Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung said at a meeting on Wednesday with Geneva Mayor, Christian Ferrazino, who is on a working visit to Vietnam.

The Vietnamese leader highly valued the mayor's visit, saying that a week-long festival on Hanoi's economy and culture scheduled in Geneva this May will be a practical activity to enhance the friendship and cooperation between Hanoi and Geneva in particular and between Vietnam and Switzerland in general.

A contract for building a 450 MW gas-fuelled plant in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province was inked in Hanoi on Friday.

Signatories were the Electricity of Vietnam, and an international consortium including Alstom Corp. of Switzerland, the Marubeni Corp. of Japan, and the Vietnam Construction and Machinery Installation Corporation (LILAMA).

Construction of Phu My Thermo-power Plant 4, designed to have three 150-MW turbine groups, will start this month in order to transmit power to the national grid in 2004.

Historians and scholars from France, Vietnam, China and Switzerland and representatives from international organisations gathered at an international conference in Geneva, Switzerland, to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the signing of the Geneva agreement.

Participants discussed the significance of the Geneva agreement to ending Vietnam’s war with the French and restoring peace in Indochina. They also discussed cooperation between northern and southern countries, particularly bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and Switzerland.

To mark the 50^th anniversary of the signing of the Geneva Accords (July 20), VOVNews held an online exchange with two historic witnesses, Ha Van Lau and Le Danh, in Hanoi on Thursday.

Mr Lau was Deputy Head of the Tactical Department of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army Command, and Mr Danh a military expert in enemy agitation.

During the online exchange, Internet readers came to know the historical developments 50 years ago that occurred at the negotiating table. Moments of happiness and unforgettable memories could be seen through the eyes of the two historic witnesses.

Of special note was the fact that most of questions raised prior, during and after the exchange hailed from the youths across the nation, demonstrating their great interest in the country’s historic events.

Answering the question from reader Hoang Cong Tuong in Washington DC, on their feelings when participating in the exchange, the two witnesses said they were glad to join the exchange and share their memories with readers. As witnesses of the historic event 50 years ago, they said the Geneva Conference was a landmark victory for Vietnam, bringing peace to the country after nine years of struggle. The agreement internationally recognized France’s failure, and put an end to its domination of Vietnam as well as Indochina.

Of the 1,024 participating businesses, 35 are from Vietnam, including some now operating in Switzerland.

Vietnamese pavilions highlight fine art articles, garments and textile products, porcelain, tourist services, and especially calligraphy, which has attracted attention from Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz, who is also member of the Federal Council.

Switzerland will grant US$1.3 million through the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)'s Trust Fund for Forests (TFF) to help Vietnam develop the forestry sector

A document to this effect was signed in Hanoi on Wednesday between the MARD and the Swiss Agency for Development Co-operation.

Established in June 2004 by the MARD and 22 international partners, the TFF aims to fund major activities and prioritised projects of the country's forestry sector.

Switzerland, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden have pledged to contribute around US$28 million to the fund in the 2004-07 period. Accordingly, the fund has already received 4 million euros from the Netherlands and will receive US$3.8 million from Sweden in late December 2004.

The European Commission delegation to Vietnam and French Cultural Centre L’Escape held a press conference in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday to announce the 4^th European Jazz Festival, which will be held in Hanoi from November 26 to December 4.

This is the most important jazz event in 2004 in Southeast Asia. It will draw leading jazz artists from six the European Union countries - Austria, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden - and two guests; Vietnam and Switzerland.

Among the Vietnamese artists, there will be music composer Tran Manh Tuan, a band from Ho Chi Minh City, singer Tung Duong and two other jazz artists from Hanoi.

The UN Development Programme (UNDP), in coordination with the Governments of Switzerland and Canada, is helping Vietnam to implement new electoral rules in the run up to this weekend’s local elections.

The elections, which are Vietnam’s first ever to be held since its new Law on Election of Deputies to People’s Councils was passed last year aim to give people a greater voice and make local decision-making more accountable.

Observers say the coming elections are the most open in Vietnam’s recent history with a large coverage in local media of self-nomination and nomination of candidates even at the communal level, public dissemination of electoral rules and procedures and declaration of candidates’ assets.

UNDP Resident Representative Jordan Ryan notes that these positive changes are part of a process that ensures openness and transparency, vital ingredients for the strengthening of democracy in Vietnam.

One vivid sign of openness is the new website at www.baucudaibieuhdnd.gov.vn, launched with support from the UNDP, Switzerland and Canada, to provide the public with full information about the elections.

"Mua Len Trau", a film about a Vietnamese boy keeping buffaloes out of floods directed by Nguyen Vo Nghiem Minh, has won the Grand Prize at the 2004 Amien Film Festival in France.

Based on Huong Rung Ca Mau (Forest Fragrance in Ca Mau) by renowned Vietnamese author Son Nam, the film was produced by the Ho Chi Minh City-based film company Giai Phong (Liberation) in collaboration with France's 3B Productions and Belgium's NOVAK to portray the lives of farmers who lived in the southernmost province of Ca Mau during the 1930-1940 period and picturesque scenery of rivers, forests, boats and buffaloes.

EuroCHRIE is considering the opening of pre-university courses on tourism and hotels of Switzerland in Vietnam, said EuroCHRIE President Herver Fournier during his recent visit to Vietnam.

