VNA VND 800 billion for poor communes The State this year will spend VND 800 billion for Programme 135, investing in works in 2,200 communes; localities will invest VND 50 billion for 125 communes in difficulties. Reading from a report that evaluated the last two years of this programme on May 10, Mr Hoang Duc Nghi, minister and director of the Committee of Ethnic Minority Groups and Mountainous Areas and deputy director of Programme 135, highlighted that the State had invested VND 1,100 billion. Ministries, agencies, organizations and localities with corporations 90 and 91 have invested VND 800 billion more in infrastructure development in 2,000 communes in difficulties. This money was spent in building roads, schools, electric networks, water supplies and markets to help accelerate socio-economic development in poor communes nationwide. Four thousand eight hundred and sixty seven works have been put into operation for poor communes in remote and mountainous areas. The programme has helped carry out projects on population shifts, training cadres. It has helped create jobs and increase income for poor people. Thanks to the programme, the number of poor households has been reduced from 17.7% in 1997 to 10% in the year 2000. In 2001, funds will be raised from individuals, ministries, agencies and domestic and foreign organisations to fight poverty in poor communes on a nationwide scale. Also at the conference, reports from 12 ministries, organisations and localities were heard. The conference will continue until May 12. **** Vietnamese and French leaders agree to boost co-operation Vietnam's Vice President Nguyen Thi Binh, France's President Jacques Chirac and Senate President, Christian Poncelet have agreed to deepen Vietnam-France co-operation bilaterally and multilaterally in all areas, political, economic, cultural, scientific- technical, and training. Ms Binh, who ended a week-long official visit to France on May 9, met with French President Jacques Chirac. She also held talks with Senate President C Poncelet and had working sessions with delegations led by Minister of Justice Marylise Lebranchu, and Minister of Youth and Sports, Marie George Buffet. Ms Binh assured Mr Chirac and Mr Poncelet that Vietnam will remain committed to its current course of renewal, industrialisation and modernisation. Binh also stated that the country will continue its open foreign policy as a step not only toward further integration into the regional and global economies, but also toward broadening its friendship and co-operation with all countries of the world, particularly France - an important European partner of Vietnam. The French leaders welcomed the outcome of the Ninth Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, expressing the belief that Vietnam's renovation and development process would lead to greater prosperity for the country. They also spoke highly of Vietnam's chairmanship of the ASEAN Standing Committee, as well as its position in the regional and international arena. In addition to this, Ms Binh and Mr Chirac exchanged views on preparations for the ninth Francophone summit slated for this October in Lebanon. Senate President C Poncelet on Wednesday gave a dinner in honour of his guest. Earlier, Vice President Binh visited the headquarters of the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organisation (UNESCO) and discussed Vietnam-UNESCO co-operation with General Director K Matsuura. (VNA) **** Haiphong marks Vanguard Pioneers' 60th anniversary A meeting to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Vanguard Pioneers' Organisation (May 15, 1941 - May 15, 2001) was held in the northern port city of Haiphong on May 10. During the meeting, more than 1,200 pupils staged marches and demonstrations, and organised dancing and singing nights to celebrate the festive day. They also reviewed the glorious traditions of the Ho Chi Minh Vanguard Pioneers' Organisation of the past 60 years in construction and development, including contributions made by the well-known Haiphong young pioneers. Following the elders' tradition, Haiphong young pioneers, together with other young pioneers across the country in the whole country have launched many movements of emulation, attracting millions of youngsters. **** Year of Social Volunteers for Children with Special Difficulties launched On May 10, about 2,000 soldiers, students and members of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union attended a ceremony together to launch the Year of Social Volunteers for Children with Special Difficulties, the Month of Action for Children and the Family Day in 2001. The ceremony took place in Cam Lo district of central Quang Tri province. Present at the launching ceremony were minister-chairwoman of the National Committee for Child Care and Protection, Tran Thi Thanh Thanh, and representatives of the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids, and Social Affairs. Also in attendance were the committees for child care and protection from 61 provinces and cities across the country, and the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF. Quang Tri is one of the localities with the largest number of children facing special difficulties in Vietnam. The province has about 6,200 handicapped children including 2,500 victims of Agent Orange, 580 ophans and some 200 street children. The organisers called on youth organisations at all