A solemn meeting was held in HCM City on Apr.29 to celebrate the 36th anniversary of the liberation of the south and of May Day.
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President Nguyen Minh Triet hangs the emblem of Hero of People's Armed Forces on the traditional flag of HCM City's People's Armed Forces. VNA/VNS Photo The Anh |
It was attended by President Nguyen Minh Triet, former Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, Chairman of the Viet Nam Fatherland Front Huynh Dam, Politburo member and Secretary of the HCM City Party Committee Le Thanh Hai, and other senior Party and Government officials.
They were joined by revolutionary veterans, Heroic Mothers, Heroes of the People's Armed Forces, Labour Heroes, and people from all walks of life.
Addressing the meeting, Chairman of the city People's Committee Le Hoang Quan said the April 30 Victory and the liberation of the former Sai Gon and the whole South Viet Nam in the spring of 1975 represented national liberation and the emancipation of human beings everywhere by the Vietnamese led by the Communist Party and President Ho Chi Minh.
It was a triumph of the modern age's good judgement and human dignity over unjust violence.
"A new chapter began in the history of Viet Nam, but the values of the Vietnamese people's resistance war and the great 1975 Spring victory will be everlasting."
Expanding upon the spirit of the victory, HCM City was determined to overcome its difficulties and make doi moi (renewal) a success, turning HCM City into a socialist, civilised and modern city worthy of President Ho Chi Minh's name.
The city was doing its best to make the elections to the 13th National Assembly and People's Councils for 2011-16 a success.
The city was focusing on curbing inflation, stabilising the economy, ensuring social welfare, and promoting business to maintain high growth, ensure political stability, and improve people's living standards.
Triet conferred, for the second time, the title of Hero of People's Armed Forces on the city's armed forces. He also conferred it on six people from the former Central Bureau for Southern Viet Nam.
The Independence Medal were conferred on organisations while the Labour Order was conferred on 44 local organisations and individuals.
Highway named
A 13.4km section of HCM City's East-West Highway has been renamed Vo Van Kiet Highway in honour of the late Prime Minister's contributions to municipal development.
The Vo Van Kiet Highway that opened to traffic last September runs from the National Highway 1A in Binh Chanh District to Calmette Bridge in District 1.
It is part of the yet-to-be-completed East-West Highway, starting from National Highway 1A in outlying Binh Chanh District through the Yersin-Chuong Duong intersection near Calmette Bridge in District 1 and the Ha Noi Highway in District 2 via the Thu Thiem Tunnel.
Vo Van Kiet, born Phan Van Hoa in 1922 in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long, was chairman of the HCM City People's Committee in 1976 before becoming Prime Minister.
During his tenure from 1991 to 1997, he was hailed as the architect of the doi moi process of the late 1980s and 1990s that tackled poverty in Viet Nam and unleashed an era of economic growth.
Upon completion of construction, which is expected in the second quarter, the 21.9km-long highway costs totally more than VND13 trillion (US$627 million).
It will stretch through districts 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, Binh Tan and Binh Chanh and create an East-West traffic axis linking the city's northeastern part with the southwestern part.
It will improve transport efficiency from ports to other places in the city and the Mekong Delta, and ease traffic pressure on the Sai Gon Bridge.
Speaking at the ceremony, the standing vice chairman of the city People's Committee, Nguyen Thanh Tai, said the East-West Highway would help shorten the travel time and address traffic congestion along the East-West route of the city.
"It is the shortest route linking the existing urban metropolitan area with the Thu Thiem new urban town. It will establish a new urban transport infrastructure complex, which will pave the way for developing an urban area east of the city," Tai said.
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