VN News (Apr. 22, 1997)

[Vu Thanh Ca <vuca@envi.env.civil.saitama-u.ac.jp>]

April 22: China Opens Direct Rail Line to Hanoi 
April 22: Hungarian minister heads for Vietnam to boost ties 
April 22: Southeast Asian labour ministers meet in Hanoi


China Opens Direct Rail Line to Hanoi 

BEIJING (Xinhua News) - China and neighbouring Viet Nam have opened
the first direct passenger rail traffic link via the border port of
Hekou, today's "China Daily" reported.

The Beijing-based newspaper uses the source from the Ministry of
Railway as saying that two passenger service trains left Hanoi, the
Vietnamese capital, and Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan
Province, on April 18 along the narrow-track rail line linking the two
cities and arrived in the other about 30 hours later.

This is the most recent move since rail links between the two
countries were restored at two frontier points-Pingxiang and
Hekou-last February.

Ministry resources said traffic on the Hanoi-Kunming route has been
available on the line which links Beijing with Hanoi via Nanning,
capital of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region , and the border port
of Pingxiang.

However, passengers travelling on the line still have to transfer to
another train after walking across the border, rail officials noted.

The four return passenger trains running on the
Beijing-Nanning-Pingxiang-Hanoi line each week, for instance, do not
have many passengers and are losing money, rail official said.

The new passenger service will see four trains a week operating on the
Kunming-Hanoi line, which has yet to become a significant link for
border trade.
                 ___________________________________


Hungarian minister heads for Vietnam to boost ties 

Hanoi (Reuter) - Hungarian Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs will arrive
in Vietnam on Wednesday for a three-day visit to bolster diplomatic
and economic relations.

``...The two sides will have exchanges on the socio-economic situation
and foreign policies of each country and...discuss measures to
reinforce relations between the two countries, especially in the areas
of economy and trade,'' a spokesman for Vietnam's Foreign Ministry
said on Tuesday.

Kovacs will meet with Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet, Military Political
Commissar and Politburo member Le Kha Phieu as well as the ministers
of Planning and Investment, and Trade.
                 ___________________________________


Southeast Asian labour ministers meet in Hanoi

Hanoi (AFP) - The labour ministers of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) began two days of meetings in here on Tuesday, a
diplomat said Tuesday.

The seven ASEAN labour ministers from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam will attend briefings on
the International Labour Organization, the World Trade Organisation
and will discuss social issues relating to trade, the diplomat told
AFP.

One likely topic of mutual concern will be the mistreatment of local
workers in manufacturing plants by foreign investors, said the
diplomat who asked not to be named.

Last month several foreign-invested Vietnam factories supplying US
sportswear maker Nike were named for alleged labour abuses by a New
York-based labour activist group.

Nike suppliers have also been accused of mistreating workers in
Indonesia.