In Brief.

(From Saigon Times Magazine)

The third sitting of the National Assembly (NA), 11th tenure, ended with a host of new laws discussed and enacted. The Law on the NA's Supervision and the Law on National Borders were among the most important laws passed in this sitting. Other laws enacted or discussed included the Law on Statistics, the Law on Accounting, the Law on Revisions of and Supplement to Some Articles of the Law on Value-Added Tax and the Law on Corporate Tax, and the Law on the State Bank. Agenda for the next sitting scheduled for the end of the year includes the review of socio-economic situation in 2003, action plans for 2004, and the State budget act, among others.

During talks in a Washington

visit by a Vietnamese mission headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Dinh Bin, both Vietnamese and U.S. officials expressed their satisfaction with bilateral relations and agreed on the need to build them into long-term, stable links for the sake of mutual interest, peace and stability of the region. Both sides also emphasized on the continuation of ties in humanitarian issues such as MIA, mine removal, and Agent Orange. U.S. officials confirmed that the Bush Administration does not support the so-called "Vietnam Human Rights Bill" and considers unlawful the permission to hang the flag of the former Saigon regime.

A "For People's Health" badge was given last week by the Ministry of Health to the Japanese ambassador to Vietnam, Norio Hattori, for his hearty support in helping Vietnam fight SARS. During the first days SARS broke out in Vietnam in February, the ambassador petitioned the Japanese Government for timely assistance. Just two days after the request, Japanese health experts were sent to Vietnam, and Japanese emergency relief including germ-killing solutions, breath-aiding machines and other equipment arrived soon afterwards.

The Vietnam Post and Telecom Corporation (VNPT) …