Under the courses, students are able to complete a one-year program in the country to get certificates from Cesar Ritz University.

Two colleges will be selected to implement the courses HCM City’s Private Foreign Language-Informatics College and Khoi Viet Tourism Training College.

More seafood processors will be allowed to export in the near future, according to the Vietnam National Fisheries Assurance and Veterinary Association (NAFIQUAVED).

The Association said 30 businesses will export products to the EU market, 50 others to the Republic of Korea (RoK), and other businesses to China, Canada and Switzerland.

Addressing a conference in Hanoi on Wednesday, Vu Van Trieu, Director of the Department for International Cooperation of the Ministry of Fisheries, called on businesses to promote their exports to new markets including the RoK and Switzerland.

Trieu said that the US market made up 33-38 percent of Vietnam's seafood export value in 2003, while the EU market accounted for only seven percent. The fisheries sector should seek ways to increase exports to the EU market in the context that the number of exporters qualified for exporting products to this market is to increase from 100 to 153 this year.

Vietnam currently has 223 enterprises qualified to export to the RoK, 288 to export to China, while 39 more businesses will be allowed to export seafood to Switzerland.

Berhard Butz, chef at the five-star Caravelle Hotel, has worked in many countries, as he wants to have a better life and improve his skills. The 42-year-old German chef, who left China for Vietnam in late March to work for the Caravelle Hotel in HCM City, explains why he wears the hotel’s chef’s cap: "Vietnam is an interesting country, and I come here to learn something more for my career. I selected the Caravelle as people here are open-minded and flexible".

He smiles affectionately and says, "I have a feeling like a fever to move to a new country to work. In a new working environment, I’ll learn new things from my colleagues and teach them how to cook Western dishes."

Butz began his career as a teenager. "My grandfather was a baker, and I started my cooking career as an apprentice in pastry in 1977 at the age of 15 in my hometown, but did not know then that my occupation would lead me around the world".

Butz has worked in or visited France, Switzerland, China, Korea, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar since 1987, 10 years after he first entered the culinary field. His pastry apprenticeship wrapped up in 1980, and he worked as a patissier in Germany from 1980 to 1984.

"Then I applied to work without salary for Patisserie Kettemann in Mannheim in Germany to improve my skills, and the bakery’s chef gave me a demi pastry chef position as my ability and self-motivation impressed him". Butz worked for the bakery until 1986 and praised his examinations for the Master Craftsman’s Diploma that year.

With the diploma and accumulated experience, he moved to Paris in 1987, becoming a demi pastry chef at Patisserie Le Stubli. "Then, I took over a pastry chef’s cap at Hotel Zur Pfalz in Schwegenheim, Germany, in 1988. Four years passed then a big change came for me as I was recruited to work on cruise liners Queen Elizabeth II and Vistafjord".

"This was a big upward step for me. Each liner has about 300 cooks in the kitchen, and this was a very good environment to work in. I worked as a pastry chef on cruise ships for two years, travelling around the world, with many stops in New York, Miami, Mexico and other interesting places".

Butz disembarked in 1995, becoming the pastry chef of a hotel in Switzerland, and then the pastry chef of Hotel Inter-Continental Berlin in early 1996.

Working in Berlin, he drew more attention from his friends. "Hilton Hotel in Beijing offered me a working vacation, and I went there in March 1997 with no idea of the Chinese language or Chinese food". After working for the hotel in Beijing until April 1998, he moved to Hotel Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit in Bangkok, and stayed there till May 2000. Leaving Bangkok for the Republic of Korea, Butz worked as the executive pastry chef for the JW Marriott Hotel in Seoul until early 2003. "Another Marriott unit called me, and I returned to Beijing, holding the executive chef position for Marriott Hotel West, where I set up new standards for a la carte menus. In July 2003, I moved to Shanghai and worked as the executive chef of Renaissance Shanghai Pudong Hotel and the opening chef for the new flagship of the hotel chain. And now, I’ve brought all my passion for cooking and all my experience to the Caravelle in HCM City.

Butz says he goes to markets in the city with his staff to check out local food and ingredients. "As a chef, I spend almost the whole day preparing food for my diners. I am happy to see smiles on their faces while they are enjoying my dishes, and this feeling motivates me to create new dishes".

Vietnamese directors will attend in the 57^th Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland in August.

A non-governmental organisation from Switzerland, Helvetas, has coordinated with the agriculture and rural development sector of the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak in implementing a project to improve techniques used for agriculture and forestry by ethnic minority people in eight communes in the 2003-06 period.

The project was launched in Dak Tich and Quang Tan communes in Dak R'Lap district with an investment capital of more than VND1.8 billion per year.

Beneficiaries have been provided with new techniques for agro-forestry encouragement, agricultural services and guidance about using investment capital sources to breed animals and grow crops while protecting forests. Local authorities' role in forest management and development has been further enhanced.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan has called on relevant sectors to make further contributions to the implementation of intellectual property (IP) regulations to pave the way for integration into the international economy.

"We have offered IP protection for many years, but it is necessary to review what we have done and what we should change in the future", Mr Khoan said. "Comprehensive IP rights are essential for Vietnam to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO)."

The Deputy PM made his statement at the national conference on IP enforcement in Hanoi on Wednesday.

