Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations unveiled with fanfare another road map to a common community for the next decade even as the bloc missed targets for economic integration this year. The 10 leaders signed a document declaring the establishment of an Asean Community from Dec. 31, and another titled "Asean 2025: Forging Together Ahead" that laid out the vision for the next 10 years. It aims to create a community that is "politically cohesive, economically integrated, and socially responsible." Less was said about the end-2015 targets for Asean Economic Community, whose goal was to allow free movement of goods, services and skilled labor as part of a European Union-style integration plan, without a common currency. Asean will now attempt to complete measures unfinished in an eight-year plan by the end of 2016 after missing the end-2015 goal. "It will not lead to a ‘big bang’ moment in terms of regional integration" even as the formalization of the … [Read more...] about Asean opts for new road map as economic union targets missed
Road construction ahead sign
Construction of nuclear center in Da Lat unready
VietNamNet Bridge - The Ministry of Science and Technology and the authorities of Lam Dong Province have not been able to reach a consensus on the construction of a nuclear science and technology center in Da Lat City. The Prime Minister will make a decision on this project. The Institute of Da Lat Nuclear Research, with a reactor located in the center of the resort city of Da Lat, is expected to cease operations within the next 10 years. It will be replaced by the Da Lat Nuclear Science and Technology Center, with a new reactor. The new facility will be built 12km from the current institute. When the new center is operational, the current nuclear reactor will be closed, after more than 50 years of operation. The entire workforce of the Da Lat Institute of Nuclear Research will be transferred to the new center. On December 11, 2012, Vietnam and Russia signed an intergovernmental agreement on the construction of the new center. This project has a total investment of $500 … [Read more...] about Construction of nuclear center in Da Lat unready
Many challenges ahead, despite Q1 growth of 5.83%: NA leader
National Assembly deputies visit the Presidential Palace in Ha Noi. — VNA/VNS Photo Nguyen Dan HA NOI — National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong said yesterday that in the first quarter of this year, Viet Nam's economic growth rate hit 5.83 per cent, double that of the same quarter in 2009. Trong said that by mid-April of 2010, total budget collection amounted to 29.2 per cent of that forecast, describing this as a promising sign for the country's economic recovery. He was speaking at the seventh session of the 12th National Assembly which opened here yesterday morning. Among participants were Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong, President of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front Huynh Dam and many senior Party and Government officials. Trong said that social security for citizens could continue to be ensured and that this had considerably contributed to stabilising living conditions. He said these … [Read more...] about Many challenges ahead, despite Q1 growth of 5.83%: NA leader
Asiad: One month ahead, Guangzhou ready to go
GUANGZHOU, China (AFP) - After seven years of painstaking preparations, Guangzhou -- the southern city at the heart of China's economic miracle -- has reinvented itself and is ready for next month's Asian Games. Organisers say they hope the 2010 Asiad -- the world's second-largest sporting event after the Olympics -- will help the booming metropolis once known as Canton to join the ranks of the world's elite cities. "After the Asian Games, Guangzhou will not only be known for business and trade, but also sport and lifestyle," the vice secretary general of the Guangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee, Gu Shiyang, told AFP. "Guangzhou will not only be known as an important city in China, but also in Asia and the world." Nearly 12,000 athletes from 45 countries and regions will compete for 476 sports titles at the Games in Guangzhou, which sits in the Pearl River Delta, the hub of China's huge export-oriented "workshop of the world". Just as Beijing did before the 2008 Olympics, … [Read more...] about Asiad: One month ahead, Guangzhou ready to go
Iran’s nuclear issue: hopes emerging, bumpy road ahead
The long-awaited talks over Tehran 's controversial nuclear program concluded in Istanbul of Turkey on Saturday between Iran and six world powers, with both sides describing the talks as positive and constructive. Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - - the United States, France, Russia, China, and Britain -- plus Germany (P5+1) agreed to hold another round of talks in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on May 23. Although hopes are emerging for the resolution of the long- standing Iranian nuclear issue, the road ahead remains bumpy, analysts say. "The world witnessed Saturday it (the atmosphere of talks) was different, but the concrete results will not come out immediately or in one go," Dr. Sadeq Zibakalam, a professor of political science at Tehran University, told Xinhua on Sunday. SIGNS OF PROGRESS The softened position of the Iranian delegation and the pragmatic approach the P5+1 took in the talks led to agreement on some initial generalities … [Read more...] about Iran’s nuclear issue: hopes emerging, bumpy road ahead