Admiral Nguyen Van Hien, Deputy Minister of National Defence led a delegation of naval officers on February 10 to call on leaders in Ho Chi Minh City to offer greetings for Lunar New Year.
Among those present at the gathering were Le Thanh Hai, Party Committee Secretary; Le Hoang Quan , Chairman of HCMC People’s Committee and other leaders from the HCMC People’s Council and HCMC Fatherland Committee.
Le Hoang Quan, Chairman of the Municipal People’s Committee informed the delegation about the city's socio-economic development in the past year, garnering an impressive economic growth of 11 per cent in 2011 and attracting foreign investments. The city has also made progress in ensuring social protection, and gaining impressive achievements in other areas such as education, culture and sports.
The Mayor stressed that 2012 would present the country with many challenges, thus HCMC must stay focused in order to fulfill its targets and closely follow the direction of the Party Congress, particularly the resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party Plenum 3 and 4.
Navy Commander Vice Admiral Tran Thanh Huyen said that in 2011, the Vietnamese navy effectively performed their task of protecting the country’s sea and island sovereignty and rescue at sea.
He also expressed his gratitude to the HCMC Party, authorities and people in past years for supporting the soldiers in Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.
‘These are momentums that encourage the naval fighters to successfully implement the task of protecting Vietnam’s sovereignty over its seas and islands,’ he said.
Vice-Admiral Huyen stressed that the support of HCMC in particular and of Vietnam in general symbolised patriotism and national pride as well as make the navy aware of its responsibility in preserving and defending sea and island sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Party Committee Secretary Le Thanh Hai applauded the navy in resolving issues of national defense and maintaining a peaceful environment and tirelessly focusing on training in order to improve soldiers' capacity to meet new requirements.
Comrade Hai said through activities to raise public awareness of sea and island sovereignty, relations between the public and the navy forces have been tightened and Vietnamese naval forces’ prestige in regional forums has been heightened.
He promised that the city leaders will continue to call on all levels of people to increase assistance, boost solidarity between people and soldiers and raise their responsibility in protecting sea and island sovereignty.