Some of the foreign ambassadors and 500 domestic and foreign business representatives who attended the conference offered ideas on the country’s IP protection and suggested that the State enforce strict penalties on IP violations. While IP regulations have been in place in Vietnam since the early 1980s, protection has developed more quickly since 1995, after the promulgation of the Civil Law and Vietnam’s preparations for WTO accession.

The country also joined the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and signed trade agreements with the US and Switzerland, which include IP protection and co-operation measures.

Vietnam plans to ratify the Berne Convention on Copyright in the near future. The country has also told the WTO that it would immediately adopt the agreement on trade related aspects of intellectual property right once it becomes an official member.

Mr Khoan said the Government asked the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Culture and Information to draft a law on IP, which should be approved by the National Assembly next year and put into effect by 2006. He requested that relevant ministries and agencies contribute to the draft law and offer criticisms of any shortcomings.

Mr Khoan also asked the two ministries to seek assistance from foreign countries to iron out the legal system. Presently, all intellectual assets, including copyright, patents, industrial designs, trademarks, geographical indications, undisclosed information and plant varieties are under the State’s IP protection.

According to Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Tran Chien Thang, Vietnam has gained some achievements in IP protection in recent years. However, those gains were still small compared with the country’s goal to protect and boost creative investment, thus generating a healthy competitive environment and integration into the international economy.

"Vietnam has not conducted any general investigations on IP violations", Mr Thang said. "However, it is easy to assess the overall situation by looking at market development and listening to foreign observers. Many countries, including the European Union (EU), the United States (US), Switzerland, Australia and Japan, have noted Vietnam’s progress, but we still need to work on IP protection and enforcement."

He said that the Vietnamese public is largely unaware of IP protection, which is hindering progress. Even most enterprises, including State-owned businesses, are not fully aware of the importance of IP. To control IP violations, it is essential to continue to perfect IP laws, especially IP enforcement, strengthen the capacity of relevant agencies, and develop services and information about IP to improve awareness.

Indian Ambassador to Vietnam Neelakantan Ravi, who attended the meeting, said his country’s objectives are to modernise and integrate its IP infrastructure, and to extend co-operation to other developing countries.

Deputy PM Vu Khoan noted that Vietnam is struggling to industrialise an agricultural country, so IP protection is just one of many obstacles the country faces.

Prof. Tran Minh Tam, who teaches particle physics at the Swiss Polytechnic University, applauded Vietnam’s policy to facilitate the return of Vietnamese to teach, research, and transfer the world’s advanced technology and techniques. Mr Tam said he will promote multilateral cooperation between French-speaking colleges in Switzerland, the Swiss Polytechnic University and the Hanoi-based Natural Science University, where he is participating in teaching, to bring scholarships for Vietnamese students to study in Switzerland.

Two young professors in the US, Nguyen Trong Hien and Dam Thanh Son, who work for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and teach at the Washington University, expressed their wish to work with domestic scientists.

Prof. Pham Quang Hung, also from the US, said he plans to ask the Virginia University to sign cooperative programmes with Vietnam to exchange scientists and provide training for Vietnamese students majoring in physics.

The Swiss Government will contribute US$985,000 to Vietnam's project on "Market Access Support through the Strengthening of Capacities Related to Metrology, Testing and Conformity".

An agreement to this effect was signed in Hanoi on Wednesday by Swiss Ambassador to Vietnam Thomas Feller, Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Bui Manh Hai and Resident Representative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), Phillipe Scholtes.

The Vietnamese delegation led by General Director of the Vietnam Administration of Tourism (VAT) Vo Thi Thang and representatives of the Vietnamese community in Geneva led a six-hour parade of nearly 200,000 people at the festival.

At the inauguration of the Vietnam Village at the festival and a meeting with the Mayor and the Director of the Tourism Agency of Geneva, General Director Thang hoped that Vietnam's participation in the festival would open a new prospect for closer cooperation in tourism between Vietnam and its Swiss partners in the future.

After the First World War, the strong development of the people’s patriotic movement called for the leadership of a genuine party of the Vietnamese working class. In face of this situation, after his short stay in the Soviet Union to study the Soviet society and its experience in building the Party, in 1924 Ho Chi Minh moved to Canton (China) to make preparations for founding a Communist Party.

There Ho Chi Minh selected a number of young patriots and opened a Political Cadres Training School with a view to training them into revolutionary cadres and subsequently sending them back home to work in the Vietnamese working class and people.

Early in 1925 Ho Chi Minh prepared a series of lessons to be used as a teaching document at the Political Cadres’ Training School. Early in 1927 that series was published by the Propaganda Board of the Association of the Oppressed Nations in Asia under the title of The Revolutionary Path.

Ho Chi Minh made clear that the direct, immediate task of the Vietnamese revolution was national liberation; at the same time, he also pointed out the future prospects and the long-term objective of the revolution, i.e., socialism.

Ho Chi Minh also pointed out that the Vietnamese revolution was part and parcel of the world revolution, followed the line of the Communist International, and had close relationship with the French revolution and the national liberation movement in other colonial countries.

To lay the groundwork for the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh set up in Canton in June 1925 the Vietnam Thanh Nien Cach Mang Dong Chi Hoi (Vietnam Association of Young Revolutionary Comrades), a predecessor organization of the Party.

