VNA PM Khai stresses increased efficiency of civil law Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has pointed to the need to raise the efficiency of law enforcement in general and the execution of civil sentences in particular at a conference held by the Ministry of Justice in Hanoi on October 31 and November 1. The conference was organised to launch the implementation of the prime minister's Directive No 20 on raising the efficiency of the execution of civil sentences. He asked the Justice Ministry to pay more attention to building and consolidating civil sentence enforcement agencies, and to improve the qualifications of its staff. Civil sentence enforcement agencies should take advantage of the assistance given by the Party Committees and administrations at all levels and co-ordinate with State agencies and social organisations to better carry out their tasks, Mr Khai said. He laid stress on the necessity to create favourable conditions for people to participate in supervising civil sentence enforcement and find out wrong doings and negative activities among civil sentence enforcement cadres. The Ministry of Justice was requested to strengthen its inspection and discover obstacles in civil sentence enforcement in order to solve outstanding issues. It was also assigned to co-ordinate with relevant sectors to work out effective measures to solve increasing complicated claims and petitions. A proper decentralisation between the central and local levels on this work was also mentioned by the prime minister. Mr Khai noted that courts' verdicts and decisions manifest the power of the people's administration, so verdict enforcement staff should better understand laws and have impartial attitute and professional skills to effectively fulfil their tasks. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ More donations sent to flood victims Provinces nationwide are continuing to send their contributions to the flood relief activities in Mekong river delta areas. The People's Committee of Ben Tre province has decided to spend VND 1 billion to overcome the flood aftermath of three districts of Cho Lach, Chau Thanh and Mo Cay. The money is to strengthen the dyke system and upgrade the roads in the districts. Gia Lai province has sent VND 200 million as relief aid to flood-hit provinces of Dong Thap, Long An, Tien Giang, An Giang, Kien Giang and Can Tho. People in Dong Nai province have contributed VND 1.1 billion for flood victims. The Red Cross Society of Dong Nai province has presented 600 packages of gift, each worth VND 120,000 to people in Vinh Thanh and Vinh Thuan commune in An Giang province. The society has also granted gifts, worth VND 880,000, to Red Cross Societies of these two communes. The Red Cross of Bien Hoa city of Dong Nai province has also presented VND 50 million worth of gifts to flood affected people in My Chanh and My Hoa Hung communes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Anti-drug movement launched An anti-drug movement entitled �The whole people join anti-drug control� was launched on November 2 in Hanoi by the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee. This is in implementation of the national programme on anti-drug control, the 2001-2005 period. The movement targets the participation of the whole people to fight drugs, to eliminate drug using and selling places. Commitments to build households, residential areas, agencies, units free of drugs and drug addicts will be signed. Drug addicts are encouraged to go to rehabilitation centres and they will be helped to reintegrate into the community. After the launching ceremony, Pho Hue precinct was chosen to be the first place to start the movement. Staff of the precinct People�s Council, Fatherland Front and Police arrived at every residential area and household to get their signed commitments to observe anti-drug regulations. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Police chief highlights Vietnam-Interpol co-operation A senior police officer has spotlighted the important significance of co-operation between Vietnam and Interpol in fighting crimes committed by international offenders and criminals who attempted to use Vietnam as a place to hide themselves and conduct their activities. "The growing number of crimes committed by transnational offenders in Vietnam has called for stronger co-operation between Vietnam and Interpol in order to extend the reach of Vietnam's police in their efforts to prevent on smash any attempt of transnational criminals," said Truong Huu Quoc, chief of Vietnam's Police. Mr Quoc said "Vietnam has exchanged about 20,000 crime-related news and data with many countries in the region and elsewhere in the world through the X-400 satellite telecommunication system it built to connect to 178 foreign countries." "Since its admission to Interpol in Uruguay 10 years ago, Vietnam has shared more than 10,000 pieces of information to hunt for transnational criminals as well as international terrorists," Mr Quoc pointed out. He added "Vietnam has also conducted about 5,000 exchanges of information with other countries on criminal and economic offences, drug crimes and activities of transnational criminal rings and syndicates." Regarding the co-ordination between Vietnam and Interpol in their joint efforts to trace suspects and convicts, the police chief said "Their co-operation has helped arrest dozens of international crime suspects and convicts, who had come to Vietnam to hide away or continue to commit offences." Mr Quoc cited, for instance, the joint detection of a major transnational drug trafficking ring in 1998 following the arrest of Bui Huu Tai in Vietnam and the Vietnam-US co-ordination in the seizure of Tran Hung Son, who was charged with embezzlement of government funds worth VND 7 billion from a road-building project in Muong Te district of northern border Lai Chau province. Referring to the Vietnam-Interpol co-operation in offender extradition, Mr Quoc said "Vietnam has only signed 12 agreements on judicial assistance and agreements on bilateral co-operation between Vietnamese police and foreign counterparts, thus making it difficult in seeking the extradition of offenders from other countries." 'However," he noted, "Vietnam has successfully co-operated with Russia, China, Laos, the Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, the US, Thailand, Germany and Czech Republic in both tracing and extraditing suspected offenders and convicts." The police chief also pointed to the successful co-operation between Vietnam and Interpol over the past decade in uncovering many economic and drug crimes such as their joint efforts to foil the fraud attempt of Peter Giang Pisal, an American national, in Haiphong's export-processing zone as well as other frauds attempted by Iranian and Yugoslav nationals in Haiphong city and Tien Giang province. "Dozens of transnational drug trafficking have also been found in Vietnam with help from Interpol, including the detection of a major addictive drug production site in Ho Chi Minh City and the confiscation of 234 kilograms of narcotics," Truong Huu Quoc said. