HA NOI — Viet Nam plans to expand electronics and information technology, the garment industry, leather-shoe manufacturing, car-making and mechanical manufacturing from 2010-20 with support from Japan.

The announcement was made during a seminar entitled "Action Plan for Development of Supporting Industry," hosted by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Japan External Trade Organisation yesterday.

To boost production in the five major support industries, the Government plans to increase the number of skilled workers in the electronics and information technology sector to attract more investment from Japan and the United States.

NINH THUAN — The south-central coastal province of Ninh Thuan is embracing its potential to build nuclear power plants, said Dr Vuong Huu Tan, head of the Viet Nam Atomic Energy Commission, at a seminar on Viet Nam-Japan Nuclear Power on Thursday.

The seminar was organised by the Viet Nam Atomic Energy Commission, the provincial People’s Committee, the State Utility Electricity of Viet Nam, the Japan External Trade Organisation and the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, Inc.

Ito Norihisa, managing director of the Japan Alliance of Power Companies, noted nuclear power had been used in developed countries like the US, France, Russia and Japan.

According to the director, Japan currently has 56 clusters of nuclear power plants with a combined capacity of nearly 47,900MW. Another 11 new plants are expected to be built by 2015.

HA NOI — The Viet Nam Innovation Summit 2008 ended with the clear message that significantly more investment is necessary in information and communication technology (ICT) and its infrastructure.

The US-based computer provider IBM gave this feedback at the summit on September 4 and 5, which aimed to review long-term collaboration activities between IBM and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST).

This collaboration has been established to help drive innovation, research and development initiatives to help shape the Viet Nam Innovation Agenda.

IBM also said that Viet Nam needed non-linear innovation systems made up of public and private enterprises and other organisations to adapt global knowledge to local conditions.

HA NOI — The Vietnamese Party and people always did their utmost to enhance the friendship between Viet Nam and Cuba to provide practical benefits for the two countries, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday.

While receiving the newly-accredited Cuban Ambassador to Viet Nam, Frendesman Turro Gongalez, in Ha Noi, Dung said Viet Nam and Cuba had a fine, traditional friendship, particularly in the fields of politics and foreign affairs.

However, he said, the economic ties between the two countries had failed to match their potential.

HA NOI — Young entrepreneurs played an important role in national economic growth, said State President Nguyen Minh Triet here on Monday.

Receiving outstanding young entrepreneurs who won the 2008 Viet Nam’s Golden Star Award, he said he was pleased with the development of the Vietnamese Young Entrepreneurs’ Association, which has 53 sub-associations and clubs with a total of more than 7,000 members.

The State President spoke of the difficulties currently facing the country and asked young entrepreneurs to join hands to overcome the situation.

About 200 entrepreneurs won the Viet Nam’s Golden Star Award. In the past year, the winners earned total revenues of US$24 billion, created jobs for more than 400,000 people, and contributed VND24 trillion ($1.4 billion) to the State budget.

Hanoi (VNA) –Overseas Vietnamese and the Vietnamese Embassies in foreign countries have organised activities to mark the country’s 63rd National Day (Sept. 2).

In Russia , Ambassador Bui Dinh Dinh together with officials from Vietnamese organisations and Russian friends attended an incense offering at President Ho Chi Minh’s Monument in Moscow on Sept. 2.

In afternoon, Ambassador Dinh held a banquet and his guests included Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov, representatives of Russian administrative agencies, Vietnamese businesses and students in Moscow .

Various activities to mark the event were also held in other Russian cities.

Taiwan tops list of 38 nations and territories by investing $8.6 billion in 112 projects.

HA NOI — Despite high inflation and slow economic growth, Viet Nam remained an attractive destination in the eyes of foreign investors who pumped a record US$47.2 billion into the economy in the first eight months this year, more than four times last year.

HA NOI — Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung hailed the fresh signing of an agreement on the triple border meeting point of Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos a success.

He called it "an event of major historical significance that paves the way for the three countries to co-operate for mutual development and practical benefits", and lauded the effort made by the three countries’ representatives to reach an agreement.

The PM made his remarks at a reception in Ha Noi yesterday for the Cambodian Senior Minister in charge of Border Affairs of the Council of Ministers Var Kim Hong and Lao Deputy Foreign Minister Phongsavat Bupha.