VNA Greetings on CPC's 80th year The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee on June 30, sent a message of congratulation to the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on June 30 for the CPC's 80th anniversary. The message said: "Over the past 80 years the Chinese people under the CPC's leadership have obtained great achievements in their revolutionary struggle for national independence, thus leading to the foundation of the People's Republic of China. The country has also made progress in its development of socialism, particularly in its recent open-door reform and national modernisation, constantly improving the people's living standard and raising China's prestige in the world." The CPV CC wished the fraternal Chinese people under the CPC's leadership success in implementing the Resolution of the CPC's 15th National Congress, building China into a modern, prosperous, democratic and civilised socialist country. It continued: "In their struggles for national independence, the CPV and CPC have fostered their traditional friendship and solidarity. The Vietnamese people always keep in mind the CPC and Chinese people's support and assistance to their revolution. We note with pleasure that under the motto 'Friendly Neighbourliness, Comprehensive Co-operation, Sustainable Stability, and Looking Towards the Future,' the friendship and co-operation between the Communist Parties and peoples of the two countries have seen new steps of development. The friendship and co-operation between Vietnam and China serves the interests of both nations and helps to promote peace, stability and development in the region as well as the world." The CPV expressed its wish that the friendship and co-operation between the two Parties, States, and peoples of Vietnam and China would continue to develop. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Get-together marks CPC's 80th birthday VCFA President Nguyen Canh Dinh addresses the meeting. The Vietnam-China Friendship Association (VCFA) held a get-together in Hanoi on June 30, to mark the 80th anniversary of the Communist Party of China (July 1). Present at the meeting were Vu Khoan, secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPV CC); Pham Van Chuong, standing deputy director of CPV CC's Commission for External Relations; Vu Xuan Hong, acting president of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations; and representatives of ministries, branches and mass organisations. Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Qi Jianguo, his wife and other staff members of the Chinese embassy in Hanoi attended the event. Addressing the event, VCFA President Nguyen Canh Dinh, who is also director of the Presidential Office, expressed his pleasure at the growth and development of the CPC and the great achievements recorded by the CPC and the fraternal Chinese people over the past 80 years. He said high-level leaders of the two countries have regularly held meetings and exchanged views in order to promote development of the relationship between the two Parties, countries, and peoples under the motto 'Friendly Neighbourliness, Comprehensive Co-operation, Sustainable Stability, and Looking Towards the Future.' He expressed his wish that the friendly and co-operative relations between the Vietnamese and Chinese Parties, States and peoples would continue to develop. For his part, Ambassador Qi Jianguo reviewed the glorious history of the CPC over the past 80 years. He stressed that the Chinese Party, State and people have pledged to promote, together with the Vietnamese Party, State and people, their solidarity, expand bilateral co-operation, and build a better future of socialism in the two countries, making bigger contributions to world peace and humankind's progress. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Foreign minister congratulates UN secretary general� Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien, on June 29, extended his congratulations to Mr Kofi Annan, secretary general� of the United Nations, after he was officially re-elected by the UN General Assembly as the UN secretary general� for the second term of office, which lasts from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2006. On the occasion, Foreign Minister Nien in his capacity as the president of the ASEAN Standing Committee expressed his hope that the co-operation between ASEAN and the UN would continue to develop. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vietnam-US trade pact set for swift ratification "We believe that the Vietnam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement will be ratified in the very near future," Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh said in Hanoi on June 29. "The process of ratification is being undertaken in an active and speedy manner in line with Vietnamese law," she told an AFP correspondent in Hanoi. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ UNICEF grants US $5M for education project The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has granted a project worth almost US $5 million to help all disadvantaged children in rural and mountainous areas across Vietnam finish their primary education. The project is designed to build a children-friendly education environment. Under this move, disadvantaged children will join with non-disadvantaged friends during their primary school years. The project also will seek to implement a multi-graded primary education system in mountain communes. Other forms of education include bilingual classes (Vietnamese and the local ethnic minority's language), education for small girls and people-funded boarding schools at the village level. UNICEF funded a programme on the development of multi-graded and bilingual classes in the last decade, benefiting hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged children, especially those in mountainous areas. The programme has in part helped Vietnam meet the international criteria on universalisation of primary education in July, 2000. The country's relevant achievements last year included around 90% of children under 15 to finish primary education or the fifth grade, and the rest to finish the third grade. However, the rate of primary education finishers in some poor communities was still reported to be less than 70%, while the number of children repeating classes accounted for almost 2.8% and drop-outs 4.67%. The number of school drop-outs reached almost 10.5% in the north-western mountain region, 10.14% in the Mekong delta, and 7.31% in the Central Highlands area. In some places, only 40% of children aged between 10 and 14 have finished the third grade, with only a number of children making it to the fifth grade level. The rate of drop-outs among children from six to 16 years old is as high as 40% in some areas. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vietnam, Russia co-operate in disaster prevention A delegation of the Vietnam Search-and- Rescue Commission led by Lieutenant General Nguyen Huy Hieu, deputy defence minister and permanent vice chairman of the Commission, paid a working visit to Russia from June 23-30. The delegation had working sessions with a delegation of the Russian Ministry for Emergencies and Settlement of Natural Disaster Consequences (EMERCOM) led by Deputy Minister Y V Brasnicov. The delegation had in-depth inquires in EMERCOM's organisational institution, its functions, duties, rights, relations and experiences under the spirit of a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two countries on March 1, 2001 during President Vladimir Putin's Vietnam visit. They also toured centres for information, training and controlling rescue operations and a number of establishments involved in rescue operations and production of relevant facilities and the National Aviation Enterprise. The officers compared notes on issues of mutual concern with EMERCOM First Deputy Minister Y L Vorobiev. They met with Deputy Minister M A Dmitriev who is also chairman of Russia's Committee for Military Technical Co-operation with Foreign Countries. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Young volunteers go to work in rural areas Many young intellectuals have volunteered to work in rural and mountainous areas during the summer time in a bid to contribute to improving the local people's life. Sixty-two students from five universities in Hanoi including the University of Medicine, the University of Pharmacy, the University of Agriculture No 1, Teachers' Training University No 1 and the Institute of Journalism and Propaganda, went to work in the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau on June 30. These students, together with three doctors, will provide the local people with free medical check-up and medicine. They will also disseminate information on population, health care, environmental protection, social evil control, and hygiene for disease prevention in summer and open summer courses for the people there. They will visit and present gifts to families of war martyrs, war invalids, the elderly people and children in difficulty. This campaign will last until July 17. Fifty-two young intellectuals of Quang Tri central province for the past eight months have worked in its 13 communes of special difficulty, making a contribution to the local socio-economic development. A number of 36 young intellectuals of the central province of Nghe An started their trip to the province's six disadvantaged communes on July 1 for voluntary activities. Also on July 1, as many as 280 young volunteers started their 20-day programme for voluntary activities in remote and far-flung communes of the province. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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