From late 1924 to early 1930, Ho Chi Minh was busy with training cadres for the Vietnamese revolution, speeding up the preparation for the founding of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

In the years 1928-29, the revolutionary movement in Vietnam was in full swing. In implementing the "proletarianization", the Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth Association sent a number of its members to factories, mines, and plantations to live and work with local workers to spread Marxism-Leninism and the revolutionary line and to build workers’ associations.

In late Autumn 1929, while in Thailand he was reported about the contradictions among the various communist organisations in Vietnam. In the name of Communist International, he returned to Hong Kong to convene a conference of the founding of the Vietnamese Communist Party.

Under Ho Chi Minh’s Chairmanship, the Conference was held from Feb. 3-7 1930 in the narrow room of a worker in Kowloon, near Hong Kong Island. After five days of urgent work in secret, it decided to unify the Communist organisations, and to found a single genuine Communist Party in Vietnam bearing the name of the Communist Party of Vietnam as proposed by Ho Chi Minh.

The 4^th European Jazz Festival opened in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday evening with the participation of outstanding artists from Vietnam, Switzerland and six EU-member countries including Denmark, Austria, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Sweden.

Vietnam has reiterated full support to the Palestinian people for their principal national rights, including the right to self-determination and the right to set up an independent state in their own land.

He said Vietnam warmly welcomes and strongly supports all initiatives raised by the international community as well as efforts by relevant parties to overcome obstacles and resume peace negotiations in an effort to sustain a just solution to the current Palestine - Israel conflict. He said a solution should be based on UN Security Council relevant resolutions and agreements reached by relevant parties in the interests of the two nations and for peace and stability in the region and the world as a whole.

A workshop aimed at advising Vietnamese services and enterprises on interpretation of the WTO's Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, one of the prerequisites for WTO accession, opened in Hanoi on Thursday.

Attended by 50 delegates, the workshop was co-sponsored by the Vietnam Directorate for Standards and Quality, the UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), NORAD of Norway and SECO of Switzerland.

According to an official at the directorate, Vietnam will increase the proportion of its standards harmonized with international stipulations to 30 percent by the end of next year. The rate currently stands at 23 percent of its total 5,600 standards.

Foreign exhibitors from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, India, Switzerland, France, Italy, Germany, and Japan attended the 12^th International industrial machinery exhibition IIME 2004 which opened in HCM City on Tuesday.

Vietnamese law-makers met with international experts on Monday for the first time to discuss Vietnam’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The discussions aimed to facilitate a National Assembly plan to amend and approve laws in accordance with WTO rules. The participants also joined in a live hook-up discussion with Swiss and Vietnamese representatives to the WTO on opportunities and challenges facing Vietnam should it become an official WTO member.

It was reported at the discussion that Vietnam has experienced seven rounds of talks to date and is now considering necessary conditions for accession. Alongside efforts made by businesses, foreign experts suggested that the State management agencies and law making bodies devise action plans, amend and supplement, and build a consistent legal system to speed up economic reforms, to meet WTO requirements.

Xuan said the upcoming eighth round of talks would be very important because Vietnam must enter detailed bilateral and multilateral negotiations. At previous rounds, Vietnam answered nearly 2,000 questions requested by the WTO.

Xuan said information about Vietnam’s legal system should be updated regularly until the Vietnamese delegation leaves for Geneva. He called on Vietnamese law-makers to quicken and raise the efficacy of the law making process.

According to Xuan, the Doha round of talks would not end by the middle of 2006 as expected, as all concerned parties have not yet reached consensus with the European Union and the United States. In addition, the US election and EU enlargement this year will also affect the talks. As a result, Vietnam will gain some time to make thorough preparations for the strict conditions on agriculture to be tabled at the Doha round.

However, the Ambassador warned that Vietnam should not consider 2005 to be the deadline for joining the WTO at any price.

The "Gai Nhay" (Bar Girls) film directed by Le Hoang will take part in an International Film Festival in Singapore on April 15. The film production group is also expected to join the famous Locarno film festival in Switzerland in August.

Of the total sum, US$2.5 million hails from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), with the remainder from the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (SIDA).

Project advisor Alain Chevalier said Vietnamese enterprises must strive to develop in four key areas: diversifying products according to international demand, designing and implementing export plans specific to each enterprise, increasing competitiveness with advanced technologies and marketing, and establishing trade promotion agencies.

The project will run in close co-ordination with two similar trade promotion projects in Cambodia and Laos, and other projects to be launched for environmental-friendly production and sustainable management of forests.

The project will also draw funding from other SECO aid projects, with focus on Vietnam's intellectual property rights, WTO accession, and development of small- and medium-sized enterprises.

The festive atmosphere of Christmas is buzzing on all the streets of Hanoi. Large shops have prepared a great deal of colourful Xmas products while toy and confectioneries businesses are also offering new products with different patterns and designs.

This year, the price of housing decorations such as pine trees, colourful painted round bulbs and statutes of Santa Clause is lower than in Xmas 2003 due to pricing competition among manufacturers. Most of the Xmas shops are discounting Santa Clause uniforms and pine trees. The price of such a uniform for adults this year has dropped to VND80,000 from VND200,000-300,000 last year and for children to VND40,000-50,000. The price of pine trees ranged between VND180,000 - VND1,500,000, depending on the type and height. Other decorations, such as laurels and lighting systems, merely cost from VND25,000 to VND80,000.

