VNA Party leader highlights importance of national defence General Secretary Nong Duc Manh of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC) emphasised the importance of national defence work while addressing a conference of army officers in Hanoi on July 2 and 3. He called for concerted efforts to build the army into a revolutionary, professional, and modern fighting force ready to defend Vietnam from any threat. Mr Manh, who is also Secretary of the Central Military Party Committee, spoke highly of the army's boundless loyalty to the Party and people and persistent adherence to the ideal of national independence and socialism. The army has always risen to the challenge when faced with adversity, he stressed. The officers' conference was held to review military work in the first six months of 2001 and discuss the implementation of military tasks in the second half of the year. Defence Minister Senior Lieutenant General Pham Van Tra who is also CPVCC Politburo member and Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Party Committee; Lieutenant General Le Van Dung, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Director of the Political General Department; and Deputy Defence Ministers Lieutenant General Phung Quang Thanh and Nguyen Huy Hieu were among those present at conference. (VNA) **** Party leader to visit Laos General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPV CC) Nong Duc Manh will pay an official friendship visit to Laos soon, the CPV CC's Commission for External Relations announced on July 3. The visit will be made at the invitation of Khamtay Siphandon, Chairman of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic. (VNA) **** PM Khai praises Vietnam-Russia co-operation The multi-faceted co-operation in the spirit of strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia has been further consolidated and developed thanks to the determination of the two countries' leaders and people, said Prime Minister Phan Van Khai. Meeting with new Russian Ambassador to Vietnam A Tatarinov in Hanoi on July 3, Mr Khai went on to say that the fine development of bilateral co-operation should be strengthened in economic, commercial, investment, educational, and training fields. (VNA) **** Deputy PM calls for smuggling crack-down Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has called on relevant authorities to crack down on smuggling and trade frauds to protect domestic production. Mr Dung was speaking to a relevant conference held in Hanoi on July 2 involving representatives from the Ministry of Public Security, the Trade Ministry, the Finance Ministry, the Customs Office, Land and Sea Police, the Department for Smuggling Control, the General Taxation Department and the Market Management Department. The Deputy Prime Minister assigned the responsible forces with concrete tasks aimed at curbing the inflow of tax-evading imports and trade fraud to protect the fledgling local economy and its less competitive products. The Trade Ministry from now on will chair quarterly meetings with relevant authorities to review the progress of the work and discuss measures to make it more effective. Every six months the outcome of these meetings will be submitted to the Prime Minister so that he may consider emerging problems, Mr Dung said. Reports delivered at the event showed that the number of smuggling cases uncovered across the country in the first half of the year sharply decreased to more than 2,900 incidents with a total value of VND 44 billion, but the tricks resorted to by smugglers have become increasingly complicated. For example, car smugglers had been found falsifying import papers previously granted to Mong Cai businesses to import the vehicles. In-mid June, the smuggling squad of the Customs Office uncovered two containers of used engines with a capacity of below 30 HP each, which are banned from importation, worth a total of almost VND 3 billion (US $200,000). These incidents showed the involvement of corrupt authorities. The southwestern border provinces of Tay Ninh and Long An, the Lao Bao border gate in the central border Quang Tri province, and Cau Treo area in the central border Ha Tinh province are the hotbeds. Sometimes, an estimated 50 boats a day were found openly transporting banned or tax-evading goods such as wine and cigarettes across the border areas in Tay Ninh and Long An. Each boat often carried around 5,000 packs of cigarettes. The offenders even grew timbers on canals to make things more difficult for the police's high-speed patrol-boats. Smugglers even hired watchmen at crucial points and armed them with mobile phones to inform the ring leaders of the police's approach. To settle the problem, there is no other way more efficient than generating jobs for thousands of porters of smuggled goods who are poor and increasing the competitiveness of the domestic products, economists told the conference. For a comprehensive solution, the participants also proposed a re-organisation of the anti-smuggling forces, especially closer co-ordination of actions between the forces against smuggling, corruption and tax evasion. Transparency is very important, pointed out some officials. They said that some anti-smuggling forces have become more efficient after weeding out corrupt officials. They also recommended a larger autonomy for smuggling squads in using 30% of the confiscated goods value for upgrade of their facilities and rewards. (VNA) **** International biology seminar held An international seminar on biology was opened in Hanoi on July 2 by the Vietnam Union of Scientific and Technological Associations. Biologists from Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, the US, and the UK attended the two-day seminar. Participants heard 172 reports on issues relating to man and the environment, anti-pollution, the protection and sustainable use of natural resources; the application of biology into agro-forestry, fisheries, pharmacy and medicine, and foodstuff processing; and the teaching of biology at schools and universities. The seminar reviewed biological teaching and research at the end of the 20th century and worked out measures to promote co-operation among nations in protecting bio-diversity for sustainable development. It was also designed to enlist the world's support to Vietnam's biology sector. (VNA) **** Centre for AIDS patients opens The Association of Humane Nuns in Ho Chi Minh City put a centre for AIDS patients into operation at An Nho Tay commune, Cu Chi district, Ho Chi Minh City on July 3. The centre, the first of its kind in Vietnam called Mai Hoa, is built on an area of 12,000 square metres, including 12 beds, a consulting room, administration room and other facilities to receive AIDS patients who have no other support. Currently four nuns and 20 volunteer doctors are working at the centre. The Canadian general consul in Ho Chi Minh City has granted US $12,000 to build two more centres. _________________________________________________ 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] __________________________________________________
