VNA Party leader addresses resolution studying course Each cadre and member of the Party and citizen should thoroughly study the line, viewpoints and decisions defined by the Ninth Party Congress and take concrete measures to apply the Party resolution in daily life and work, said Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh. Mr Manh said so at a course held in Hanoi on July 23 on studying the policies and viewpoints mapped out by the Ninth Party Congress in its resolution. The course, sponsored by the Party Secretariat, was held for key Party officials from provinces, cities and central agencies. The Party leader told the participants that the Ninth Party Congress had a great significance in opening a new stage of development in Vietnam in the early decades of the 21st century. He reminded each Party cadre and member to set an example for the people in implementing the Party's resolution. He pointed to the need for each Party committee to work out its plan and programme of action along the line of the resolution, settle urgent problems, and make positive changes in the economic, social, cultural, national defence and security fields, particularly the implementation of socio-economic targets set for 2001. The Party leader called for the launching of emulation movements to implement the Ninth Party resolution. Tran Dinh Hoan, Politburo member and secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC), head of its Organisational Commission and director of the Ho Chi Minh National Political Institute; Truong Quang Duoc, Politburo member and head of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Mass Mobilisation; Nguyen Khoa Diem, Politburo member and secretary of the Party Central Committee and head of its Commission for Ideology and Culture; and other senior Party officials attended the opening session of the course. (VNA) **** Gifts to be presented to families of martyrs, war invalids President Tran Duc Luong signed a decision to present gifts to families of martyrs, wounded soldiers and veterans and Vietnamese Heroic Mothers on the occasion of the War Invalids and Fallen Combatants July 27. According to the decision, gifts, worth VND 60,000 and VND 100,000, each will be presented by the local authorities on behalf of the president. Many localities including Dong Nai and Ba Ria Vung Tau provinces and Ho Chi Minh City sent delegations comprising key officials to visit and present the president�s gifts to these people. These localities also presented their own gifts to the people. Ba Ria-Vung Tau province also spent nearly VND 2 billion to repair 324 houses for people benefiting from preferential State policies. It also presented gifts worth VND 925 million to 11,300 people in the province on the occasion of the July 27 anniversary. **** PM hails regional efforts to overcome difficulties Prime Minister Phan Van Khai of Vietnam said he highly valued regional efforts to overcome difficulties faced by member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) over the past year. The Vietnamese leader was speaking to head-delegates of ASEAN member countries, who have been here for the on-going 34th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM-34) in a reception prior to its opening in Hanoi on July 23. He noted that ASEAN member countries, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, had successfully devised concrete measures and solutions to boost multi-form co-operation within the association. Mr Khai expressed his satisfaction at the encouraging steps of development of the group over the past year. He said Vietnam has joined efforts with other members of the association to exercise consistent regional policies in all ASEAN activities, consolidating ASEAN unity and collective strength, raising ASEAN's role in dealing with fundamental issues emerging in the region, Asia-Pacific and the world at large. On behalf of the guests, foreign minister, Prince Mohamed Bolkiah of Brunei thanked the Vietnamese government for its though preparations for and enthusiastic contributions to the AMM-34. Also on this occasion, Mr Khai asked the guests to convey his regards to their respective State and government leaders. (VNA) **** Vietnam, Laos co-operate in drug control The third conference on co-operation in the fight against drugs was held in Da Nang central city on July 23. Prominent among those attending the meeting were Politburo member and Minister of Public Security Le Minh Huong, who is also deputy head of Vietnam's National Committee for Control of AIDS, Drugs and Prostitution and Lao Party Central Committee member, minister and director of the President's Office, Soubanh Srithirath, who is also head of Laos' National Committee for Drug Control. According to reports by policemen in border provinces of Vietnam and Laos, they discovered 1,886 drug related cases with 2,720 drug traffickers in the border area last year and in the first six months of this year. They confiscated 40 kilograms of heroin, 445 kilograms of opium, and about 10,000 ampoules of new addictive drugs and more than 8,000 pills of synthetic drugs. In order to increase the efficiency of co-operation in drug control between the two countries, they held that both committees for drug control should regularly exchange information in a bid to discover in time drug traffickers and soon deploy special drug control units. They also pointed out the need to strengthen co-operation between the two Interpol offices of the two countries in an effort to quickly wipe out drug-related crimes in their respective countries, particularly in the border areas. **** Strengthening administration in Central Highlands discussed The Government Committee on Organisation and Personnel and People's Committee of Gia Lai province held a conference on strengthening local administrations of Central Highlands provinces. During the conference, local officials of four Central Highlands provinces of Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Kon Tum and Lam Dong evaluated achievements and shortcomings in the implementation of the government's policy on subsistence fee mechanism for local leaders, on the implementation of democracy in the communes and on personnel training. Most delegates agreed that the government's policy has helped create positive movements and boosted socio-economic development of localities. However, they held that there were some outstanding problems needing to be resolved in line with the Central Highlands situation. These included ineffective operation of the local administrations. Some local officials were still bureaucratic and yet to keep close contact with the people. Therefore, they could not understand the people's aspirations. The structure of cadres in the localities has not yet been rational and their cultural and professional knowledge level is yet to meet real demands. The large scale of many administrative units at district and communal level made it difficult for the administration of the local authorities. The implementation of democracy at the grassroots level was not effective. Delegates proposed that the government soon issue a policy on training and recruiting cadres of ethnic minority groups and on readjusting the scale of administrative units at district and communal level to make them suitable to the management capacity of the administration in the region. **** Truyen Giao Cao Dai sect holds congress The 'Truyen Giao Cao Dai' sect held its second congress for the 2001-2005 term at its headquarters in central Da Nang city on July 20 and 21, with the participation of 303 delegates from 15 provinces and cities. Present at the congress were Vu Gia Tham, deputy chairman of the government's Committee for Religious Affairs, and representatives of many concerned agencies and organisations. The congress reviewed the sect's activities in the 1996-2000 term. Followers of the Truyen Giao Cao Dai sect have taken part in the patriotic movements of the entire Vietnamese people, national and local poverty reeducation programmes, and charity activities. The congress appointed the sect's executive council for the second term with bishop Thuong Hau Thanh as chairman and passed a revised charter and a religious practice programme. The charter stresses that the Truyen Giao Cao Dai sect practises its religion within the framework of the Constitution and laws of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Caodaism, which was introduced in Vietnam in 1926, fuses teachings of Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity, Spiritualism, and Taoism. (VNA) _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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