La Habana, sábado 29 de agosto de 2009. Año 13 / Número 242
Interview with Vietnam's Ambassador Vu Chi
Cong
Collaboration between brothers
ARNALDO MUSA
musa.amp@granma.cip.cu
Google
translation. Slightly revised by Walter Lippmann.
The sacrifice of the Vietnamese people to successfully face global
economic crisis, declining poverty, the spread of general education and
working status, and the palpable growth of partnership with the brother
people of Cuba are matters of daily life that fill with pride to a
people who suffered from French colonialism and aggression of U.S.
imperialism.
"The main treasure we have is human resources, and through that we can
economically grow 4.3% this year, despite falling prices of our main
exports: crude oil, rice, coffee, rubber and associated with fishing,"
he told Granma, Vu Chi Cong,
Vietnamese Ambassador to Cuba, noting that since the poverty rate fell
to 11% from 55% before starting the renovation policy in 1986.
The diplomat recalled that on September 2, 1945, Ho Chi Minh, founder of
the Communist Party of Vietnam just 15 years before, proclaimed the
nation's independence in Hanoi's Ba Dinh Square, which he proposed to
convert into a prosperous country on the road toward socialism.
Since 1986, we began to release all the productive forces, which have
helped to satisfy the partisan goal of ensuring people's happiness. "In
that way," he says we have achieved sustained growth, attracted foreign
investment, increased exports and increased the standard of living of
the people, especially in education and health, even in many rural and
mountainous areas.
"We have a population of 86 million inhabitants, 50% of whom are under
25 years old, so major investments are
made in education.
"In the early years of renewal, cheap labor was an advantage, but we
must now prepare technical personnel in order to emphasize the quality
of development, moreover, without sacrificing the environment."
Vietnam, which has suffered foreign occupation and wars of aggression,
has a portion of its population with serious consequences, including
tens of thousands of victims of bombing with Agent Orange, made by U.S.
aircraft, which refuses to compensate them.
In this context, the government has not left unprotected and attends
carefully to other layers of the population with fewer resources, such
as those others disabled due to aggression, as well as retirees and
veterans.
In another part of the conversation, he reported that in the latest
Central Committee plenary session, it was agreed to hold the XI Congress
of the Communist Party of Vietnam in 2011, where it will explore
experiences and analyze the international situation as both goals for
development until 2020.
Vu Chi Cong said that next year marks the 65th anniversary of the
proclamation of independence, the 120 birthday of Ho Chi Minh and
the1000th since the founding of Hanoi. It also marks 50 years of
diplomatic relations with Cuba which strengthens links in all
directions: political, economic, trade and dialogue between our senior
leadership, as shown between President Nguyen Minh Triet and Raúl Castro
in Egypt, during the most recent Summit of the Movement of Non-Aligned
Countries.
"In this line of the Cuban-Vietnamese cooperation, I want to emphasize
in the production of rice, which has developed since 2002. I have made
several contacts in this respect and on a recent visit to the provinces
of Granma, Camaguey and Sancti Spiritus noticed very significant
progress, thanks to smart government policy," said the Ambassado.
Concluding, he said that cooperation between the two countries has been
beneficial. "We are delighted, but the Cubans are the crucial elements
in this regard, " he said with conviction.
http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/2009/08/29/interna/artic06.html
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