Day: November 9, 2021

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on November 9 hosted a reception for visiting Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women Marise Payne, who is on a working visit to Vietnam.

The two sides agreed to maintain and promote the exchange of delegations and all-level meetings, implement existing cooperation mechanisms in a flexible manner and effectively carry out the Vietnam-Australia action plan for 2020-2023, and the Vietnam – Australia Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy (EEES) so as to soon double the two-way trade, towards becoming one of the 10 trading partners of each other.

PM Chinh used the occasion to thank the Australian Government for its commitment of 5.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines and medical supplies to Vietnam, noting his hope that Australia will continue to support Vietnam in COVID-19 prevention and control, and socio-economic development.

He spoke highly of the thriving relations between Vietnam and Australia, especially the two-way trade that hit 9.1 billion USD in the first nine months of this year, up more than 50 percent year-on-year despite the pandemic.

The leader appreciated Australia’s continuing to provide official development assistance (ODA) at the high level for Vietnam, reaching 78.9 million AUD in the 2021-2022 financial year.

Highlighting the outcomes of the third Vietnam-Australia Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, Chinh said it demonstrates the two countries’ resolve to boost the strategic partnership.

The Vietnamese Government leader suggested Australia consider opening its market for a number of Vietnamese agricultural and fishery products, and implementing an agriculture visa scheme for Vietnamese labourers.

The PM also appealed to Australia to create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in the country, extend visa for Vietnamese citizens stranded in the country due to COVID-19, and resume the reception and scholarships for Vietnamese students.

Vietnam and Australia should further support each other and support the ASEAN-Australia relations in issues regarding peace, cooperation and development in the region and the world, including Vietnam’s and ASEAN’s stance on the East Sea issue.

For her part, Minister Payne affirmed that Australia considers Vietnam a priority in various matters, including infrastructure development, agriculture, poverty reduction and climate change.

She supported PM Chinh’s proposals, saying Australia highly values Vietnam’s stance on the East Sea issue and completely backs the peaceful settlement of international disputes based on principles of international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982 UNCLOS).

The minister expressed her belief that Vietnam will gradually complete the target of adapting to and living safely with COVID-19.

She announced that Australia will provide another 2.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for Vietnam, raising its total donations to more than 7.8 million doses to the Southeast Asian nation.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam posted 18.3 percentage points in the Business Climate Index (BCI) in the third quarter of 2021 that was recently announced by the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham), a slight rise over the record low of 15 percentage points recorded in the most difficult time of the fourth wave of COVID-19 infections in September.

Though the index remains low, the BCI noted improving perceptions about Vietnam’s economic outlook. Besides, leaders of European businesses and investors involving in the BCI survey showed their optimism about Vietnam’s business environment after social distancing measures were lifted and the country entered a “new normal”, especially in trade and investment areas.

Nearly a half of the business leaders and investors predicted a stable and improved economic outlook for Vietnam in the fourth quarter.

At the same time, the proportion of business leaders planning to maintain or increase their investments in the fourth quarter rose to 69 percent, with revenues projected to rise.

EuroCham Chairman Alain Cany said that the most important thing is that the index is now moving in the positive direction. With the pandemic now put under control in Vietnam, the optimism of European business leaders and investors will continue to grow as more and more companies resume normal operations and consumer confidence rises, he said.

Meanwhile, CEO of YouGov Vietnam Thue Quist Thomasen said that while the confidence in the prospects for Vietnam’s business environment has seen a small but encouraging rise, companies are still hesitant when it comes to their own operations and plans.

This suggests that business leaders are waiting to see how conditions and regulations in the ‘new normal’ will be unfolded before making significant commitments regarding investment projects or recruitment plans, he said.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV)’s Central Committee sent a congratulatory message to the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) Central Committee, while Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong sent flower baskets to King Norodom Sihamoni and CPP President Hun Sen on Cambodia’s 68th Independence Day on November 9.

On this occasion, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc sent a letter of congratulations to King Norodom Sihamoni, while Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh extended greetings to Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue also sent a letter of congratulations to President of the Cambodian Senate Samdech Say Chhum and President of the Cambodian National Assembly Samdech Heng Samrin.

In these congratulatory messages and letters, the CPV Central Committee and senior leaders of Vietnam expressed their joy at the great and proud achievements that the Cambodian people have obtained in the cause of national construction and development, believing that the Cambodian people will continue to reap more fruits, soon control the COVID-19 pandemic, and boost socio-economic recovery and development.

The CPV Central Committee and senior leaders affirmed that, on the basis of the fine cooperation and traditional friendship between the two nations, Vietnam will work with Cambodia in protecting, preserving and nurturing the bilateral relationship between the two Parties, States and people in order to bring benefits to their people, for the development and stability of each country, and for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

On this occasion, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son also sent a congratulatory letter to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Former French Ambassador to Vietnam Jean-Noël Poirier has highlighted the significance of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s freshly-ended visit to France, saying that it attracted French businesses’ special interest.

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)’s correspondent in France, Poirier, who is now working as a foreign investment consultant in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, affirmed that PM Chinh’s trip was a great success and it achieved the set targets.

The two sides expressed their desire to revive cooperation activities between ministries and sectors as well as between businesses, he noted.

The French expert said after this visit by the Vietnamese Government leader, many French companies have begun to consider the possibility of returning to markets abroad and heading to the Southeast Asian countries, especially Vietnam, which promises a prosperous future and can bring them many cooperation opportunities.

Vietnam’s political and social situation has been always stable, he said, noting that this is the reason why foreign businesses will not have to bear much risk when investing in Vietnam.

