President asks front to nurture democracy

Wed, 06/25/2003 - 23:26



HA NOI — President Tran Duc Luong wants the Viet Nam Fatherland Front Central Committee to play a greater role in ensuring grassroots democracy.

Such democracy was necessary to making the people understand, discuss, participate and supervise the workings of the State, he told members of the Central Committee, including the president of presidium Pham The Duyet and the committee’s General Secretary Huynh Dam.

Party leader pledges to beat the corrupt

Wed, 06/25/2003 - 23:26



HA NOI — Corruption would be steadily beaten, Viet Nam Communist Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh told 250 voters from Ha Noi and its outskirts on Tuesday.

But the work needed the support and participation of every individual and most importantly must be thoroughly done, he said.
The General Secretary said the lifestyle of Party members and State employees should be a model for others and they must keep themselves and their families away from the temptations triggered by the market economy.

Donors gather to take close look at ODA use

Thu, 06/19/2003 - 17:12



HA NOI — Viet Nam’s economic and institutional reforms, poverty reduction and growth schemes were scheduled to top the agenda at the mid-year Consultative Group Meeting opening on Thursday in Sa Pa.

The forum, expected to draw senior Government officials and about 50 international donors to Viet Nam, was expected to concentrate on the opportunities and challenges facing Viet Nam and the country’s progress in disbursing Official Development Assistance (ODA) funds.

National Assembly waives land-use tax for most farmers

Thu, 06/19/2003 - 17:11



HA NOI — A new regulation exempting millions of farmers from paying land-use tax until 2010 was adopted before the 11th National Assembly closed its third sitting on Tuesday.

The regulation – written by the Finance Ministry – exempts all northern farmers owning two hectares of cultivated land and all southern farmers owning three hectares of cultivated land from the tax.

Farmers holding more than two or three hectares will have their land-use liability reduced to 50 per cent.

Viet Nam's tea output ranks eighth worldwide

Thu, 06/19/2003 - 17:08

(06/19/2003 -- 20:48GMT+7)

Ha Noi, June 19 (VNA)-Viet Nam ranks fifth in tea acreage (108,000 hectares) and eighth in annual tea output (74,812 tonnes) among 20 tea growing and processing countries in the world.

The announcement was made by Doan Duy Khuong, Vice Chairman of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) at a workshop to introduce Viet Nam's tea held in Ha Noi on June 19.

Viet Nam seeks int'l support to join WTO, says Foreign Minister

Thu, 06/19/2003 - 17:06


(06/19/2003 -- 22:26GMT+7)


Phnom Penh, June 19 (VNA)-Viet Nam's Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien welcomed cooperation from ASEAN dialogue partners to help reduce the gap among the grouping members and said Viet Nam sought further support to implement cooperation programmes.

Addressing the ASEAN's Post Ministerrial Conference Meeting (PMC) in Phnom Penh on Thursday, Nien said that Viet Nam wished to be backed by partners countries for integration as well as in bilateral programmes for new members.

ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, a big success, says Vietnamese FM

Wed, 06/18/2003 - 12:32

(06/18/2003 -- 22:33GMT+7)

Phnom Penh, June 18 (VNA) - Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien of Viet Nam has affirmed the great success of the 36th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM-36), which was closed in Cambodia's capital on Tuesday, in an interview with Viet Nam News Agency (VNA).

Central Highlands to be turned into for-export production region

Wed, 06/18/2003 - 12:30


(06/18/2003 -- 16:31GMT+7)

Dac Lac, June 18 (VNA)-The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has mapped out a plan to turn the Central Highlands into a region specialising in for-export production, aiming an export value of around 1.2 billion USD in 2010.

To this end, heavy investment would be poured into expanding the growth of industrial crops. In detail, rubber acreage will be enlarged by 2005 to 120,000 hectares; cashew, 31,000 hectares; cotton, 25,000 hectares; and tea, 23,000 hectares by 2005.

British Friendship Society leader supports Agent Orange victims

Wed, 06/18/2003 - 12:29


(06/18/2003 -- 17:42GMT+7)

London, June 18 (VNA) - General Secretary of the Britain-Viet Nam Friendship Society Len Aldis has expressed his sympathy with Agent Orange victims in Viet Nam and criticised a rehearsal of the Viet Nam War in the forests outside Wolverhampton city in central England.

"War is never a game," the general secretary said in an article published by the Independence, Sunday Review on June 8.

An old teacher provides a lesson or two

Tue, 06/17/2003 - 11:57

Viet Nam News, June 17, 2003

By Hoai Nam

At 73 Luong Van Trung lives in the poorest of circumstances.

But his life has a richness that the most prosperous might envy.

The owner of several thousand books, collected over 50 years, he prepares students for university from his residence at Hong Viet commune in Thai Binh, the province neighbouring Ha Noi.

Trung began his voluntary work six years ago and since then 56 of his charges have won places at colleges and universities. "It’s very simple," he explains.

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