Sustainable infrastructure development is a strategic breakthrough in Vietnam socio-economic development, said Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh at the 38th session of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) held in Nha Trang city, central Khanh Hoa province on May 14.

Vietnam has issued a resolution on the subject and implemented a number of projects to build highways, airports and seaports, develop clean energies, and afforest, he stated.

The government leader also lauded practical activities launched by the ADFIAP.

According to ADFIAP Chairman Pema Tshering, Asia needs around 750 billion USD to improve its infrastructure each year with focuses on transportation, telecommunications, energy, clean water supply and sanitation.

Regional growth depends largely on the standards of its infrastructure, which has received significant funding from the ADFIAP, he said.

The conference gathered more than 100 participants including State officials, ADFIAP representatives and business leaders. Their discussion revolved around relevant policy frameworks, sponsorships and support systems.

Comments from participants urged the ADFIAP to consolidate its role and capitalise on the dynamic regional growth.

A joint statement was issued concluding the session, highlighting boosting capital mobilisation and investments, strengthening sponsorship and business collaboration and developing support systems, among others.

Founded in 1976, the ADFIAP aims to advance sustainable development through enhancing the financial capacity of its members; 131 institutions in 45 countries have thus far joined the organisation.

Lost of leaders of foreign states and major international organizations have come to Russia to join the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great War, except European leaders.

The West had isolated itself from the rest of the world by rejecting to join the 70th Anniversary of Russia's Great Patriotic War Victory.

Before the parade, at the Armorial Hall of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin greeted the leaders of foreign states and major international organizations who have come to Moscow to take part in the celebrations.

The military parade to commemorate the 70^th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War has become one of the largest in the history of Red Square, involving 16,000 servicemen, 194 units of land-based military equipment and 143 aircraft and helicopters.

More than 2,000 veterans of the Great Patriotic War attended the parade in Red Square as guests of honor.

The Victory parade in Moscow has deeply impressed the world, it shows that Mr. Putin has not been isolated, and indeed the isolation has come back to the people who had rejected the Russia’s invitation to take part in the anniversary.

It’s big mistake to say that those who attended the parade are less politically important than those who refused to attend this activity.

There were not all of Europe’s leaders had rejected to join the anniversary. In the Victory Day, the stand in Red Square had the Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras and  the President of Cyrus’s Nikos Anastasiadis; the two countries which have been close to Russia due to not only the Orthodox Church, but also they have clearly aware of the bitter mistake of the Europe.

Deeply inside the decision of Europe’s leaders not to join the anniversary of the Victory Day in Moscow there was the submission of Brussels to the US. This decision was to please the Europe’ alliance; in fact, Mr. Obama, the owner of puppet theatre, has inflated anti-Russia activities. Europe had forgotten basic principles in an alliance: where it is and what it needs? While it shares European continent with Russia and it need Russia’s natural gas to keep it warm in freezing days in winter...

On 9^th May, the Prime Minister of Italy, Berlusconi also stated the same things. He called the absence of European leaders in Moscow parade is short-sighted policy.

“What we are doing is a big mistake. The stand in Red Square, where Putin and leaders come from a lot of countries like China, India and other Asian countries, is not a site of isolation to Russia, it is proof of Europe’s decrease”, he said.

Another Italian politician, Mr. Matteo Salvini, the leader of “Lega Nord” also expressed his respect for President Putin. On May 9, he posted on Facebook a photo of him with Vladimir Putin with the caption: "I'm with him."

In the Italian politician opinion, Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni should have joined the parade on the occasion of the Victory Day because Russia with the leadership of President Vladimir Putin is an valuable economic and political partner.

In addition, on the upcoming of the anniversary, former Russia President Mikhail Gorbachev also condemned the West’s leader for their rejecting to join the anniversary, “this is disrespect to countries that defeated fascism, as well as people and soldiers who died in this war” he said.

Traditionally, the leaders of many countries are invited to Moscow to attend the victory parade in Red Square.

This year 68 foreign leaders and the head of UNESCO, the United Nations, European Union and Council of Europe was invited to attend the 70-year anniversary of Victory, but many of them didn’t come./.

Local lawmakers are mulling a draft amendment suggesting restrictions on the length of Vietnamese full names, which seems to be a personal matter and has nothing to do with social order.

Minister of Justice Ha Hung Cuong presented a set of draft amendments at a Standing Committee meeting of the National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday.

The draft amendments are based on feedback from over 7.5 million people, according to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA).

One of the suggestions stated that a Vietnamese citizen’s full name should not have more than 25 letters, or feature numbers or symbols.

The suggestion indicated that while citizens have the right to choose their full name at their own will, the government should set specific rules to guide them in doing so.

Many full names are not culturally appropriate, the VNA said.

Transgender people have also encountered immense difficulty changing their full names from those typical of one gender to the other, delegates heard.

The draft amendment also urged that a provision be added to the Law on Vietnamese Nationality to issue a regulation that anyone who applies for Vietnamese citizenship must have a Vietnamese name.

Delegate Phung Quoc Hien expressed his support for the regulation that restricts the length of Vietnamese full names, adding that a number of parents have given their children overly lengthy names, which causes great difficulty in administrative paperwork and transactions later, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported.

However, Truong Thi Mai, chairperson of the NA Committee on Social Affairs, noted that the restriction may not go along with the Vietnamese Constitution.

“A long full name does not interfere with social order or national security and defense. We should only encourage citizens to avoid lengthy names, but it’s up to them to decide,” Tuoi Tre cited Mai as saying.

Cuong, Minister of Justice, told the Tuesday session that the government has discussed the issue thoroughly.

“Names belong to citizens, but are recorded in state documents, such as identity cards, and driver's licenses. Abbreviations must be used for long names, which may bring troubles to the name holders themselves later,” he explained.

“We pay due respect to citizens’ identity rights but our job is to provide guidance to avoid complications in social order and management,” Cuong stressed.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Van Giau, chairman of the NA Committee on Economic Affairs, called for a clearer definition of truly Vietnamese names as stated in the draft amendment, as expat Vietnamese tend to use their full names with their first names placed before their last in the order adopted by most Western countries.

The NA Committee on Legal Affairs also said that the draft regulation that anyone who applies for Vietnamese citizenship must have a Vietnamese name should be given more consideration.

Since January, the Ministry of Justice has been soliciting suggestions and feedback on the draft amendments to the Civil Code on its website http://www.moj.gov.vn, according to the VNA.

The current draft comprises 672 articles, shorter than the 2009 Civil Code, which has 777 articles.

In its recent report on poverty reduction, the World Bank (WB) has once again raised concerns about food loss and waste worldwide, which are major threats to food security and poverty reduction.

While millions of people across the planet go to bed hungry every night, millions of tonnes of food is being trashed, said WB President Jim Yong Kim.

The report revealed that of all the food produced for human consumption in the world one quarter to one third is lost or wasted.

In developed countries, the total of food lost or wasted is equivalent to 750 to 1,500 calories per person per day. In poorer areas where malnutrition is common, such as Africa and South Asia, the figure is surprisingly high, at about 400 to 500 calories per day being lost or wasted

Consumer habits in wealthy countries drive food wastage with an average family of four in the US and the UK wasting US$1,600 and US$1,100 annually on food purchased but not consumed. In poor countries, food is lost during the stages of production, storage and transport. For example the report claims that 87% of what is wasted in South/Southeast Asia is lost during these stages.

Clearly, in addition to efforts in improving agricultural technologies, it is necessary to change perceptions and behaviours towards food consumption to limit food losses.