At the regular press briefing on November 17, 2005 of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Le Dung, Spokesman of the Ministry informed the participants of the following diplomatic activities:

At the invitation of President Roh Moo-hyun of the Republic of Korea, Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong is leading a Vietnamese delegation to Busan, the Republic of Korea to attend Econonic leaders Summit of the 13^th Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) from 18-19 November 2005.

The theme of 2005 APEC Summit is "Towards one community: Meet the challenge, Make the changes".

At the Summit, the 7 priorities which will be presented are: Trade Facilitation and Capacity Building; Fighting Corruption; Sharing Prosperity of the Knowledge-based Economy; Human Security including Counter-terrorism, Energy Security, Health and Disaster Response and Preparedness; Small and Medium Enterprises and Micro-enterprises; APEC Reform and Promoting Cross-cultural Communication.

At the Summit, APEC leaders will review the implementation of Bogor goals and approve Busan roadmap. This Summit of important significance helps explore further ways to facilitate APEC cooperation in the coming time. Vietnam has joined hands with other member economies in making active contribution to the development of Busan roadmap with a view to achieving the Bogor goals. Issues to be centered in Busan roadmap are the balance between trade and investment, economic-technology cooperation, capacity building and structural reform.

After the 13^th APEC Summit, Vietnam will assume 2006 APEC chairmanship.

2. New Zealand Governor General visits Vietnam from 24-30 November 2005:

At the invitation of Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong, New Zealand Governor General Dame Silvia Cartwright will pay an offical visit to Vietnam from 24-30 November 2005. This is the first visit to Vietnam by a New Zealand Governor General.

The Governor General’s visit aims to enhance the bilateral relationship and is within the framework of activities to celebrate the 30^th anniversary of Vietnam-New Zealand relationship's establishment (19 June 1975 - 19 June 2005).

3. US Deputy Trade Secretary David Sampson visits Vietnam:

US Deputy Trade Secretary David Sampson is on a visit to Vietnam from 17-18 November 2005 to discuss with the Vietnamese partners issues of mutual concern.

During his visit, Mr David Sampson will work with representatives from Vietnam Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Trade and Ministry of Industry. He will also pay courtesy visits to Vietnamese leaders. The visit is aimed at strengthening bilateral economic and trade relations between Vietnam and the United States.

4. Acting Assistant to US State Secretary Anthony Rock attends the Vietnam-United States Joint Commission on Technological and Scientific cooperation from 17-18 November 2005:

According to the agreement between the two governments, the 5^th annual meeting of the Joint Commission on Technological and Scientific Cooperation between Vietnam and the United States is being held at Melia Hotel, Hanoi from 17-18 November 2005.

The Head of the Vietnamese delegation is Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Bui Manh Hai. His US counterpart is acting Assistant to US State Secretary Anthony Rock.

At the meeting, the two sides will review achievements of the bilateral technological and scientific cooperation during the past years and discuss measures to implement the bilateral Agreement on scientific and technological cooperation in the future time./.