Anti-corruption Committee Makes Debut

The Central Steering Committee for Anti-corruption convened its first session on October 4 to introduce its organisation, tasks, working regulations and action programmes from now till the end of the year.

The 10-member committee is headed by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

APEC Tourism Meeting To Go Ahead in Typhoon-hit Vietnam Town

Despite being battered by Typhoon Xangsane, the heritage Hoi An town is all set to host the APEC tourism ministers meeting from next Thursday, a top Vietnamese official assured.

Dr Tran Minh Ca, vice chairman of the Quang Nam province people’s committee – government – and head of the committee organizing all APEC tourism activities in Vietnam, dismissed rumors the conference would be shifted from the devastated ancient town.

Typhoon Xangsane Claims Sixteen Lives In Vietnam

Powerful typhoon Xangsane that struck Vietnam's central region has killed at least 16 people including four in Da Nang, two in Quang Nam, four in Binh Dinh, four in Nghe An and two in Quang Binh and injured hundreds of others.Xangsane.jpg

Many sea dykes and power lines were damaged by the typhoon.

Vietnam Plans $82MLN for Postgraduate Education

Vietnam is expected to spend around VND1.3 trillion ($82 million) on a project to send excellent
students and state officials aboard to attend postgraduate training courses from now to the year 2010, announced a reliable source from the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET)

The project No. 322 is now in the second stage lasting from 2006 to 2014 of the national postgraduate training program

Accordingly, state capital allocated to this project is estimated at VND260 billion ($16.4 million) a year during the 2006-2010 period

Vietnam Nominates Film for Oscar Awards

Vietnam has nominated Chuyen Cua Pao (Pao’s Story) for this year’s Oscar Awards.
Its Cinematography Department is completing formalities to send the film to the American Academy for Best Foreign Language Film after it is screened in some venues in the US.

Vietnam Pledges To Create Expat-Friendly Business Environment

The Vietnamese government is trying to get rid of red tape and corruption and create a transparent business environment to encourage more Vietnamese expatriates to invest in their motherland, an official said.

Speaking at a conference which ended in Danang Friday, standing vice chairman of the Government Office, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, exhorted overseas Vietnamese to trust the country’s reform policy and continue to contribute to its development.

Central Highlands Returnees Not Punished for Leaving Viet Nam, UNHCR Mission Finds

IAKLA COMMUNE, Viet Nam, September 19 (UNHCR) – In the villages of this remote area, where mountain tribes raise coffee, pepper and cassava, and US$20-a-month work in a rubber plantation passes for a good job, tales circulate of a distant land where life is easy and money practically falls from the trees.

Vietnam Experts Discuss Religious Freedom, Tolerance

At an international conference on "Beginning the Conversation: Religion and Rule of Law in Southeast Asia" on September 8-9 in Hanoi, experts discussed religious freedom and related issues.

Associate Professor Dr Nguyen Hong Duong spoke about the relationship between the Government and religions in Vietnam in recent years.

At the beginning of the Christian era, Vietnam had such religions as Buddhism, Confucianism and ancestral worship. All these have co-existed amicably and contributed greatly to its traditional culture.

Vietnam Christian Missionary Alliance Marks 50th Anniversary

The Vietnam Christian Religion Missionary Alliance celebrated its 50th anniversary (September 1) in central Da Nang city on September 15.

To mark the occasion, the alliance received a certificate of religious practice from the Government Committee for Religious Affairs.

First established in 1956, the alliance now has 23,000 followers in four local religious societies and 210 religious groups in 14 provinces and cities nationwide. Its headquarters are located in Da Nang city.

Un Refugee Agency Officials Visit Vietnam Province

A UN refugee agency delegation has completed a three-day trip to a Vietnamese province to meet illegal immigrants who returned from Cambodia a few years ago.

A Gia Lai province official said Thursday that the Deputy Head of Representative to Thailand of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Giuseppe De Vincentis, thanked the local administration for enabling his delegation carry out the visit.

The delegation met with ethnic minority returnees in Ia Grai, Duc Co, and Chu Se districts and with the province people's committee Chairman Pham The Dung.

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