Large shop owners in Luong Van Can Street said that most Xmas decorations are imported from China and consumers prefer them for their different patterns and reasonable prices. Luxurious imports are used for hotels only. Many shops offer pine trees home delivery services and decorate them at a cost of VND35,000-50,000 per tree. It is expected that the product will be in high demand before Christmas Eve.

Confectioners seized the festive opportunity to launch new products with different patterns to cater for different consumer tastes. Haiha – Kotobuki enterprise continued to offer Santa Clause-shaped chocolate bars while Bao Ngoc enterprise launched baskets of gifts, which are in the shape of Father Christmas’ shoes. The price of sponge cakes also varies, ranging from VND30,000 to VND50,000 depending on the type and shape. Consumers can also order a special sponge cake for the whole family at certain shops.

New greetings cards were also launched on to the market. In addition to traditional cards, some shops in Hanoi are selling musical cards powered by batteries. Whenever you open the cards, a gentle piece of Christmas music is played. Such a card costs between VND10,000 to VND20,000.

"Mua Len Trau", a film about a Vietnamese boy keeping buffaloes out of floods, will be screened in the US and France early next year.

The film will be launched by the US's Global Films Initiative and France's Tandart, said film director Nguyen Vo Nghiem Minh, who completed his cinematography studies at the University of California in Los Angeles in 1998.

Mr Minh, a Vietnamese American, said that Mua Len Trau is being shown at art museums and universities in 15 US cities before it is officially screened at cinemas.

Australian television station SBS has bought permission to screen the film in Australia while other film distributors of the Republic of Korea (RoK) and the Netherlands are also working to follow suit.

Based on Huong Rung Ca Mau (Forest Fragrance in Ca Mau) by renowned Vietnamese writer Son Nam, the film portrays the lives of farmers living in the southernmost province of Ca Mau during the 1930-1940 period with picturesque scenes of rivers, forests, boats and buffaloes.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) on Monday introduced Vietnam's report on Protected Areas and Development (PAD) Review.
The report is one of the four national PAD reports endorsed by the governments of Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia.

It analyses current approaches to protected area management and received technical support from the IUNC, the International Centre for Environmental Management, the World Wide Fund for Nature, Birdlife International and the Australian NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. It also examines the economic importance of protected areas to different sectors such as tourism, fisheries, water resource management, agriculture, energy and forestry.

In Vietnam, more than eight percent of the country's natural system is protected. This protected area system is expected to expand further by 2005, approaching 22 percent of the region's territory.

JMI, a non-governmental organisation of Switzerland has decided to grant about US$60,000 (VND940 million) to the Fund for Poor Children in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang.

This was announced by the Swiss organisation at a working session with the provincial Committee for Population, Family and Children.

The fund will be used to implement projects on healthcare for poor children in the province.

Between now and 2006, tens of thousands of children will benefit from free medical check-ups and treatment under the projects.

The Mekong Capital Fund (MCF) announced on Wednesday that it will invest US$1 million in the Minh Phuc Trade and Production Joint-Stock Company, which specialises in packaging.
This is the sixth domestic company to receive MCF investment.

Vietnam’s negotiations with Japan on its accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) began in Hanoi on Monday, according to the Ministry of Trade.

The two-day round of negotiations will focus on issues relating to tariffs on goods and services.

Meanwhile, Chairperson of the WTO Working Party Seung Ho will arrive in Hanoi this week to hold talks with Vietnamese officials about the content of the 9^th round of negotiations, scheduled for Geneva, Switzerland, on December 15. During talks, Vietnam and WTO members will directly discuss the working party’s report on the country’s admission to the Geneva-based global trade watchdog.

The Vietnam Construction Import-Export Corporation (Vinaconex) has signed a contract with five foreign entrepreneurs to supply equipment and technical services for the Cam Pha Cement Factory, which is being built in northern Quang Ninh province.

Worth more than 78.54 million euros, the bid package is part of a US$150 million credit loan with a grace period of three years reached between Vinaconex and two French banks, Societe General and BNP Paribas.

The five entrepreneurs are Fam, Loe sche, Haver & Boecker (Germany), Kawasaki (Japan), and ABB (Switzerland).

The factory is expected to cost US$302 million and be completed in 2007. It will be the largest cement factory in the country with a designed capacity of 2.3 million tonnes of cement per year.

A US$1.56 million project to improve seafood testing capacity for the Vietnam National Fisheries Assurance and Veterinary Association (NAFIQUAVED) has been given the nod by the Ministry of Fisheries.

The project will help upgrade facilities to test for toxic chemicals in seafood at NAFIQUAVED branches: the port city of Hai Phong in the north, Khanh Hoa and Da Nang city in the central region, and Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho and Ca Mau in the south.

NAFIQUAVED has so far this year tested 163,700 tonnes of seafood, accounting for 70 percent of the country's exported seafood, a year-on-year increase of 25 percent.

Currently, 223 enterprises are qualified to export their seafood to the RoK, 288 to China, and 39 to Switzerland.

Saigontourist Holdings Company has registered the name Saigontourist together with its apricot-shaped logo in Japan for the next ten years. The registration covered hotels, restaurants, package tours, passenger transportation, hotel and tour reservations and tour guides.

It cost Saigontourist nearly US$3,000 to have the name registered in Japan from now to 2014. Any application for renewal must be done within six months of the expiration date.

Besides Japan, the name is protected in Austria, China, the DPK of Korea, France, Germany, Italy, Monaco, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, the Ukraine, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Preparations are underway to register "Saigontourist" in Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.

