VNA Five new laws made public Five new laws have been made public at a press conference of the State President�s Office at the Presidential Palace on July 20. These laws are the Law on the Amendment of and Supplementation to some Articles of the Land Law ; the Road Traffic Law; the Fire Prevention and Control Law; the Cultural Heritage Law; and the Customs Law. The Laws have been passed by the tenth National Assembly�s ninth session which was held from May 22- June 29. The State president signed an Order on the announcement of the laws on July 12, 2001. Representatives of the compiling board of the laws introduced the new legislation and answered questions raised by reporters. Present at the press conference were representatives of the National Assembly�s committees of Law, Defence and Security, Economics and Budget and Office; the ministries of transport, public security, culture and information, the general department of customs and the general department of land and mass media agencies. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PM urges Cao Bang to develop forestry economy PM Phan Van Khai visits Pac Bo Museum. Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has urged the Cao Bang northern mountainous province to make full use of the forestry potential so that the local people could escape from poverty. He said this to key officials of Cao Bang during his tour to the province on July 20. He recommended that the province replant its forests and plant material forest to supply material for a paper pulp production mill with a yearly capacity of 40,000 tonnes. He also cited the fact that 60% of the land in the province is forest land so only if the province turned the forest land into areas for good production, can the locals escape poverty. Cao Bang is a poor province and its agricultural and industrial production is still very low. Each year, the State supports over 80% of its budget. The prime minister agreed with a number of proposals on the government's support for the province for the socio-economic development during the last six months of the years. He also affirmed that a decisive factor for Cao Bang to overcome difficulties, produce goods and reduce hunger and poverty was to invest in communications roads and speed up educational and training work. Prime Minister Khai also praised the Party Committee and people of ethnic minority groups of the province for their achievements recorded in socio-economy, security and defence. While in Cao Bang, Mr Khai called and presented gifts to a family of ethnic minority people in difficulty and another ethnic minority family having a war martyr and visited Pac Bo historic site. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vietnam, Lao FMs meet Vietnamese FM Nguyen Dy Nien (right) and Lao FM Somsavath Lengsavad. Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien met with Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Somsavath Lengsavad in Hanoi on July 20, after the latter's arrival in the city for the 34th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting. The two ministers exchanged views on issues related to preparations for the 34th Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the eighth ASEAN Regional Forum, the ministerial meeting between ASEAN and China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea, Post-Meeting Conferences with ASEAN dialogue partners as well as the regional co-operation conference of countries in the Mekong and Ganges basins. These meetings will be held in Hanoi from July 23-28. They expressed their belief that with the good preparations made by the host country, Vietnam, and with assistance from participant countries, these meetings would help to boost co-operation among countries in ASEAN as well as co-operation between ASEAN and other countries. The two ministers also compared notes on bilateral relations and international issues of common concern. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Head of Protestant Church passes away Reverend Hoang Kim Phuc, head of the (northern) Vietnam Protestant Church and member of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, passed away in Hanoi on July 20 after along illness. Reverend Phuc was awarded the Independence Order, second class, and a medal 'For the Cause of the People's Great Unity.' A memorial service for Reverend Phuc will be held in Hanoi in the morning of July 24. His funeral will be held at 2pm the same day. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Landslide kills four in Ha Giang A landslide caused by heavy rains and flooding killed four family members, two of which were children in Giap Trung commune, Bac Me district of the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang, on July 16. The floods also completely destroyed four hectares of rice and a large area of subsidiary food crops. Total losses are estimated at VND 300 million. In the last two months, floods have killed 10 people and caused billions of Vietnamese dong in damage to people in the province. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thai Nguyen helps people overcome flood aftermath The authorities of Thai Nguyen northern province has provided VND 2.7 billion to heavily flood-hit districts of Dai Tu, Phu Luong, Dinh Hoa, Dong Hy and Song Cong town to help the locals promptly stabilise their life and restore production. The province has also provided the farmers with rice seeds to resow their crops. The local farmers will also be enjoyed the rescheduling of the time of payment of their debt and be granted more loans to restore their agricultural production. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Whirlwind sinks three barges A strong whirlwind hit Hon Net port, Cam Pha, Quang Ninh northern province at 2pm on July 17, sinking three barges anchored at the port which were carrying 100 tonnes of coal. Fifteen sailors were rescued by the Cam Pha border guards. The Uong Bi Materials Company which owns the barges is salvaging the sunken barges. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Long-lasting drought in Nghe An, Phu Yen Long-lasting drought in the Nghe An central province and Phu Yen northern province has caused many difficulties for agricultural production. Nghe An province has seen hit by blazing hot and dry weather with the highest temperature up to 38-39 degrees. Drought occurred in some mountainous districts of the province. The Nghe An Water Department warned that within three or five days, about 1,000 hectares of trees will die due to drought unless there is a heavy rain. Also during this time, Phu Yen province has experience hot weather for the past month. Particularly recently, the temperature has reached 38 degrees. According to an initial figure, about 1,200 hectares of newly planted sugarcane and 100 hectares of rice of the province's Son Hoa district have withered. The mountainous district of Dong Xuan were suffered drought. About 4,200 hectares of sugarcane in the district dried out because of the shortage of water. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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