However, he mentioned the cultural obstacle that the two sides need to solve, saying that to address cultural differences for better mutual understanding, French and Vietnamese partners should be open and show goodwill to cooperate with each other.

The expert also expressed his belief that there will be more Vietnamese investors investing in France in the future.

According to Poirier, the Indo-Pacific region is increasingly attracting attention from big countries in the world, including France, because this is a strategic area for international trade.

He underlined the need to ensure freedom of navigation in the region because it is where most of global maritime trade activities take place.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The National Assembly continues to spend the whole day of November 9 discussing the implementation of the 2021 socio-economic development plan and a draft plan for 2022, as well as reports on COVID-19 prevention and control, the implementation of the State budget in 2021, State budget estimate and central budget allocation plan for 2022, and the 2022-2024 finance-budget plan.

The discussion is broadcast live on Radio the Voice of Vietnam, Vietnam Television, and National Assembly Televivion.

These issues were scrutinised on November 8 during the ongoing second plenary session of the 15th National Assembly.

Most of the opinions raised at the working day approved the Government’s reports and assessment reports of NA Committees.

The lawmakers pointed out major tasks and solutions to spur socio-economic development in 2022, regional economic growth, maritime economic development and trade, among others.

They touched upon solutions to remove difficulties facing people and businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and ensure social welfare, job generation and the public’s health.

The deputies also debated State budget collection and the increase of budget allocation to cities and provinces severely affected by the pandemic.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Ministry of Transport has proposed reopening international flights to 15 countries and territories in the world in three phases.

According to a report submitted to the Prime Minister on November 8, the 15 targeted markets are China, Hong Kong (China), Japan, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan (China), Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, France, Germany, Russia, the UK, and Australia.

The ministry held that the resumption of the flights will contribute to removing difficulties for domestic airlines, while promoting the recovery of economic and tourism activities in localities and the country as a whole.

In the first phase starting from the first quarter of 2022, the flights will not be required to have the list of their passengers approved by authorised agencies, excluding entry-exit and health control requirements. In the second phase from the second quarter of 2022, international passengers flying to Vietnam on regular flights and having vaccine passports will not be required to undergo concentrated quarantine.

During the third phase of the scheme, regular international flights will be operated, depending on the demand and developments of the COVID-19 pandemic and the vaccination rate in Vietnam and the world.

The ministry also proposed the Government decide the specific time to implement the three phases of the scheme on the basis of reports and evaluation of pilot international flights carrying Vietnamese citizens and flights carrying international tourists to some localities such as Kien Giang, Khanh Hoa, Quang Ninh, Da Nang and Quang Nam, as well as the results of each phase.

Flights carrying Vietnamese citizens who pay quarantine fee themselves will be conducted following the instructions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Meanwhile, pilot flights for international tourists will be implemented in line with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s decision.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Health Ministry’s National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology on November 9 received 1,910 vaccine fridges, 5 million syringes and 50,000 safety boxes within the framework of a vaccination support project in Vietnam funded by the Australian Government and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Speaking at the ceremony, Vietnamese Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long thanked the Australian Government and people and the UNICEF for their valuable support.

He also thanked the Australian Government for committing 5.2 million vaccine doses to Vietnam as the entire Vietnamese political system and people are doing their best to curb the spread of the pandemic, saying that the support is a great source of material and spiritual encouragement to the Vietnamese Government and people during this current difficult period.

Launched in April 2021, the project also offers training courses to improve the capacity of medical workers, conducts vaccination campaigns in remote and mountainous areas, and holds communication activities to persuade residents to receive vaccination.

The Australian Government committed a total of 5.2 million vaccine doses to Vietnam, of which 1.5 million AstraZeneca doses manufactured by Australia were already delivered to Vietnam, and the remainder are provided via a procurement contract between the Australian Government and the UNICEF.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Lawmakers highlighted the role of information and communications in the fight against COVID-19 and economic development during the ongoing second session of the 15th National Assembly in Hanoi on November 9.

Deputy Pham Nam Tien from the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong cited a survey by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) as saying that since mid-March, information and communications has been one of the sectors hardest hit by the pandemic. A number of news outlets were forced to scale off or suspend the production of print papers.

In the fight against the pandemic, he noted that fake and untruthful news on social media also spread like an epidemic in an uncontrolled manner, resulting in public misunderstandings. Several localities failed to perform well in communication work when issuing guiding documents, making it hard for residents to promptly adapt to the pandemic.

Deputy Dang Xuan Phuong representing the central province of Nghe An suggested that the Government’s report should add assessments on the efficiency of information and communication work. He proposed the Government issue a communication strategy for the long-term fight against the pandemic and economic recovery. The Party’s guidelines and State’s policies should be conveyed to the public in the quickest way via clear and succinct messages, he said.

Opinions also called for reaching consensus on the use of only one app for anti-pandemic activities nationwide.

Deputy Nguyen Hai Trung, Director of the Hanoi Public Security, said the sector put into operation the national population database this year and issued 50 million chip-based ID cards for citizens, which proved efficiency in the fight against the pandemic, especially in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and southern localities.

In accordance with the Government’s Resolution No.128/NQ-CP, the national population database has been connected with the database on vaccinated, tested and COVID-19-infected residents, making it easier for managing their travelling and fighting the pandemic.

The Minister of Public Security and the Secretary of the Hanoi municipal Party Committee also agreed to control those to and from the football match between Vietnam and Japan at My Dinh national stadium on November 11 based on ID cards incorporated with vaccination database.

Source: Vietnam News Agency