A cultural exchange entitled "ASEM Music Friendship Bridge" was held at the headquarter of Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) in Hanoi on Sunday evening in the framework of the 5^th Asian European Summit (ASEM 5), which will be held for the first time in Vietnam in October.

The event aims to promote cultural exchange, provide a better understanding and narrow the gap between Asia and Europe.

Present at the ceremony were Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem, VOV General Director Vu Van Hien, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Van Bang and representatives from embassies in Vietnam as well as officers and artists from VOV, the Institute of Musicology and the Hanoi Conservatoire.

Addressing the event, VOV General Director Vu Van Hien said that ASEM 5, scheduled for Hanoi this October, is of great significance. It will provide a chance for nations of both continents to get closer to each other and promote multi-lateral co-operation in the future. It will also create an opportunity for Vietnam to introduce its beautiful people, land and cultural identities, thus promoting the country’s position in the regional and international arena.

Being aware of the importance and meaning of ASEM 5, VOV has held many activities focusing on relations and co-operation between the two continents during recent times. VOV successfully organised the ASEM Music Friendship Bridge to provide a better understanding about the music and culture of countries in Asia and Europe.

During the event, Vietnamese artists performed many pieces of music, illustrating Vietnamese cultural identities and wet rice civilisation, such as Hue Royal Court Music, Quan Ho Folksong, Ca Tru (Ceremonial singing), Hat Then (Then singing of the Tay and Nung ethnic groups) and Cong Chieng (gongsbeating) from the Central Highlands. Artists from Asian and European countries also displayed their traditional music, such as performances by musicians from Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Spain, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem praised VOV’s efforts for successfully organising the event.

"The cultural exchange is a significant step towards ASEM 5", he said. "It is considered a bridge linking Asian and European culture, thus narrowing the gap between the two continents. On behalf of the Vietnamese Government, I appreciate VOV’s efforts in organising the ASEM Music Friendship Bridge. The success of the event paves the way for the success of the upcoming ASEM 5."

The cultural exchange was concluded in a cheerful atmosphere, warmed by performances by an art troupe from the Hanoi Conservatoire with a piece of music Huong toi niem vui (Looking toward pleasure) composed by renowned musician Beethoven and a Vietnamese traditional folksong Trống cơm (Cylindrical drum). The event left deep impressions on participants and helped them learn more about the differences and similarities in the music of the two continents.

***

The music show in the eye of artists and diplomats

*** Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Bang said: "Asia and Europe are two cradles of civilisation for human beings. ASEM 5 is a political event of international importance for Vietnam. The ASEM Music Friendship Bridge is meaningful, as it will be one of major themes of ASEM 5. Hosting ASEM 5 is a proud moment for Vietnam and will help the country promote its position in the international arena. It is expected that Vietnam will express its cultural identities and learn more from regional and international friends."

*** Thai Ambassador to Vietnam Krit Kraichitti said: "I must say that VOV plays an important role in promoting Asian-European cultural exchange through its domestic service as well as its overseas services, particularly in Thai language programmes, VOV has helped people in both countries further promote friendship and bilateral co-operation. Cultural exchange is a necessity and creates an impetus for economic development and co-operation among countries around the world. On this occasion, I would like to send my congratulations to Vietnam as the country was selected to host the upcoming ASEM 5. I believe that the event will be organised successfully in Vietnam this time."

***  First Secretary of the Philippines Embassy in Vietnam Baisa Erlinda, said: "It is great honour for me to attend the ASEM Music Friendship Bridge. This is a valuable opportunity to introduce the music of ASEM-member countries. Philippines music is romantic. It is a combination between Eastern and European culture. Cultural exchange develops in many fields and through many ways. Many Philippines singers and musicians toured ASEAN nations for performances, especially in Vietnam where they were welcomed by the Vietnamese people. It is obvious that cultural exchange can create a diversified culture, with modern elements combined with traditional style."

A US$3.1 million project on trade promotion and export development was launched in Hanoi on Wednesday.

The project focuses on some major activities, including designing export development plans for the country in general and several sectors in particular and developing a commerce network to link government, trade organisations and export enterprises.

Pham Que Oanh, a seventh grade schoolgirl from Lao Cai province became the first northern highlander to win the 2004 national Universal Postal Union competition, beating around 3.2 million entries.

The 13-year-old girl's letter was picked from the largest number of entrants in the past 15 years, describing how her family and ethnic Dao people had escaped poverty with assistance from friends through the application of advanced technology.

The ninth round of negotiations on Vietnam’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will begin in Geneva, Switzerland, next month. WTO members will discuss the first draft report on Vietnam’s commitments when joining the WTO, which was drafted by the Working Party on Vietnam’s WTO accession.

An official from the Ministry of Trade said to discuss the draft report shows that Vietnam is entering the final round.

Vietnam has completed bilateral WTO negotiations with the European Union, Cuba, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Singapore as the latest. To join the world’s largest trade body, Vietnam will have to complete bilateral negotiations with several important partners including the US, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

Tran Trong Toan, head of the Multilateral Economic Co-operation Department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the Working Party and WTO members praised Vietnam’s thorough preparations for negotiations.

The eighth round of negotiations on Vietnam’s WTO accession will be held in mid-June, according to the Ministry of Trade

Mr Xuan said negotiations would focus on transparency in banking, insurance and telecommunications, as well as a roadmap for cutting tariffs.

