Vietnam signs important agreements with other countries
Foreign visits by Party and State leaders, activities to mark the 50th anniversary of the Ho Chi Minh Trail at Sea and devastating floods in Thailand and Cambodia dominated the news the past week.
Foreign visits by Vietnamese Party and State leaders
A high ranking delegation of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) led by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong returned to Hanoi on October 15, concluding a five-day official visit to China.
During his stay, General Secretary Trong held talks with General Secretary and President of China Hu Jintao, and met with other top Chinese Party and State leaders including chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Wu Bangguo, Premier Wen Jiabao, Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Jia Qinglin, Vice President Xi Jinping, and Vice Premier Li Keqiang.
Both sides informed each other of the situation in their respective countries and discussed measures to further strengthen relations between the two Parties and States. They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual concern and reached a consensus on the results of the talks and other meetings.
Vietnam and China released a joint statement following Mr Trong’s visit to China.
State President Truong Tan Sang accompanied by his wife and entourage also paid a visit to India from October 11-13 at the invitation of Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil.
A joint statement was issued on the occasion declaring that the two leaders welcomed the sustained development of the traditional friendship and strategic partnership between their two countries.
On October 14, State President Truong Tan Sang arrived in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, beginning his official visit to the country at the invitation of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Eight cooperation documents were signed in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan leaders and people described the first official visit by President Sang as a testament of goodwill between the two countries.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s two-day visit to Vietnam was also a political event of concern in the country.
During the visit, the German Chancellor held high-level talks with Prime Minister Dung in Hanoi where they agreed to establish a Vietnam-Germany strategic partnership to promote bilateral relations.
She also delivered a speech at a Germany-Vietnam economic forum in the City.
Activities to commemorate the 50th anniversary of HCM Sea Trail
Many localities across the country are holding activities to mark the 50th anniversary of Ho Chi Minh Trail at Sea (1961-2011) including a live television program broadcast from Ho Chi Minh City, and Ca Mau and Phu Yen provinces on October 11.
The event was co-organized by Ho Chi Minh City Television, Saigon Giai Phong (Liberated Saigon) Newspaper and Quan Doi Nhan Dan Newspaper.
The Ho Chi Minh Trail at Sea began on October 23, 1961, as a strategic maritime route for transporting weapons and goods to the southern battlefields and made major contributions to the great victory of 1975, which culminated in the liberation of South Vietnam and the reunification of the country.
A set of 10 books presenting an overview of the Ho Chi Minh Trail at Sea was launched in Hanoi on October 12.
As part of the event, the Department of Cinematography, Fafilm Vietnam and the Departments of Culture, Sports and Tourism will hold a nationwide film festival from October 18-24.
Videos, documentaries and featured films produced by the Military Cinematography, Fafilm Vietnam and the National Documentary and Scientific Film Production Studio will be screened during the festival.
Deadly floods in Cambodia and Thailand
Cambodia has been suffering the worst flooding in over a decade. So far the floods have accounted for 247 deaths, half of them children.
Over 1,100 schools in Cambodia had to be closed and 300,000 hectares of fields have been destroyed.
Meanwhile, 26 provinces in Thailand are also being flooded and the death toll now stands at 281.
It is predicted that if the flooding continues over the next two months, losses are estimated to reach more than 10 billion Baht.
G20 financial leaders expect bigger European bailout fund for debt crisis
The G20 financial leaders gathering in Paris on October 15 praised the progress Europe has made made towards resolving the euro zone debt issue, but expected the euro area to rely more on itself with bigger bailout fund to avoid contagion.
Amid market worries about the solvency and liquidity of European banks, the key element to pass the euro zone debt test, the financial leaders agreed to "ensure that banks are adequately capitalized and have sufficient access to funding."
The statement also confirmed the enhanced role of central banks, saying that they "stand ready to provide liquidity" to commercial banks if required.
However, the G20 leaders left more concrete bailout measures up to the single-currency bloc and expected a bigger European bailout fund to protect larger economies from following suit with Greece.
Supporting the International Monetary Fund as the key international coordinator and handler of global financial problems, the financial chiefs also indicated that more discussion is needed for structural reform in both developed and emerging economies before the G20 Cannes Summit in November.
Nobel prizes honour scientists
Following the Nobel Prizes for peace, physics, chemistry and literature, the Nobel Prize for economics honoured Americans Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims at a ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden on October 10.
Sargent and Sims won the award for their successful explanations of economic growth rates and inflation, which plays an important role in analyzing the macro-economy.
Campaign launched for Ha Long Bay
On October 11, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MoCST) launched a new campaign to vote for Ha Long Bay as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
Organizations and individuals are called to vote for Ha Long Bay through the website www.new7wonders.com, telephone, SMS or the social networking site Facebook.
Launched in 2007, the voting for New 7 Wonders of the World was conducted only on the Internet at first and then expanded to the telephone, SMS and Facebook. To date, 28 of the 440 nominations across the world have been chosen for the final round, including Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay.
Voters should access www.new7wonders.com for more information.
Over 10 tonnes of gold sold to stabilize market
According to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s incomplete statistics, roughly more than ten tonnes of gold has been sold to the Vietnamese market in an attempt to stabilize domestic gold prices.
It is hoped that the more abundant supply in the market will lower domestic prices.
However, this still does not meet the SBV's expectations as the domestic price of gold is VND1.5 million per tael higher than the world price.