convention Centre in Hanoi on January 5.

The Republic of Korea’s naval ship Dae Yeong arrived in HCM City on January 5, beginning a four-day friendly visit to the city.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked all ministries, sectors and localities across the country to fulfill their export targets set by the National Assembly to keep the trade deficit rate at less than 20 percent in 2010.

Vietnam always exercises dharma towards Buddhist women in the world, said Buddhist nun Karma Lekshe Tsomo, President of the the Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women at a meeting with leaders from HCM City on January 4.  

In recent years, France has experienced many changes in various fields, economic, political and social, which have a great impact on its relations with other countries, including Vietnam.

A Foreign Ministry Spokesperson has condemned China’s plan for tourist development on the Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago as a violation to Vietnam’s sovereignty.

Da Nang will host three ASEAN ministerial meetings on January 13-14, opening a series of activities in 2010 as Vietnam assumes ASEAN chair.

National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong was elected as Head of the National Steering Board of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA)-31, which made its debut in Hanoi on January 4.

Cadres holding key positions should be exemplary models in the campaign “ To study and follow late President Ho Chi Minh’s moral example”, said Party leader Nong Duc Manh.