To prepare for the negotiations, Vietnam has sent to the WTO Secretariat an offer for the eighth round of talks in late April.

A Vietnamese working group led by Deputy Minister of Trade, Luong Van Tu, has left for Geneva, Switzerland, to attend the eighth round of talks for Vietnam’s accession bid to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The first bilateral negotiations between Vietnam and Uruguay will be held on Wednesday afternoon and followed by further bilateral negotiations with other countries, including China, Japan, the EU and the US, until June 19. Multilateral negotiations with representatives of over 20 countries will take place on June 15.

This round of negotiations will focus on transparency in banking, insurance and telecommunications, as well as a roadmap for cutting tariffs.

Vietnam expects to wrap up negotiations with major partners by the end of the year. This mostly depends on the results of this round of talks, said Vietnamese trade official.

US President George W. Bush has appointed Dr. Charles C. Nguyen and Prof. Vo Van Toi to the Board of Directors of the Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF).

Dr. Charles Nguyen is Dean of the School of Engineering and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Catholic University of America. He has been honoured with the Research Initiation Award from the Engineering Foundation, the NASA/ASEE Fellowship Awards, and the Life-Time Achievement Award from the World Automation Congress in 2004.

Meanwhile, Prof. Vo Van Toi works at the School of Medicine and the Department of Electrical Engineering Technologies and Science at Tuffs University. He helped create, and was vice director of the Eye Research Institute at Sion in Switzerland, and co-founded the Vietnamese North American University Professor Network.

*** A United Nation (UN) working mission began a four-day working visit to the Central Highlands provinces of Kon Tum, Gia Lai and Dak Lak on Wednesday.
The delegation includes the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Health Organisation, (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The mission will call at some schools and medical centres and meet with People’s Councils in some communes. After the visit, the mission will issue a UN joint press release.

Foreign donors pledged further financial support to the Mekong region’s projects, according to a report released at the 19^th meeting of the aligned committee for organisation and management under Mekong Committee in HCM City on Wednesday.

Last year, the donors granted more than US$7 million in financial aid to the region’s projects. They will give another US$21 million in the coming fiscal year.

Tran Quang Duy, Nguyen Hong Anh and Ngo Toan Thang will join other Asian peers in a performance tour of China, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and Japan from July 17 to August 31 at the invitation of the Asian Youth Orchestra.

Ms Tran Thi Hong, a lecturer at the HCM City Conservatoire of Music, will attend an Asian music festival in Japan from Nov. 19-25.

A delegation of the Vietnam Cinematography Agency will attend the Locarno film festival 2004 in Switzerland from August 4-14.

Vietnam joined a music night at the French Culture Club in Hong Kong on Saturday, marking the International Francophone Day (Mar. 20). Music troupes from France, Canada, Switzerland, Laos and Togo also performed at the event.

Last month Vietnam attracted US$385 million worth of foreign direct investment (FDI), a year-on-year increase of 196.6 percent. According to experts, this was a positive sign for the recovery of foreign investment flow into Vietnam this year.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment said to expand production, FDI enterprises increased their investment capital by hundreds of millions of US dollars in January. Saigonmax Limited Company and Sun Steel Limited Company poured an additional US$232.5 million into the southern province of Dong Nai. Late last year, Dong Nai took the lead in foreign investment attraction, after the Formosa Group increased its capital by another US$225 million in Nhon Trach Industrial Park.

Despite the bird flu outbreaks in late January and early February, businesses from the Republic of Korea, Japan and Europe visited Vietnam to sound out investment opportunities. Two weeks ago, the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial park licensed seven new projects totalling US$50 million. This positive trend showed that FDI flow into Vietnam is likely to continue despite adverse impacts of the epidemic.

In January, southern Binh Duong province attracted US$119 million, topping the list, while HCM City remained a magnet for foreign investors, who poured more than US$160 million.

Investment promotion agencies also produced optimistic forecasts for Vietnam. They said that while China is facing dumping lawsuits and other regional countries lack human resources, Vietnam, with its transparent policies, has emerged as a promising investment destination for foreign investors. According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, if Vietnam maintains its current high FDI flow, 2004 will be a focal year for the country in attracting foreign investment.

Vo Ta Luong, head of HCM City’s Trade Promotion Agency branch said in 2004, the agency will eye five key markets: the United States, Russia, the European Union, Japan and ASEAN, focusing on 17 commodities. In the first quarter of this year, it will establish three trade centres in the US, the United Arab Emirates, and Russia, to promote the image of Vietnam and the trademarks of Vietnamese products. These centres will help Vietnamese enterprises seek partners and expand product outlets. In addition, the agency will organise Vietnam Weeks in China, Switzerland, Japan, Cambodia and Laos.

Vu Kim Anh, Acting Director of HCM City’s Investment and Trade Promotion Centre said her centre would also inaugurate representative offices in Cambodia, Laos and China this year. In the first quarter, the centre will finalise procedures to establish representative offices in Singapore, the EU and the US, in coordination with Saigontourist.

HCM City has found success in luring big foreign investors, including Environment Power Inc. for a waste treatment project and Thermal Building Systems for a panel production project. It has also signed business contracts with leading American supermarket chains and business groups such as Levi Strauss, Disney, Costco and Gap.

