Needy kids in Ha Nam provided with free milk

Ha Nam (VNA) - The “Fund of One Million Glasses of Milk” on Sept. 9 delivered milk worth 400 million VND in total to 5,000 poor children in the Red river delta province of Ha Nam .

Initiated by the National Fund for Vietnamese Children and the Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk), the fund is expected to provide free milk for 50,000 disadvantaged kids in 14 provinces and cities nationwide.

Vinamilk pledged products worth at least 3 billion VND to the fund by allocating 60 VND from its profit of each milk box sold out.

Ha Nam is home to around 79,200 children under six years old, of whom nearly 7,000 are living in disadvantaged conditions. Up to 21 percent of the local under-five children suffer from malnutrition.

According to the National Nutrition Institute’s 2007 report, one-third of Vietnamese children under five suffer from stunted growth, while 20 percent is underweight.

Milk usage per capita in Vietnam is among the lowest in the region and world. A Vietnamese drinks an average of 6 litres of milk a year, compared to 22 litres in Thailand and 26 litres in China.-

Prince Andrew attends celebrations of Vietnam-UK ties

Hanoi (VNA) – The visiting Prince Andrew, Duke of York, the UK , joined the UK Embassy staff and businessmen in a ceremony marking the 35 th anniversary of the Vietnam-UK diplomatic ties in Hanoi on Sept. 8.

Addressing the ceremony, Prince Andrew said his third Vietnam visit coincided with the two countries’ big event and was made as bilateral cooperation develops in almost all fields.

The Prince, who had visited Vietnam in 1999 and 2006, also asserted that he would contribute more to boosting the relations between the two countries in the future.

On behalf of the Vietnamese government, Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc expressed thanks to the British Royal Family and the Prince himself for their important contributions to the Vietnam-UK relations over the past years.

“The celebration of 35 th anniversary of the two countries’ diplomatic ties is an event of great significance, marking an important stage of the development of the bilateral relations,” said Phuc.

The UK now is the biggest among EU donors of non-refundable aid to Vietnam , helping the country successfully implementing policies to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty, and develop health care and education.

Over the recent years, the UK has become a leading partner of Vietnam with the two countries’ two-way trade recording an annual growth rate of 15-20 percent and reaching 2 billion USD in 2007.

The European country stands third among EU investors with 1.4 billion USD in FDI capital.

Large businesses from the UK have been doing business in Vietnam , mainly in key industries such as oil and gas, finance-banking, and telecoms.-

Meeting marks DPRK’s National Day

Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam – Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Friendship Association and the Vietnam’s Committee in Support of DPRK held a joint meeting in Hanoi on September 8 to mark the DPRK’s 60 th National Day (Sept. 9).

Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations’ Chairman Vu Xuan Hong, DPRK ambassador to Vietnam Ma Chol Su and representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attended the event.

Addressing the meeting, the friendship association’s chairman Pham Tat Dong expressed his wish that the DPRK people will reap further achievements in the process of national construction and defence.

The chairman noted that the two countries’ friendship and cooperation in recent years has been strengthened with new developments.

The Vietnamese people are always grateful for the DPRK’s supports during their past struggle for national liberation and reunification and the current national construction, he said.-

Vietnam-UK diplomatic ties marked

The Vietnamese Embassy in the UK hosted a reception marking the 35 th anniversary of Vietnam-UK diplomatic ties and the 63 rd National Day of Vietnam, in London on Sept. 8.

Ambassador Tran Quang Hoan highlighted developments in the two countries’ cooperation in recent years, emphasising that the UK is one of Vietnam’s leading European partners in politics-diplomacy; economy, trade and investment; cooperation for development; education-training and cooperation in migration and the fight against organised crimes.

The Vietnamese diplomat hailed the exchange of visits of high-level delegations for contributing to boosting cooperation and mutual understanding between the two nations.

Present at the function, Secretary of State for Justice Jack Straw said many Britons, being politicians, investors, businesspeople and tourists, have had good impressions of Vietnam after witnessing immense changes in the war-torn country, affirming that Vietnam is becoming an attractive destination.

He expressed his belief that friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and the UK will be growing in all fields on the basis of commitments by the two sides during Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to the UK in March this year.

On the occasion, Secretary Straw conveyed the greetings of Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs David Miliband to the Vietnamese Government and people. -