According to economic experts, to maintain the sustainable development of the national economy, three urgent measures need to be done, with a focus on developing enterprises, improving the investment environment and promoting trade activities.

Cambodian King Preah Bat Samdec Preach Norodom Shihamoni is visiting Vietnam from March 16-18, at the invitation of Vietnamese State President Tran Duc Luong. This is the first visit by Mr N.Shihamoni as King of Cambodia. Vietnam and Cambodia established diplomatic ties on June 24, 1967 and since then their relations have constantly been developed and consolidated in all fields.

Vietnam earned US$5.56 billion from exports and spent US$5.4 billion on imports in January-February 2006, creating an export surplus of nearly US$170 million. This is the first time in the past 10 years Vietnam has achieved an export surplus. Although the surplus amount was small, it is of great significance to Vietnam.

The differences in a country’s political system, level of development, history and culture in contrast to other nations, such as between Vietnam and the US, resulted in different views and approaches towards human rights. It is unacceptable for one country to impose its view and approach on other countries.

The March 6-7 visit to Cambodia by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai is a vivid manifestation of the friendship, solidarity and trust between leaders and people of the two countries. It shows Vietnam’s consistent policy of strengthening ties with Cambodia under the motto “Neighbourliness, traditional friendship, and long lasting, durable and comprehensive co-operation.”

During the past few years, many corruption cases featuring sly tricks and acts of wastefulness were detected by the press and both corrupt individuals and collectives have been prosecuted by legal agencies. However, a number of corruption cases in recent times have involved new tricks.

The establishment of economic groups is a new concept for Vietnam in terms of macro-economic management. This requires policy makers to grasp all issues, from organisational skills to management mechanisms, for economic groups to enable them to secure a firm foothold in the competitive global marketplace.

The European Union has announced that it would impose duties of up to 19.4 percent and 16.8 percent for imports of Chinese and Vietnamese leather shoes, respectively. Not only Vietnamese shoemakers, but also European importers reacted strongly, considering the move as a trade protection measure for shoemakers in East and South Europe.

The first Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM I) and related conferences began in Hanoi on February 20. This was considered a good start of Vietnam APEC Year 2006, which will comprise 110 conferences with a focus on the summit meeting scheduled for November.

Prime Minister Phan Van Khai's visit to Indonesia takes place at a time when the friendly and multi-faceted cooperative ties between Vietnam and Indonesia have seen fine developments. During the visit, the two sides will concretise the implementation of the "Declaration on the Framework of Friendly and Comprehensive Cooperation Entering the 21st Century" and seek measures to boost multi-faceted co-operation for mutual benefit.