According to Luong Van Ly, Deputy Director of the Municipal Planning and Investment Department, the most important thing is that HCM City has created a dynamic and friendly image in investors’ eyes. In addition to overseas markets, the city will continue to improve local investment environment. The city is implementing its ‘Five Ready’ program to lure local investors. It is ready to allocate land for investors, ready to provide necessary information, ready to supply human resources, ready to provide the best telecom services, and ready to assist investors timely through dialogues with local administration. It is also applying a ‘single-price’ for power, water supply and advertising services. This year, the city will reward successful foreign invested enterprises, as well as agencies, organisations and individuals, who make contributions to foreign investment attraction in the city.

Vietnam highly values ILO contributions and support for the country, the Vietnam trade union in particular, particularly in training trade union staff.

Chairwoman of the Vietnam’s General Confederation of Labour (VGCL), Cu Thi Hau expressed Vietnam’s gratitude at the 92^nd Congress of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland last weekend.

In her speech, Ms Cu Thi Hau talked about the VGCL’s achievements and its plans for the future, targeting another one million new trade union members in all socio-economic sectors.

The My Tai Company from central Binh Dinh province signed a contract worth US$3.5 million to export outdoor-wood furniture to the UK, France, Australia, the US and Switzerland at the Woodwork and Handicraft Export Fair 2004.

After many years of making products according to foreign designs, in 2001 the company developed a design department with 50 staff. As a result, currently, 90 percent of its products are designed by the new department and loved by foreign clients.

Vietnam has sent its offer to the Secretariat of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland, for the eighth round of negotiations on WTO accession, according to the Ministry of Trade.

The offer referred to reduction in some tariff lines for several products, and open policy for some service sectors such as financing, banking, insurance, and post and telecommunication sectors.

The Swiss Import Promotion Programme (SIPPO) this year plans to fund eight programmes helping small and medium-sized Vietnamese enterprises export products to Switzerland.

The programmes will provide information and technical assistance for Vietnamese businesses specialising in fruit and vegetables, herbal medicines, aquatic products, textiles, garments and footwear.

According to SIPPO's Executive Director Makus Stern, two further assistance programmes are in the making for Vietnamese software and organic honey. He said that SIPPO is negotiating with some international financial organisations over a bee-keeping project to produce organic honey for export.

Stern said that Vietnamese goods have improved significantly in competitive strength as enterprises are keen on increasing added value by improving quality and design.

He said he is impressed by the fact that an increasing number of Vietnamese exporters label their products with the "Made in Vietnam" trademark, adding that export possibilities are much wider than what they were.

Stern drew Vietnamese fruit and vegetable exporters in an effective form of marketing - exports on the spot. That means selling fruit and vegetables inside hotels and restaurants frequented by foreigners, aboard airplanes and to groups of foreign travellers.

SIPPO estimates that last year EU's imports of organic fruit and vegetables increased 10-20 percent to US$9 billion, and the EU is said to have large potential in importing fruit and vegetables from Vietnam

Jeunes Du Mekong & Integration - Suisse (JMI), a humanitarian organisation from Switzerland, has presented 150 bicycles to poor pupils of the Cham and Khmer ethnic groups in the Mekong delta province of An Giang.

The bicycles, each worth VND400,000 (US$26), were for students from primary school to junior secondary levels in four districts of Tri Ton, Tinh Bien, An Phu and Thoai Son, where the rate of poverty remains high, between 8.71 -14.29 percent of total households.

The JMI has been operating in An Giang since 1997, focusing on programmes to help poor and disadvantaged children. Every year, the JMI grants 250 scholarships to poor students.

New trade offices will be established in Spain, Holland, Switzerland, Belarus, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Pakistan, Morocco, Nigeria, Liban, Hong Kong and New Zealand from now to 2005, according to the scheme of expanding Vietnamese trade offices abroad.

Offices will open in Nigeria, Mexico, Brazil, Pakistan and Liban this year.

An additional 13 overseas trade offices will be set up in a bid to meet the requirements of the country's international economic integration.

The capital city of Hanoi plans to boost trade promotion activities from now until 2010 with a focus on building trademarks, enhancing competition and investing in modern technology to develop key commodities.

The capital city will expand trade co-operation with central and southern provinces while tightening relations with northern provinces.

The Hanoi Trade Department will organise travel missions at home and abroad, expand markets and apply international standards to help enterprises sharpen their competitive edge.

The Ho Chi Minh City-based Thien Long Ballpoint Pen Company (Thien Long) plans to export a batch of 25,000 stationery products, including ballpoint pens, boards and brushes, to the Philippines market.

The Coffee and Fruit Company of northern mountainous Son La province has exported 548 tonnes of Arabica coffee to Sweden, Poland, Germany and Holland in its first direct contracts with EU partners.

In January alone, the company exported 900 tonnes of coffee to the US and 115 tonnes to Sweden, Poland and Switzerland. It also won deals for export of between 650 and 700 tonnes of coffee to several other countries.

• Swiss aid benefits disabled children

Around 2,037 children with disabilities in 20 provinces nationwide have been rehabilitated under the "Support for children with disabilities, especially Agent Orange victims" project, which was launched by the Vietnam Child Support Fund in 2001.

The project established 26 centres for rehabilitation in 103 communes in 20 provinces and allocated VND50 million to each province to buy equipment.