Vietnam supports draft resolution on nuclear disarmament


Oct. 24 (VNA) -- Mr. Hoang Chi Trung, Counsellor of the Permanent Mission of Viet Nam to the United Nations on behalf of ASEAN countries at the First Committee of 55th UNGA, expressed full support for two draft resolutions under consideration by the First Committee, namely "Nuclear Disarmament" and "Follow-up to the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons".

Vietnam delegation in 15th Conference of Int'l Lawyers


Oct. 21 (VNA)-- The International Association of Democratic Lawyers held its 15th conference in Havana, Cuba, in the presence of nearly 1,000 representatives of 50 countries. The five-day conference ended on Oct.20 with the release of resolutions on various issues, including the demand that US authorities compensate Viet Nam.

Viet Nam was represented at the conference by a delegation headed by Luu Van Dat, Vice President and General Secretary of the Viet Nam Lawyers' Association.

350,000 employees in foreign- invested sector


Ha Noi, Oct. 23 (VNA) -- As many as 349,000 people are working in the foreign-invested sector in Viet Nam, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Labourers working for Taiwanese, Hongkong, Korean, and Japanese-invested projects make up 71 percent of the total labour force in the foreign-invested sector.

In the first nine months of this year, 190 foreign-invested projects capitalized at more than USD 512 million
were licensed for operation across the country.

Labor disputes and strikes since Jan.1, 1995



Ha Noi, Oct. 23 (VNA) -- Labour disputes and strikes have increased both in number and scale, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Labour Confederation.

There have been over 50,000 labour disputes and 400 strikes nationwide since Viet Nam's Labour Code was introduced on January 1, 1995.

Almost all cases occured in Ho Chi Minh City and the southern provinces of Dong Nai and Binh Duong, where Korean- and Taiwanese-owned factories are located.

US $16.5 billion foreign capital was implemented by October, 2000


The Ministry of Planning and Investment said that by October this year, about US $16.5 billion of foreign invested capital was implemented, meaning 46.5% of committed capital of 2,541 valid projects.

The top position in implementing projects came to Japanese investors with US $2.356 billion followed by Taiwanese investors, nearly US $2 billion while Korean investors came third with US $1.837 billion. The fourth and fifth in the list are Singapore and Hong Kong with US $1.8 billion and US $1.333 billion, respectively.

Six million new jobs created during 1996-2000



Six million one hundred thousand new jobs were created during the 1996-2000 period. The number of employed people in 2000 is 40.7 million while that number for 1995 was 34.6 million.

There are 23.5 million people working in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors. These sectors have created nearly two million new jobs in the past five years. The industry, handicraft and construction sectors created 2.2 million new jobs while the service sector created 2.3 to 2.4 million new jobs.

Crimimal cases reduced in 1999 and 2000



Criminal cases have been reduced in 1999 and in the first nine months in 2000, according to an assessment of the Ministry of Public Security.

This was revealed at a conference to sum up the implementation of government Resolution 09 dated July 31, 1998 on enhancing criminal prevention and control works in the new situation and the national programme on criminal prevention and control. Officials of the Ministry of Public Security and representatives of concerned agencies attended the conference.

Fine Art exports to Eastern Europe increace soon


Ha Noi, Oct.19 (VNA) -- With the legal breakthrough in exportation to once-booming East European markets made during Prime Minister Phan Van Khai's recent trip, Viet Nam hoped to record USD 1 billion in fine art export turnover by 2005, compared to the USD 350 million expected this year.

In the '70s and '80s, East Europe was the major market for Vietnamese fine art articles. It accounted for 53.4 percent of the nation's total sales abroad.

Vietnam called for an end to violence in the Middle East

VIETNAMESE AMBASSADOR TO UNITED NATIONS DEMANDS AN END TO MIDDLE EAST VIOLENCE


Oct. 21 (VNA) -- Vietnamese Ambassador to the United Nations Pham Binh Minh has called for an immediate end to violence in the Middle East.

He made the demand at an emergency session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Oct. 20 which was attended by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and representatives from 50 countries.

Preparation for a Congress of Protestant General Confederation



Oct. 21 (VNA) -- At a ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City on Oct. 21 the Government Board for Religious Affairs released a communique on the establishment of a mobilization board in preparation for a congress of the Protestant General Confederation of the Viet Nam Protestant Church in the south.

Present at the ceremony were Le Quang Vinh, Director of

Các trang