Party General Secretary, Nong Duc Manh, began an official four-day visit to China on May 30. The visit not only shows the promising development of friendship, neighbourliness and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries, but also their cultural determination to build a long-lasting strategic relationship.

Over the past two years, especially in the first months of this year, coffee prices in the Central Highlands have soared, reaching VND42,000 per kilo. This has encouraged farmers to clear forest for coffee growing land despite the warnings from the local authorities and experts.

In securing the legal corridor, Government officials would adopt an attitude commensurate with moral and social norms. These are not written down in any laws but are regulated by traditional sentiments and public opinion.

The slow progress in equitising state owned enterprises (SOEs) is attributed to many reasons such as uncoordinated procedures, cumbersome administrative formalities, and bad debts. Many people say that the current situation on the stock market is not favourable for SOE to equitise and issue Initial Public Offerings (IPO).

Vietnamese scientists are worried that the country would be facing a food crisis had the Government failed to keep land for rice cultivation.

Top priority should be given to ensuring food security and keeping food prices under control. Rice exports should be associated with domestic consumption in order to stabilise domestic prices. In addition, the agricultural sector needs to finalise a food security strategy as soon as possible.

The Great Victory of May 9, 1945 was a very important landmark in the history of Russia and the rest of the world. It marked the glory of the Soviet people and the Red Army in their patriotic war, helped to put an end to World War 2 and smashed the large and powerful fascist army.

The US Department of State on May 4 rejected a request from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to put Vietnam back on the list of “countries of particular concern” (CPC). This is a correct decision reflecting the real situation in Vietnam and showing that the commission’s request was not objective and independent.

The recent spike in rice prices shows that the market has been badly affected by socio-psychological factors. This requires the Government and relevant agencies to make accurate forecasts and come up with prompt actions to cope with any market fluctuations.

Every Vietnamese, every family and the whole nation will bear this historic day in mind forever as it marked the complete liberation of South Vietnam and national unification.

Over the past 33 years, from its initial baby steps, Vietnam has made remarkable progress in transforming and developing its economy at a stunning pace.

Vietnamese State-run enterprises, economic groups and corporations need reforms to become more effective and competitive, said Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung.

The significance of an economic group lies in its role of institutionally administrating businesses, not only in its name. To develop powerful economic groups, apart from creating a clear legal corridor, businesses should exert a greater effort to secure their own potential.

The Prime Minister has decided that April 20 is Vietnam Trademark Day to honour and promote Vietnam’s image and trademarks in the context of international economic integration.

More than a year after joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the national economy has gradually kept pace with other economies in the world. However, behind optimistic statistics are weaknesses that need to be rapidly overcome.

The world is currently suffering a dire shortage of essential goods. However, if businesses make the most of every opportunity to boost production and increase the supply of goods, they will come through the difficult time.

International economic experts suggested that by 2020 Vietnam will have many qualified workers, train its engineers up to standard as Malaysia and Thailand do and export garments and footwear with a high proportion of domestic content as well as high-quality agricultural products and seafood.

Vietnamese products’ trade marks are still unpopular on the world market due to their low quality, poor design and high transport and customs costs.

Social stability and an improved investment environment have created the right conditions for Vietnam to overcome its difficulties, curb inflation and ensure social welfare.

In the first quarter of this year, foreign businesses poured more than US$1.68 billion into investment projects, a year-on-year increase of 24 percent. However, economists said that Vietnam could attract more foreign investment if the legal environment and administrative procedures were simplified.

A breakthrough in policy and strategy making is a key factor in ensuring the successful and sustainable development of an economy.

The equitisation process of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) has been implemented over the past 15 years but the results of the process have not met expectations. The slow progress of equitisation is attributed to barriers from administrative mechanisms.

A perceived “brain drain” is increasingly becoming a hot issue among young people. Whether it is linked to the State’s preferences, the working environment or even young people’s knowledge, how to encourage young people to stay and help them prove their capabilities in State agencies remains an open question.

With its limited financial and management capacity, the domestic distribution network, mostly markets and retail shops, are set to compete fiercely with foreign distributors that are allowed to penetrate the Vietnamese market as of January 2009.

Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Mirek Topolanek began an official visit to Vietnam on March 21 at the invitation of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. This is the second Vietnam visit by a government leader from the Czech Republic after it separated from Czechoslovakia in 1993.

The Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) delegation’s visit to Japan, which took place at a time when both countries were celebrating the 35th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties, will contribute to bringing their cooperative relations between the two countries and the two parliaments to a new high.

The US Department of State has released its annual report on human rights practices in many countries in the world, including Vietnam. Many countries have immediately voiced strong opposition, saying the report contains biased and inaccurate information about the human rights situation in their countries.

Fulfiling this year’s export targets is of great significance to achieving a GDP growth target of 9 percent for the whole year.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung began a trip to Britain, Germany and Ireland on March 3 at the invitation of the heads of these states. The European tour aims to promote political relations, mutual understanding and trust, as well as economic, trade and investment cooperation with these countries.

The US Federal Court on February 22 dismissed the appeal lodged by Vietnamese Agent Orange/dioxin victims in their lawsuit against US chemical companies. By issuing the unfair ruling, the court defied the fact that millions of Vietnamese AO/dioxin victims have long been suffering the lingering pain and waiting for a fair judgement.