Vietnam delegation in 15th Conference of Int'l Lawyers


Oct. 21 (VNA)-- The International Association of Democratic Lawyers held its 15th conference in Havana, Cuba, in the presence of nearly 1,000 representatives of 50 countries. The five-day conference ended on Oct.20 with the release of resolutions on various issues, including the demand that US authorities compensate Viet Nam.

Viet Nam was represented at the conference by a delegation headed by Luu Van Dat, Vice President and General Secretary of the Viet Nam Lawyers' Association.

350,000 employees in foreign- invested sector


Ha Noi, Oct. 23 (VNA) -- As many as 349,000 people are working in the foreign-invested sector in Viet Nam, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Labourers working for Taiwanese, Hongkong, Korean, and Japanese-invested projects make up 71 percent of the total labour force in the foreign-invested sector.

In the first nine months of this year, 190 foreign-invested projects capitalized at more than USD 512 million
were licensed for operation across the country.

US $16.5 billion foreign capital was implemented by October, 2000


The Ministry of Planning and Investment said that by October this year, about US $16.5 billion of foreign invested capital was implemented, meaning 46.5% of committed capital of 2,541 valid projects.

The top position in implementing projects came to Japanese investors with US $2.356 billion followed by Taiwanese investors, nearly US $2 billion while Korean investors came third with US $1.837 billion. The fourth and fifth in the list are Singapore and Hong Kong with US $1.8 billion and US $1.333 billion, respectively.

Six million new jobs created during 1996-2000



Six million one hundred thousand new jobs were created during the 1996-2000 period. The number of employed people in 2000 is 40.7 million while that number for 1995 was 34.6 million.

There are 23.5 million people working in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors. These sectors have created nearly two million new jobs in the past five years. The industry, handicraft and construction sectors created 2.2 million new jobs while the service sector created 2.3 to 2.4 million new jobs.

Fine Art exports to Eastern Europe increace soon


Ha Noi, Oct.19 (VNA) -- With the legal breakthrough in exportation to once-booming East European markets made during Prime Minister Phan Van Khai's recent trip, Viet Nam hoped to record USD 1 billion in fine art export turnover by 2005, compared to the USD 350 million expected this year.

In the '70s and '80s, East Europe was the major market for Vietnamese fine art articles. It accounted for 53.4 percent of the nation's total sales abroad.

The first US life insurrance company in Vietnam


American International Assurance (AIA) has made new inroads into Viet Nam's emerging life insurance market, inaugurating a fully-fledged subsidiary to step up AIA's operations nationwide.

AIA Viet Nam, the first life insurance business formed by a US company in the country, is headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City but will also run an office in Ha Noi.

Vietnam called for an end to violence in the Middle East

VIETNAMESE AMBASSADOR TO UNITED NATIONS DEMANDS AN END TO MIDDLE EAST VIOLENCE


Oct. 21 (VNA) -- Vietnamese Ambassador to the United Nations Pham Binh Minh has called for an immediate end to violence in the Middle East.

He made the demand at an emergency session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Oct. 20 which was attended by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and representatives from 50 countries.

Vietnam attaches importance to Asia-Europe cooperation


Oct. 23 (VNA) -- Viet Nam attaches importance to Asia-Europe cooperation, in line with its external policies of independence, sovereignty, diversification, multilateralization and world integration.

So said Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Manh Cam in an interview with the national daily Nhan Dan on Oct. 23 on the outcome of the third Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM III) in Seoul, the Republic of Korea, from Oct. 19-21, which he attended as head of the Vietnamese delegation.

3.2 million tonnes of rice for export in 10 months



Ha Noi, Oct. 20 (VNA) -- Viet Nam's rice export is estimated to reach 3.2 million tonnes by the end of October this year.
In the first days of October, the whole country shipped abroad 150 tonnes of rice, bringing the total quantity of rice export in the year to 3.1 million tonnes.

Enterprises nationwide have to date purchased nearly 6.78 million tonnes of paddy, equal to 76.3 percent of that purchased in the same period last year.

Vietnam position on the work of UN Security Council

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Oct. 18 (VNA) -- Ambassador Nguyen Thanh Chau, permanent representative of Viet Nam to the United Nations, addressed the 55th session of the UN General Assembly on Oct. 17, discussing the "Report of the Security Council".

The ambassador underlined the positive developments in the work of the council in the period from 16th June 1999 to 15th June 2000. He said:

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