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Technical support board Vietnam-US BTA to be set up The prime minister signed a decision on November 1 to set up a steering board which will provide technical support during the implementation of the Vietnam-United States Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) in the 2001-2004 period. The board, headed by deputy director of the Government Office, Nguyen Quoc Huy, is delegated to negotiate with US partners on the detailed contents of the technical support programme for the implementation of the BTA. The board personnel, including Deputy Minister of Justice Ha Hung Cuong as its Deputy Head and nine other members from different ministries and governmental agencies, are assigned to work out policies and measures that will ensure an effective deployment of the technical support programme and submit them to the government for approval. The board is also authorised to co-ordinate actions among relevant ministries, organisations and local administrations in implementing the programme and is responsible for monitoring its progress. The decision came into force on November 1, 2001. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Comprehensive co-operation between Vietnam and ASEAN Vietnam has actively joined activities of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) since it became a full member of the association six years ago. The country's participation in the regional grouping has contributed to the promotion of peace, stability, and development co-operation in South East Asia. Vietnam successfully hosted the sixth ASEAN Summit in December of 1998 just three years after it became a full member of the association, which also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. The Summit passed the Hanoi Plan of Action, which includes the orientation and concrete measures for ASEAN co-operation in the 1998-2004 period. The country actively supported and was pleased to witness the admission of Cambodia to ASEAN, fulfilling the long-cherished idea of ASEAN comprising all 10 Southeast Asian nations and giving birth to an ASEAN of unity, co-operation, peace, solidarity, and mutual trust. Vietnam officially took the role of chairman of the ASEAN Standing Committee (ASC) and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in July of 2000. On behalf of the association, Vietnam co-ordinated ASEAN's political-security, functional co-operation, and external relations during the year ending in July of 2001. In addition, the country played an active role in turning the Bali Treaty of Amity and Co-operation into a code of conduct not only in relations among ASEAN member countries but also between the association and the rest of the world. Vietnam has not only signed and ratified the South East Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (SEANWFZ) Treaty, but also mobilised nuclear power nations to sign the Protocol of the Treaty to make it more meaningful. At present, the country has been serving as co-chairman of the ASEAN-China Working Group on the Code of Conduct (COC) in the Eastern Sea and joined efforts with other countries to soon complete the COC. As a founding member of the ARF, Vietnam has made active contributions to the promotion of mutual understanding and mutual trust among members so as to create an international environment of peace and stability in the interest of economic development in ASEAN member countries. Together with other ASEAN members, Vietnam follows the ARF's fundamental principles of taking gradual steps suitable to all concerned parties without "constitutionalising" the forum. Confidence building measures serve as the basis of ARF's operation, to which ASEAN plays the key role. By joining ASEAN activities, Vietnam satisfactorily solved outstanding issues with other countries in the region, namely reaching an agreement on jointly developing the overlapping territorial waters with Malaysia, co-operating with the Philippines to conduct a study on the Eastern Sea, and boosting maritime co-operation with Thailand. Vietnam has successfully fulfilled its role as co-ordinator in ASEAN-New Zealand, ASEAN-Russia, and ASEAN-Japan relations. It has contributed to the expansion of relations between the association and North Eastern Asian countries and its dialogue partners, thus raising ASEAN's position in the international arena. After hosting the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting last July, Vietnam successfully organised a series of meetings of ASEAN and Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Economic Ministers in September. Thosemeetings devised measures to promote the grouping's unity and co-operation and narrow down the development gap between member countries, thus creating more strength for the whole association. With a population of around 500 million and a trade turnover of more than US $700 billion, ASEAN has played an important role in Vietnam's economic development. The bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and other members has doubled over the past five years to US $7.1 billion in 2000 from US $3.5 billion in 1995. Last year alone, Vietnam earned US $2.6 billion from exports to other member markets, or 18% of the country's gross export revenue, while its imports from those countries made up 29% of the national import revenue. Investment from other ASEAN countries currently accounts for 18% of Vietnam's foreign direct investment. Vietnam is making active preparations for the application of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) by 2006, as agreed upon by all the member countries through lengthening the list of goods items for tax reduction or exemption and finalising a legal system in favour of trade operations. In furtherance of agreements on encouragement and protection of investment signed with other member countries and the framework agreement on the establishment of AFTA, Vietnam is considering strong measures that offer a number of incentives to regional investors. The country has also joined a number of regional programmes and projects of co-operation in all fields, namely agriculture, forestry, fisheries, industries, transport and communications, post and telecommunications, energy, and tourism. Vietnam's initiatives on the co-operation for economic development in poor regions along the East-West Corridor and the ASEAN co-operation for the Mekong Basin development have received strong support from relevant nations both inside and outside the group and have been officially accepted by the ASEAN members. Those measures have been recognised as active contributions to equal economic development, closer ties between the relevant nations, and the whole of ASEAN development. Vietnam has signed 20 projects of co-operation in scientific, technological, and economic development, as well as 120 projects of co-operation in social, educational, cultural, and medical areas, all of which have contributed to the constant development of its co-operation with other member countries of the grouping. (VNA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1 million State employees join drug control contest� More than one million State employees nationwide participated in a contest to study about the Law on Drug Control among workers and civil servants. Hanoi city takes the lead in the number of people joining the contest with more than 200,000 people; followed by Ho Chi Minh City with nearly 70,000 people and Phu Tho province with 45,000 people. The contest, which was held by the Vietnam Labour Confederation (VLC), is in response to the peak campaign on drugs control launched by the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee. The VLC held a ceremony in Hanoi on November 2 to receive examinations papers. To date, about 30,000 State employees were found addicted, accounting for 30% of drug addicts nationwide. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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