PRESS CONFERENCE
(Ha Noi, November 8th 2012)

ANNOUNCEMENT

PM Nguyen Tan Dung to attend the 21st ASEAN Summit and related summits in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Nov. 17 – 20)

At the invitation of the Prime Minister of the Cambodian Royal Government Samdech Techo Hun Sen, Chair of the 21st ASEAN Summit and its related summits, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will head a Vietnamese delegation to attend the 21st ASEAN Summit and its related summits including the ASEAN +3 Summit, ASEAN + 1 Summit with partners namely China, Japan, Korea, India and the US and the East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from the November 17th to 20th 2012.

In the spirit of “being active, proactive and responsible” the Vietnamese delegation will attend this Summit, continuing to bring into full play the positive outcomes reached over the years and together with ASEAN countries and the ASEAN Chair, namely Cambodia, contributing to the success of the Summit, and to the consolidation of ASEAN solidarity and centrality, and to the process of building a cohesive, strong ASEAN for peace, security, stability and development in the region.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to pay official visit to Viet Nam (Nov 9. - 10)

At the invitation of President Truong Tan Sang, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will pay an official visit to Viet Nam from November 9th to 10th 2012.

On this visit, the two sides will discuss measures to boost bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, agriculture, culture, tourism, etc. and to exchange views on the international and regional issues of mutual interests.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will meet with Vietnamese senior leaders, visit economic and cultural sites in Ha Noi.

Ukraine PM M. Azarov to pay an official visit to Viet Nam (Nov. 15-16)

At the invitation of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov of Ukraine will pay an official visit to Viet Nam from November 15th to 16th 2012.

The visit is aimed at further promoting the friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Viet Nam and Ukraine, continuing to maintain dialogues between the high level leaders of the two countries. The two Prime Ministers will discuss directions and measures to further promote the cooperation in all areas, particularly economics, trade, investment, science and technology, security and national defense, etc. as well as exchanging views on international and regional issues of mutual concern.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov will hold talks with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and meet other high level leaders of Viet Nam.

Macedonian FM N. Poposki to pay an official visit to Viet Nam (Nov. 11-13)

At the invitation of Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki will pay an official visit to Viet Nam from November 11th  – 13th 2012. The visit is to strengthen and develop the traditional relations between the two countries, exchange measures to promote cooperation in areas including politics and foreign affairs, economics and trade, culture and tourism, etc. and to exchange views on cooperation between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs in the future as well as on international and regional issues of mutual concern.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Macedonia Nikola Poposki will hold talks with Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and pay courtesy call to President Truong Tan Sang

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Question: Laos just started the construction of Xayaburi hydro-power dam. Please provide your comment on that.

Answer:

The fair, appropriate use and exploitation of resources, especially water along the Mekong river bear a great significance to ensure the sustainable development of the whole Mekong basin, for the common interest of riparian countries and the population in this area.

Along the course of exchanging views with Laos and other countries in the International Mekong River Commission on Laos Xayaburi project in the mainstream of Mekong river, Viet Nam has repeatedly expressed its position that the construction of hydro-power project in the mainstream of the Mekong river must be considered in the master plan of management and sustainable development of the Mekong river and proposed countries to collaborate in study of the projects on their impacts to the mainstream and the sustainable development of the Mekong river basin.

We have learnt that the Laos Government decided to start the construction of Xayaburi hydro-power plant after altering the project blueprint to mitigate impacts on the downstream and shall immediately halt the construction should they find major harmful impacts. We wish Laos would continue its study on environmental impacts and to work up the final design of Xayaburi dam, and work with Viet Nam, Cambodia and Thailand on the comprehensive, in-dept study on accumulative environmental and socio-economic impacts of all the hydro-power projects in the Mekong river mainstream.

Question: What are the outcomes of the second negotiation round on Viet Nam – China cooperation on less sensitive areas in the sea?

Answer:

In compliance with the consensus between Vietnamese and Chinese senior leaders and the guiding principles laid out in the Viet Nam – China Agreement on basic principle guiding the settlement of sea issues signed in October 11, 2011, from November 6th to 8th, 2012 in Hanoi, Viet Nam and China held the second negotiation round of working group on the cooperation in less sensitive areas in the sea.

At the negotiation, the two sides have expressed and exchange views on prioritized projects for cooperation in four areas namely maritime environment protection, oceanological study, search and rescue in the sea and national disaster control in accordance with principles defined in the Viet Nam – China Agreement on basic principle guiding the settlement of sea issues. The two sides agreed to task experts in the working group to soon initiate study and contribute preliminary inputs on projects prioritized for cooperation and will set them forth for discussion in the next round of talks, which is scheduled for the first half 2013.

Question: Will Viet Nam raise the East Sea issues in the upcoming 21st ASEAN summit and related summits?

Answer:

In the 21st ASEAN summit and its related summits, country leaders will exchange views on various issues, including ones relating to the maintenance of peace, stability, security in the region.

As an pro-active, responsible member, Viet Nam has been working with other ASEAN countries to consolidate and maintain the spirit and working principles of ASEAN, adding force to strengthening the central role of the Association in the regional processes for peace, stability, security, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

Question: Viet Nam has high proportion of trade with China. Viet Nam and Russia just announce to start FTA negotiation soon. Does Viet Nam want to raise trade proportion with other countries?

Answer:

Viet Nam is pursuing comprehensive and in-depth international integration, in which international economic integration plays a key role.

So far, Viet Nam has signed FTA with many partners, namely FTA with ASEAN, and with ASEAN signed FTA with Japan, Republic of Korea, China, India, New Zealand and Australia. Viet Nam also signed FTA with Chile and EPA with Japan and is in negotiation for TPP and for FTA with the Customs Union between Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia,  EU, Republic of Korea and the EFTA (Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland).

Viet Nam recognizes boosting trade with other countries is a core basis to implement its socio-economic development strategy to 2012./.