VNA PM visits An Giang, Kien Giang, Can Tho provinces Prime Minister Phan Van Khai paid working visits to the southern provinces of An Giang, Kien Giang and Can Tho on August 4 and 5. During a working session with key leaders of An Giang province, Prime Minister Khai said that the education development, house building and health care to people are the province's burning issues. He also asked the province to invest more in education because, he said, only a developed education system could turn out intellectuals who are able to meet the requirements of the national industrialisation and modernisation. While paying attention to accelerating production, he added, the provincial authorities should give better care to ethnic minority people in the province, particularly the Khmer people. Despite new steps of economic development, Kien Giang's economic growth rate was lower than that of the same period last year, at only 3.36%. The province has worked out 12 programmes on economic and social development in 2001 and the coming years. In another working session with Kien Giang's provincial leaders, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai agreed with the province's economic restructuring option. He asked the province to accelerate the economic restructuring process, focusing on developing the fisheries sector. Kien Giang should use 50,000 hectares of land in developing aqua-culture and reduce rice cultivation area and rice output to around two million tonnes of rice a year, Mr Khai said. He emphasised that economic restructuring aims to improve the living conditions of local people, particularly farmers. He asked the province to give better care to the locals, especially poor families and social policy beneficiaries by providing capital to them to develop production and implement hunger eradication and poverty reduction. The prime minister assigned the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Fisheries and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to help Kien Giang province zone off 50,000 hectares of land for shrimp rearing. Kien Giang province obtained a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 5.22% in the first six months of this year. It plans to achieve a GDP growth rate of 9% for the whole year. The prime minister visited Can Tho on August 4 during his tour of some southwestern provinces. The prime minister put stress on Can Tho's great potentials in supplying rice and aquatic produce for export. "The paradox of the Mekong delta and the southwestern region is that the locals are poor though they are industrious and have fertile land," Khai said, adding that earnings from each piece of farming land remains low, and people are still facing difficulties in their daily life. The PM also instructed Can Tho and relevant ministries to rapidly work out a project to enlarge the Can Tho University and set up colleges of agriculture, fisheries, and medicine for the region. Can Tho obtained a GDP growth rate of 7.93% in the first seven months of this year. The value of its agricultural production reduced by 2%, while that of industrial production and capital construction increased 18.8%, and trade and services value was up 8.46%. The province's winter-spring rice output reached 1 million tonnes and summer-autumn rice output is expected to be 2 million tonnes. The province's industrial production value in the reviewed period reached VND 3,054 billion, and infrastructural construction value was estimated at VND 291 billion. Its fozen fish export increased 47% and rice export, 33.9% compared with the same period last year. However province was facing many difficulties in finding outlets for its farm produce. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ NA delegation visits China A National Assembly (NA) delegation led by Vice Chairman Mai Thuc Lan began a week-long visit to China on July 31 as guests of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) of China. The Vietnamese delegation was received by the chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, Li Peng on August 4. Chairman Li welcomed the Vietnamese delegation's visit. He highly appreciated the Vietnamese NA's important role in developing the relationship between the two countries and expressed his delight at the important steps of development in the relations between the two Parties and States of China and Vietnam. Chairman Li said that the NPC wanted to share experiences with the Vietnamese NA in law-making and inspection. He asked Vice Chairman Mai Thuc Lan to convey his best regards to Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, NA Chairman Nguyen Van An and other Party and State leaders of Vietnam. He said he hoped to pay his third visit to Vietnam in the near future to witness Vietnam's achievements and changes in its on-going renovation process. Mr Lan expressed his joy at China's great achievements in its reform, openness and construction of socialism imbued with Chinese characteristics. He also expressed his congratulations to China on its being selected as the host of the 2008 Olympic Games. He said that the Vietnamese NA would do its utmost to strengthen and develop the multi-faceted relationship between the two countries. While in China, the Vietnamese delegation made a tour of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing cities. It also called at the Ministry of Supervision and the National Committee for Reform of State-owned Enterprise. The delegation is scheduled to wrap up its China visit on August 6. