Political Sacravatoons: "Nguyen Minh Triet"

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Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com/)

Political Sacravatoons: "The Puppets"

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

The Cambodian constitution stipulates that "the king reigns but shall not rule".

However, in a separate article of the same constitution,the king was described a "the commander-in-chief of the armed forces".

Co-operation with Cambodia to grow

June 06, 2009
Vietname News

(Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng at the conference. — VNA/VNS Photo Trang Duong)

HCM CITY — Relationships between Vietnamese and Cambodian border provinces have been consolidated for the prosperity and development of both countries, said Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem in HCM City yesterday.

Addressing the 5th meeting on co-operation and development between border provinces of the two countries, Khiem said that the solidarity and friendship between Viet Nam and Cambodia was the driver for the fine development of border provinces.

"Co-operation between these provinces has progressed significantly in various fields including economics, trade, investment and national defence," said Khiem.

He called on Vietnamese and Cambodian authorities from border provinces, ministries and sectors to review their co-operation and analyse advantages and disadvantages, as well as opportunities and challenges, in order to come up with measures to make their co-operation sustainable and efficient.

"That’s the way to improve people’s living conditions, maintain border security and the common security of the two nations," said Khiem.

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng spoke highly of the traditional friendship and comprehensive linkages between the two neighbours.

He took the occasion to express his sincere thanks to Viet Nam for helping Cambodia overthrow the Khmer Rouge regime in the past.

"At present Viet Nam has enabled and encouraged Vietnamese investors to go to Cambodia to invest in trade, tourism and other areas" said Sar Kheng.

"Investment, trade, infrastructure development are now top priorities of both nations," he said.

In 2008, trade with Cambodia was recorded to be over $1 billion in value, an increase of 40 per cent compared to the previous year and accounting for about 70 per cent of the import, export turnover between the two countries. — VNS

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City travel expo to promote Indochina

June 06, 2009
Vietname News

HCM CITY — A "Three countries one destination" programme promoting tourism to Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam will remain the theme of this year’s International Travel Expo, a conference here was told.

To be held at HCM City’s Phu Tho Exhibition Centre next October, the biggest annual travel event in Viet Nam will showcase a range of tourism products and services offered by the three countries.

The three-day event will see the participation of more than 150 buyers and 300 sellers from Viet Nam and abroad and attract 10,000 visitors. Since 2005, it has grown at an average of 30 per cent a year.

A message from Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Tran Chien Thang at the conference on Wednesday said it was an ideal forum for buyers to obtain the latest information on tourism products and services, establish business contracts, and learn about new business contacts and tourism trends in the three countries as well as in the neighbourhood.

Nguyen Bao Anh, deputy chief of the Tourism Promotion Division, said organisers had carried out a campaign to attract buyers, including advertisements on international publications like traveldailyasia and TTG Asia.

They had also co-ordinated with the Tourism Promotion Organisation for Asia-Pacific Cities to introduce the expo in 51 cities in 13 countries, he said.

Investment conference

The expo will feature a tourism investment conference involving senior delegates from Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam.

They will discuss issues related to tourism investment, development and operations, the inaugural tourism alliance awards & gala dinner, and other issues.

In 2007, the tourism ministers of the three countries signed a joint declaration to accelerate co-operation through action plans to promote integrated tourism in their countries.

Last year, the Vietnamese tourism industry earned revenues of more than US$4 billion.

ITE 2009 will be organised by the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism, HCM City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and IIR Exhibitions Pte Ltd. — VNS

Vietnam is seen pushing the CPP to accept one-sided border comunity ties

Cambodian and Vietnamese border communities strengthen ties

June 6, 2009, VNA (Hanoi)

Officials of the Vietnamese and Cambodian governments and their 22 border provinces met in Ho Chi Minh City on June 3-5 to discuss ways and means of further promoting their co-operation and development.

Under the co-chair of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs Sar Kheng, the meeting, the fifth of its kind, which also saw the attendance of senior officials from Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho City and Phnom Penh, reviewed the results of co-operation agreements reached at their last meeting.

The officials highly valued the existing comprehensive co-operation and mutual assistance between the ministries, sectors and border provinces that have constantly grown and become more effective.

They especially noted the growth in cross-border trade, which has surpassed US$1.1 billion, or 70% of all bilateral trade value, and the co-operation in investment, security, defence, infrastructure construction, healthcare, culture and education.

The Vietnamese and Cambodian officials stressed that the results over the past few years had contributed significantly to boosting socio-economic growth, and considerably improving the living standards and cultural lives of local people who live along the border.

They underlined that these firm co-operative ties have also contributed to ensuring security and maintaining stability along the mutual border and will serve as an important foundation for border provinces to strengthen ties, thus helping to deepen the two countries’ friendship and all-round and long-term sustainable co-operation.

The officials also discussed and reached consensus on the ways forward and how to co-operate in the future and expressed their determination to broaden and raise effective co-operation between border localities in all areas.

Those orientations aim to fully tap potentials of border areas and accelerate their socio-economic growth, to meet the aspirations of the local people and contribute to building a peaceful, stable and prosperous border.

The Cambodian and Vietnamese officials agreed to focus on boosting bilateral co-operation in several areas key to border localities’ growth, including upgrading the infrastructure, especially the transport infrastructure and strengthening transport links. They considered this as essential to boosting socio-economic ties and trade between both countries.

They also agreed to step up joint initiatives in trade, services and tourism in the border areas, develop border gate economic zones and border markets, and expand co-operation in agriculture, fisheries and forestry.

The high points of the co-operation agreement will be working together in education and training, developing human resources, healthcare, sporting activities and cultural exchanges.

The officials also acknowledged the need to speed up border marker planting and co-operation in security matters to maintain stability and order in border areas.