Finance Minister to visit US in March A Finance Ministry delegation led by Minister Dinh Tien Dung will pay a working visit to the US from March 8-15 at the invitation of his US counterpart Secretary Jack Lew. Dung is scheduled to hold talks and meet with leaders of the US Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve System (FED), the World Bank (WB), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He met with Sanjay Kalra, IMF chief representative in Vietnam, and Victoria Kwakwa, WB Country director for Vietnam, in Hanoi on February 21, to prepare for his upcoming visit. He said he will brief WB leaders on Vietnam’s macro-economy in 2013 and orientations in 2014, and proposed additional preferential loans from the WB to help the country improve its economic competitive capacity, protect the environment, and offer socio-economic development opportunities to the poor. Dung will update WB leaders on key cooperation projects between the two sides and suggest additional WB support for … [Read more...] about Political News Headlines 24/2
Politics
Political News Headlines 17/2
NA chairman courts investors in Nghe An National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung met with investors from around the country in the central province of Nghe An on Saturday. The event, now in it's sixth successive year, allowed the Chairman the opportunity to discuss issues relating to investment and trade enhancement. The Chairman highlighted the importance of incentives for investors and the expansion of the province's seaport network and East-West highway. Embedded in his request, Chairman Hung reiterated the need for local authorities to review economic policy for their development master plan. The provincial officials were optimistic that investors would inject more capital into the central province, which would bolster the use of advanced technologies and support environmentally-friendly growth. Economists and members of the business community strongly advocated the need for improvements in the quality of the local workforce, with delegates voicing support for additional … [Read more...] about Political News Headlines 17/2
POLITICS IN BRIEF 21/10
VN, Cuba move to step up cultural cooperation Vietnam wants to join with Cuba in exploring new and effective methods of cooperation to benefit their people, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has said. While receiving Cuban Minister of Culture Abel Enrique Prieto Jimenez in Hanoi on October 20, PM Dung promised to support and create favourable conditions for Vietnam's concerned agencies to expand and boost cultural cooperation with the country. Photo: VNA Together with bilateral cooperation in politics, diplomacy and trade, the enhancement of cultural relations will make the two nations more close-knit, the leader said. Jimenez said the Cuban delegation's visit is aimed at accessing Vietnam 's experiences in developing and preserving cultural values, thereby contributing to the building of relevant policies in Cuba. The two sides are to sign a cultural cooperation programme for the 2011-2013 period, which will help the Cuban and Vietnamese people better understand each … [Read more...] about POLITICS IN BRIEF 21/10
Politics, society in Pham Huy Thong’s pieces
My Tran 'Money Go Round' by Pham Huy Thong on display at Craig Thomas Gallery downtown - Photo: My Tran Born in 1981 to journalist parents who often hosted gatherings that included freewheeling discussions of the social and political issues of the day, Thong cites exposure from an early age to this open style of discourse as a paramount factor in his own decision to engage with social and political issues in his art. Thong's decision to replace the faces of his subjects in his latest series with hands was driven in part by a desire to make them universal, anonymous beings without individuality or nationality. Another reason was Thong's conception of hands as uniquely expressive appendages with the capacity to express a range of emotions - anger, power, fear, happiness - and meaning through the symbols and gestures they can be used to form. One issue that animates Thong and which appears in several of the Hands paintings, is the current disputes between China and its … [Read more...] about Politics, society in Pham Huy Thong’s pieces
POLITICAL NEWS IN BRIEF
NA leader hosts reception for NZ ambassador National Assembly Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan received New Zealand Ambassador to Vietnam Heather Mhairi Riddell in Hanoi on Friday. Ngan expressed her wish that the Vietnamese and New Zealand parliaments will enhance cooperation in training and improving capacity of NA deputies, especially full-time deputies. The NA leader also affirmed that Vietnam always creates favorable conditions for businesses of the two countries to promote trade and investment cooperation. For her part, Ambassador Heather Mhairi Riddell praised Vietnam's efforts to control inflation, ensure social security and stable growth. The NZ diplomat pledged to do her utmost to promote all-round cooperation between the two countries and create favorable conditions for NZ and Vietnamese businesses to cooperate. New Zealand has granted 30 scholarships to Vietnamese students and is implementing an initiative for young Vietnamese entrepreneurs to study and … [Read more...] about POLITICAL NEWS IN BRIEF