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Delegates leave for World Youth Festival A delegation of 130 Vietnamese young people left Hanoi on August 5 for the 15th World Youth and Students' Festival in Algiers, the capital of Algeria, from August 8 to 16. The delegation was headed by Mr Hoang Binh Quan, Party Central Committee member and first secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union. The delegation includes outstanding young people from economic-social, sports and arts and literature fields, ethnic minority groups, religious young people, young business people, people and students working and studying in France, Russia, Algeria etc. A seeing-off ceremony for the delegation was held in Hanoi on August 5 afternoon. Algerian ambassador to Vietnam, Tewfik Abada, attended the ceremony. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vietnam, India's cities boost co-operation A memorandum of understanding (MoU) on developing friendship and co-operation between Ho Chi Minh City and Calcutta city of West Bengal, India, was signed in Ho Chi Minh City on August 3. Signatories were director of the Foreign Trade and Investment Development Centre, Le Cong Giau, and president of the India-Vietnam Solidarity Committee, Geetesh Sharma. Geetesh Sharma led a delegation of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of West Bengal to visit Ho Chi Minh City from July 31. Under the MoU, the Foreign Trade and Investment Development Centre and the Chamber of Commerce of West Bengal will support the two sides' businesses to develop friendship and co-operation in commerce, investment, tourism and culture. They will also help Vietnamese businesses join annual trade fairs in Calcutta and promote the exchange of culture and education between the two cities. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 25th year of Vietnam-Thailand diplomatic ties marked Prime Minister Phan Van Khai exchanged messages of greetings with his Thai counterpart, Dr Thaksin Shinawatra, on August 5, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-Thailand diplomatic relations, August 6. Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien and his Thai counterpart, Dr Surakiart Sathirathai, also exchanged greetings. Also on this occasion, former Thai prime minister Anand Panyarachun, began an official visit to Vietnam on August 5 as a special envoy of the Thai government at the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Manh Cam. He was accompanied by senior officials of the Thai Foreign Ministry and businessmen. * Vietnam-Thailand friendly relationship has seen constant development over the past 25 years, co-operation has been far-reaching in many areas including politics, economics, commerce, science and technology, culture, education, public health, tourism, defence and security. The fine development process of the Vietnam-Thailand friendly relationship was the main theme of a seminar held in Bangkok, Thailand, on August 3 and 4. Vietnam and Thailand have signed 17 agreements and documents so far. The two-way trade value was up 30% each year over the past 10 years and reached US $1.2 billion in 2000. Vietnamese ambassador to Thailand, Do Ngoc Son, stressed at the seminar that differences between Vietnam and Thailand has been narrowed, the mutual understanding and trust have been unceasingly strengthened and the two countries' multi-faceted co-operation has been expanded in the interests of both peoples. Thailand now ranks second among ASEAN investors and 11th among foreign investors in Vietnam. It has 96 investment projects capitalised at US $1.1 billion in the country. The two-day seminar aimed to mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the two countries' diplomatic relations, August 6. It drew 50 Vietnamese and Thai scholars, historians, entrepreneurs as well as senior officials from Thai relevant ministries and agencies. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Malaysian minister visits SEAMEO centre Malaysian Education Minister Tan Sri Dato Musa bin Mohamad, who is also president of the South East Asian Minister of Education Organisation (SEAMEO) Council, paid an inspection tour of the SEAMEO Regional Education Centre in Ho Chi Minh City in August 2. This is the first visit to Vietnam by a Malaysian education minister since Vietnam became a member of SEAMEO. The visit aims to accelerate co-operative relations among the SEAMEO members and between Vietnam and Malaysia in education. The high-ranking SEAMEO delegation was received by Deputy Education Minister Dang Huynh Mai. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rain starts falling in drought-hit central region Heavy rains started pouring in the central region which was in drought with rainfall measured from 7pm on August 4 to 7am the next day of between 30 to 90 millimetres, according to the Centre for Hydrometeorology. Rainfall was 30-40 millimetres in Quang Tri province; 60-70 millimetres in Thua Thien - Hue province; 77 millimetres in the Huong river upstream area and 51 millimetres in the Huong river downstream area and 70-90 millimetres in Da Nang city. Binh Dinh province also saw light rain during the night of August 5. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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