The Steering Committee of the North-western region held a ceremony on August 23 to celebrate five years of its establishment and receive the Labour Order, third class.

Dong Thap province lies in the heart of the Mekong Delta region and is an attractive destination with a great potential for development of human resources, agriculture, the processing industry, services and tourism.

Vietnam welcomes the general trend of peace and stability in Lebanon since the June parliamentary elections and calls for all parties concerned to soon establish a new national unity government.

Hungary and Vietnam have both been trying their best to raise the benefits reaped from their traditional cooperation over the past six decades to a more comprehensive and practical level.

Vietnam and Cambodia are both determined to speed up the planting of markers along the land border between the two countries to finish by 2012 as previously agreed, said legislative officers on both sides.

Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Douangchay Phichith received in Vientiane on August 21 a delegation of Vietnamese voluntary soldiers and experts, who fought and worked in Laos.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked international consultants to focus on preserving the tangible and intangible values of Hano’s old quarter and developing linkages between the city and other localities while working on a master plan for the city toward 2030.

Vietnam and Australia have agreed to increase the exchange of information and experience to meet challenges to regional and international security, including terrorism, human trafficking and trans-national crime.

Vietnam strongly condemns terrorist attacks in Baghdad on August 19, which left nearly 100 civilians dead and hundreds of others injured, said Nguyen Phuong Nga, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on August 21.

Vietnam and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on August 21 exchanged documents ratifying a government-level agreement on the transfer of prisoners.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Argentina held a meeting on August 20 with the Argentina-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians’ Group, recently established in Argentina’s Lower House.

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong, head of the Central Amnesty Advisory Council, chaired a conference in Hanoi on August 21 to consider a list of more than 5,400 prisoners filing for parole on the occasion of National Day (September 2).

New Zealand ambassador to Vietnam, James Kember, has been awarded Vietnam’s insignia “For Peace and Friendship among Nations” in recognition of his contributions to promoting friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and New Zealand.

Nguyen Phuong Nga announced at a regular press briefing in Hanoi on August 20 that she has officially taken over from Le Dung as a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).

Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives Agung Laksono Soemono and his delegation left Hanoi on August 20, concluding an official three-day visit to Vietnam. 

State President Nguyen Minh Triet on August 20 sent condolences on the death of former President Kim Dae-jung of the Republic of Korea to RoK President Lee Myung-bak and the bereaved family. 

Overseas Vietnamese in Laos gathered at a music gala night to celebrate the 64th anniversary of Vietnam’s August Revolution and National Day (September 2). 

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on August 20 received New Zealand ambassador Jammes Kember who paid a farewell visit to Mr Dung before ending his working term in Vietnam.

Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh has asked the oil and gas sector to play a leading role in the national economy and become a strong economic group in the region and the world.

State President Nguyen Minh Triet has praised the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) for its 15-year-old campaign “People unite to build a new cultural lifestyle in residential areas”, encouraging them to strengthen the bloc of great national unity.

The Central Theoretical Council opened its 9th session in Hanoi on August 20 to shed light on the global economic crisis, its adverse impact on Vietnam and development orientations for the country.

The Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Public Security is working together with the procuracy and the courts to quickly bring to trial a serious case involving a violation of national security. 

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has urged Lam Dong province to make full use of its advantages in terms of climate and natural resources to develop agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, tourism, services and mineral processing industries in a sustainable manner.

Vietnam wishes to expand its friendship and cooperation with international friends in all spheres, for the sake of peace, independence, stability and development in the region and the world. 

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung received Senator Jim Webb, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs, in Hanoi on August 19.

Vietnam wants to increase all-round cooperation with Indonesia, especially in politics, national security, economics, trade, education and training.

The Party, State and people praise the Vietnam People’s Police for their outstanding contributions to the country’s revolutionary cause, says State President Nguyen Minh Triet.

The August Revolution in 1945 put an end to one millennium of feudalism and nearly one century of French colonialism in the country, giving birth to the first people’s democratic regime in Vietnam.

A number of activities have been held in many localities throughout the country to celebrate the 64th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day (September 2).

The State, Government and people of Vietnam were saddened after hearing of the death of former President of the Republic of Korea Kim Dae-jung, said the Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Le Dung.