The Vietnamese Ministry of National Defense held a ceremony in Hanoi on March 8 to announce the decision on the establishment of the Office of the Standing Agency of the National Steering Committee on the Settlement of Post-war Unexploded Ordnance and Toxic Chemical Consequences (Office 701). Present at the ceremony were representatives from ministries, agencies, and international organizations such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and the United Nations Development Program in Vietnam (UNDP). The office, which was set up following the prime minister’s Decision 701, will be responsible for working with individuals and organizations at home and abroad to promote activities overcoming the consequences of bombs, mines and toxic chemicals left over from the war, thus ensuring the safety of people and environment. At the ceremony, Deputy Defense Minister Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, chief of the agency, thanked the governments of the U.S., Japanese, Korean and international organizations for closely partnering with Vietnam in implementing post-war bomb, mine, and toxic chemical consequence recovery efforts. (VTV, VnExpress, Infonet, Tien Phong - Pioneer, VietNamNet Mar 8)
