Vietnam and the world in the week
Preparing for the third meeting of the 13th NA, the 27th Diplomatic Conference, the 17th Vietnam Film Festival, the Philippines’ storm and the US withdrawal from Iraq were the major issues making headlines this past week.
Preparing for the third and fourth meetings of the 13th NA
The NA Standing Committee concluded its four-day meeting on December 16.
At the event, the committee gave opinions on a number of laws on tobacco harm prevention and control, money laundering prevention and control, deposit insurance, and revised Labour Code, price management and the draft law on water resources.
The committee elected a new member to the Council for Selecting Procurators for the Supreme People’s Procuracy and the Central Military Procuracy, and adopted the chief inspector of the Supreme People’s Procuracy's proposal to name Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Tran Anh Tuan to the Council.
Regarding the agenda for 2012, the Committee will hold ten sessions next year to give opinions on important issues related to draft laws and prepare for the third and fourth meetings of the 13th NA.
Improving the effectiveness of diplomatic activities
The 27th diplomatic conference opened in Hanoi on December 12 with the presence of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
Party leader Trong highlighted the diplomatic front’s important role as well as its outstanding achievements over the past few years that have helped elevate Vietnam’s international status and demonstrate its positive and responsible contributions to promoting peace and cooperation in the world.
The conference focused on assessing the impact of regional and international situations on national security and development in order to devise measures to carry out the foreign policy guidelines set by the 11th National Party Congress.
The week-long conference also discussed political, economic and cultural diplomacy, the dissemination of information related to foreign affairs and overseas Vietnamese, and protecting Vietnamese citizens in foreign countries.
A joint meeting of diplomats and trade counsellors on international integration and new economic tasks and the 16th meeting of national foreign affairs officials also took place as part of the 27th diplomatic conference.
Role of businesspeople in national development highlighted
The Party considers the role of business people in national development and international economic integration to be very important and praised their contributions to the process of national industrialization and modernization.
Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong said this at a working session with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) on December 17.
Vietnamese businesses have developed rapidly so far and dramatically improved their quality. As of September this year, Vietnam had more than 600,000 enterprises registered for business operations under the Enterprise Law, as well as one million individual business households, 133,000 cooperatives and farms, and two million private entrepreneurs.
17th Vietnam Film Festival held
The 17th Vietnam Film Festival opened in Tuy Hoa city in the south-central province of Phu Yen on the evening of December 15.
Present at the opening ceremony were nearly 1,000 delegates, including famous artists, managers and film directors from all parts of the country.
Five categories of movies, documentaries, scientific films and animations were screened during the four-day event.
Audiences had the chance to enjoy outdoor movies, attend a seminar on Vietnamese cinematographic history, and exchange with famous actors, actresses and film producers.
Philippines storm triggers deadly flash floods
More than 400 people were killed and an unknown number were missing after a typhoon struck the southern Philippines, causing flash floods and landslides, and driving tens of thousands from their homes.
Typhoon Washi, with winds gusting up to 90 kmh (56 mph), barreled into the resource-rich island of Mindanao late on December 16, bringing heavy rain that also grounded some domestic flights and left wide areas without power.
The Philippines social welfare department said about 100,000 people were displaced and brought to nearly three dozen shelters in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro.
US to complete withdrawal from Iraq
In a speech at Fort Bragg in North Carolina on December 15, US President Barack Obama marked the end of the Iraq war and paid tribute to the soldiers who served and died in the war, and their families.
The last US soldiers are expected to withdraw from Iraq within days.
Mr Obama announced in October that all US troops would leave Iraq by the end of 2011, a date previously agreed on by former President George W Bush in 2008.
Some 1.5 million Americans have served in Iraq, nearly 4,500 have died and 30,000 have been wounded.
President Obama has framed the withdrawal as a promise kept from his 2008 election campaign.
First session of Russia's New Duma announced
Russian tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has announced the first session of the country's newly elected parliament.
On December 13 Medvedev met with leaders of parties winning seats in the State Duma, or lower house, and announced that the first session will be held on December 21.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will be United Russia's candidate in the March presidential elections. Sergei Mironov, leader of the social democratic Just Russia party, and Russian tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov say they will run against Putin.