VNA President pledges stimulus for software industry The government will issue a number of policies to stimulate investment in Vietnam's software industry and boost its production, said President Tran Duc Luong on August 1. The president was speaking to the staff of the Quang Trung Software Park in Ho Chi Minh City during his working visit to the southern commercial hub from July 31. He made it clear that the State fully understands the crucial role the software industry plays in the building of Vietnam's knowledge-based economy. The State will create favourable conditions for relevant businesses and investors to operate smoothly in Vietnam, Mr Luong stressed. He also urged relevant authorities to take necessary steps to make it easier for software businesses and experts to work in Vietnam. "The State highly appreciates contributions by software businesses and experts, both at home and abroad, to the development of the industry," the president said. The Quang Trung Software Park, the largest of its kind so far in Vietnam, has attracted 29 businesses, including seven with foreign investment, after four months of operation. The park is expected to attract more than 20,000 software specialists by 2005 and generate a gross software production turnover of US $300 million. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hanoi mayor meets foreign friends Hanoi Mayor Hoang Van Nghien received Dato Lakhbir Singh-Chahn, general secretary of the Regional Network of Local Authorities for the Management of Human Settlement (Citynet), and Paolo Navone, director of the secretarial board of the Asian Urban Programme under the European Union. Mr Nghien informed his guests of the city's achievements in hunger eradication and poverty reduction and its efforts in environmental protection. "International assistance is important for the sustainable and comprehensive improvement of Hanoi," he noted. His guests, who are in Hanoi for a seminar on poverty and the environment in urban areas from July 30 to August 2, thanked the city's senior officials for hosting the seminar. They invited Mayor Nghien to attend the Citynet meeting scheduled to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, in late November. In the morning of the same day, Mayor Nghien received the mayor of Naga City of the Philippines. Each expressed their wish to further accelerate the Hanoi-Naga cooperation in building infrastructure and housing for poor residents. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ideology-Culture Day marked Meetings have been held in many provinces to mark the 71st anniversary of the Traditional Day for Ideological and Cultural Work (August 1, 1930 - August 1, 2001). A get-together for ideological and cultural activists was held on August 1 in Ninh Binh province. Addressing the meeting, Mr Pham Minh Truyen, Party Central Committee (PCC) member and secretary of the provincial Party Committee affirmed that, in the new period, each ideological and cultural cadre should outline better measures to well implement political and ideological work, thus making a contribution to political stability and socio-economic development in the province. The Party Committee of Ben Tre province also held a get-together for over 100 ideological and cultural cadres. Mr Tran Van Truyen, PCC member and secretary of the provincial Party Committee asked the sector to realise the Resolution of the Ninth Party Congress and the seventh provincial Party Committee's Resolution and successfully fulfil socio-economic targets set for 2001. Similar meetings were held in Can Tho city and Yen Bai province. They reviewed the tradition of ideological and cultural work and highlighted achievements and the key role of the sector in the front of propaganda and education of revolutionary ideals and national patriotism. Also on the occasion, Can Tho city's Party Committee presented posthumously 'For the Cause of Ideology and Culture' medals to seven people having made contributions to the ideological and cultural sector. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Red Cross members reach 4.7 million The Vietnam Red Cross (VCR) has a membership of more than 4.7 million, including 2.5 million youth, said the society's president, Nguyen Trong Nhan, at a press briefing held in Hanoi on August 1. The event was held in preparation for the Seventh Congress of the VCR scheduled for August 9. The VCR has effectively organised humanitarian activities during the 1995-2001 period through chapters in all 61 provinces and cities nationwide. The society has mobilised nearly VND 2,100 billion from the Vietnamese people and foreign individuals and organisations for humanitarian activities. It has organised such movements as Tet (traditional Lunar New Year Festival) for the poor, for those who have rendered services to the country, and for war victims. It has also gathered the remains of about 900 fallen combatants and provided care for 16,000 isolated old people, orphans, and disabled children. In addition to this, it has carried out humanitarian projects, opened vocational training classes, and provided financial support to poor households and those people suffering from natural calamities. The VCR has also expanded external relations, attracting more aid and assistance from foreign friends in health care, rescue operations, and humanitarian projects. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vietnam Archive Association set up The Vietnam Archive Association was set up at a national congress of archivists in Hanoi on August 1, with the participation of 280 delegates. The association aims to help Vietnamese archivists exchange experiences, improve their effectiveness as historians and co-ordinate operations of different agencies, thus ensuring secure and effective use of the nation's archive information in service of national construction and defence. The congress passed the association's statute and an action programme for the 2001-2005 period. They elected a 35-member Executive Board with Dr Duong Van Kham, director of the State Archive Department, as president. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Indian around-the-world cyclists arrive in Hanoi Six Indian cyclists, who are joining an around the world trip by bicycle, initiated by the Cycling Association of the northern state of Haryana, arrived in Hanoi on July 30. The trip aims at strengthening friendship and peace among peoples and learning about the lands and peoples in the countries they pass through during the trip. All the six cyclists, who are students of the Kurukshetra University, expressed their happiness to go to a beautiful and hospitable country like Vietnam. They left Hanoi for Laos on August 2. Their trip started in Haryana on July 15. _________________________________________________ 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] __________________________________________________
