The 10th national congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam officially begins at the Ba Dinh Conference Hall in Hanoi on April 18, with the participation of nearly 1,180 delegates representing more than three million Party members throughout the country.

Since late last year, domestic commercial banks, both State and non-State owned, still continue to maintain competition through increasing interest rates. This may prove the best choice for banks with large capital to provide loans. However, the old paradox of capital supply-demand relationship in the market has not yet been resolved.

The Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee welcomes the heartfelt, constructive and trustworthy opinions and high sense of responsibility expressed by people from all social strata towards the draft political report to be presented at the upcoming 10th National Party Congress. It also strongly criticises and rejects the wrong opinions of bad elements aimed at denying the path to socialism in Vietnam.

Investigations into the graft scandal at the Project Management Unit 18 (PMU 18) are underway and more thrilling details are expected to come out soon. Senior officials have said that all offences committed by anyone regardless of their ranks or social status should be strictly punished to restore people’s trust.

Anyone of us clearly understands the saying “Talent is the life-sustaining element of the nation”. A society that knows how to make the most of the capabilities of its talented people will be a developed one. We have repeatedly underscored the need to use and attract talented people in building and enriching the nation. But not much has been done.

Although GDP for the first quarter of this year stood at 7.3 percent, 0.1 percent lower than the corresponding period last year, breakthroughs have been made in several areas that have remained static over the past 15 years. These breakthroughs will help the national economy overcome weaknesses and fulfil major targets set for 2006.

The Ethnic Minority Congress of Great Unity in Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) shows the ironclad determination of Tay Nguyen ethnic groups to follow the Party and Uncle Ho’s teachings: ”Vietnam is one country. The Vietnamese are one nation. Tay Nguyen is part of Vietnamese land. Tay Nguyen people are Vietnamese and Tay Nguyen ethnic groups are always united to stand shoulder to shoulder in the community of Vietnamese ethnic groups.”

Rapacity is one of the chronic diseases that Vietnam has made every effort to combat it over the years to regain people’s trust in State management agencies, particularly the inspection sector. One of the solutions is to conduct a clean sweep of inspectors to select competent ones with a high sense of responsibility and revolutionary virtues to fulfil missions entrusted to them by the Party, State and people.

Corruption is considered an “internal invader” in Vietnam-one of four main threats to the existence of the regime. Therefore, coping with such a formidable enemy, there is no alternative but to strictly abide by laws.

The US Department of State has recently released its annual report on the human rights situation in many countries around the world, including Vietnam. In a recent issue, Quan Doi Nhan Dan (People’s Army) newspaper said that despite its acknowledgement of improvements in human rights compared to previous years, the report still contains prejudiced views and impositions in its assessments of the situation in Vietnam.