levels to voluntarily take part in disseminating theParty and State policy on the care, protection and education of children. Minister Thanh presented 50 scholarships, each worth VND 150,000, to 50 handicapped children in Cam Lo district, and VND 12.5 million to the district's committee for Child Care and Protection. The same day, Minister Thanh attended a ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of a functional rehabilitation centre for handicapped children in Gio Linh district of Quang Tri province. The centre will be built at a cost of more than VND 200 million from Vietnam's Fund in Support ofChildren. It will give functional rehabilitation treatment to 60 handicapped children when it is put into operation in the fourth quarter of this year. (VNA) **** Disadvantaged children presented gifts The Youth Union and the Vietnam Youth League presented gifts for disadvantaged children in Hanoi on May 10 on the occasion of 60th anniversary of the Ho Chi Minh Vanguard Pioneers' Organisation (May 15, 1941 - May 15, 2001), and the Year of Social Volunteers for Children in Special Difficulties. Secretary of the Youth Union, Dao Ngoc Dung, who is also chairman of the Central Vanguard Pioneers' Council, led a delegation to visit and give gifts to children in several districts. The same day, Mr Dinh Que Hai, a member of the Youth Union's Standing Committee and permanent chairman of the Vietnam Youth League's Committee, headed another delegation to visit and present gifts to children with special difficulties in Tay Ho, Gia Lam and Dong Anh districts, Hanoi. **** US administration criticised for hindering BTA ratification The Bush administration is being bombarded with widespread criticism from American business circles, officials and experts for barring the Congressional approval of Vietnam-US trade agreement (BTA) signed last July. In an interview with the New York Times, US Ambassador to Vietnam Pete Peterson said: "More talks would set back not just economic ties but also the development of postwar relations between Vietnam and the United States." "It's an agreement on trade, certainly, but it is, for this country and ours, much more than that," he said. "It is a normalisation agreement. It is the completion of the circle of the process, of which economics is the missing link. A great deal has been placed in the hands of that document relative to whether our two countries are going to hold hands or hold each other at arm's length. It is a very important document in stating that our two nations want to have relations, not only on trade," the ambassador explained. Virginia B Foote, who heads the US-Vietnam Trade Council, described the BTA as the most important thing that has happened since the end of the war, and also the real basis for building a new relationship between the U.S. and Vietnam. Mr Foote was quoted by the News York Times as saying: "The BTA is the most comprehensive trade agreement ever negotiated, including chapters on investment, intellectual property rights, trade and services, banking, accounting, insurance and other legal matters." The newspaper also cited Greig Craft, an American consultant and entrepreneur who has ridden the ups and downs of business relations in Vietnam during the last decade, as saying: "None of us ever in our wildest dreams imagined that we would be in this place at this time, that the United States side would be slowing down the agreement that everyone worked so hard to accomplish." Tom Vallely, an expert on the Vietnamese economy at Harvard, told the Times that "the trade agreement is essential to support the reforms that are now taking place in Vietnam." "If the package is not passed soon," he said, "Vietnam would look elsewhere - to Japan, to Europe, even to a resurgent China for its trading partners." Fred Burke, an American lawyer, who has been in Vietnam for a decade, also told the Times that, "Vietnam is giving us all we asked for, but we are still not going to do what we told them we were going to do because there are other issues we want to resolve first." (VNA) **** 14 fishing boats sunk in whirlwind in Quang Binh A sudden whirlwind hit Hai Ninh village, Quang Ninh district, central Quang Binh province yesterday afternoon, sinking 14 boats which were fishing at that time. In the aftermath of the storm, 11 boats had washed up on the shore: two fishermen were unaccounted for of these boats. Local authorities are still frantically searching for the missing three boats and all hands on board. **** Natural calamities hit localities * Consecutive tornadoes hit northwestern Lai Chau province A person was killed and eight others injured as tornadoes accompanied by severe hailstorms hit the northwestern Lai Chau province from late April to early May. Tornadoes also tore the roofs off 900 houses and destroyed 200 hectares of rice and subsidiary crops. Total losses were estimated at VND 600 million (US $41,000). The worst tornado, occurred on April 24 in the Dien Bien basin, killed one person, injured four others, completely destroyed 33 houses, and pulled the roofs off of 300 others. * Heavy tornadoes destroy 15 houses in central province One person was injured, 15 houses destroyed, and 25 roofs collapsed, when a tornado struck Que Trung commune of Que Son district in central Quang Nam province on May 8. Total damage was estimated at VND 1 billion. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
