Day: December 10, 2021

A seminar was held on December 10 in virtual and in-person forms for heads of Vietnamese representatives abroad and businesses, aiming to seek measures to promote the economic diplomacy to serve the country’s development.

The event focused on finding cooperation orientations and giving practical solutions to foster coordination between the diplomatic sector and business community during the production and business recovery and development in the new normal situation.

Opening the event, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Vu noted that the 13th National Party Congress’ Resolution clarifies the role of economic diplomacy for national development with people, localities and businesses put at the core of services. This is also a task of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and 94 representative agencies of Vietnam abroad, he said.

Vu said that the seminar, which is the first of a series of events held within the framework of the 31st Diplomatic Conference, is a chance for heads of the agencies to share information on the situation, trends of foreign markets and opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises.

The official held that Vietnam is experiencing a special period in which the business community is working to adapt to changes in the world and the country towards greener and more sustainable growth, and to impacts by COVID-19. He expressed hope that through the seminar, businesses will receive market information and forecast as well as warnings that help them expand trade, investment and tourism activities abroad and seek support in removing difficulties in partnering with their foreign peers.

He asked the heads of Vietnamese representative agencies abroad to update businesses on the latest trends in trade, investment and production activities in other countries, as well as information on innovative technologies, education and training, and labour, while giving them advice on how to make the best use of the information.

Following the opening session, participants discussed opportunities and new business trends amid COVID-19 situation in various areas such as trade, investment, production, science, technology and renovation.

The seminar includes five sessions during which businesses will engage in direct discussions with heads of Vietnamese representative agencies in America, Europe, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia-South Asia-South Pacific, and Middle East-Africa.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The retail prices of oil and petrol were revised down starting from 3 pm on December 10 following the latest adjustment by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance.

Accordingly, the retail price of E5RON92 bio-fuel decreased 1,101 VND to a maximum of 22,082 VND per litre (around 1 USD) while that of RON95-III was also down 835 VND to 23,801 VND per litre, down for the second consecutive time.

The prices saw the strongest drop this time since late March 2020, after hikes throughout three months in a row to a record high in seven years.

In the past year, petrol prices posted 18 hikes and five declines.

Diesel 0.05S and kerosene are now sold at 17,334 VND and 16,322 VND per litre, respectively, also down strongly.

Meanwhile, the price of Mazut 180CST was adjusted down to 15,745 VND per kilo.

The petrol price stabilisation fund has been used constantly over the past time to mitigate the impacts of global rising commercial oil and petrol prices and contribute to curbing inflation.

The two ministries review fuel prices every 15 days to adjust the prices in accordance with fluctuations on the world market.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The popular tourist city Hoi An in the central province of Quang Nam, on December 10, signed a deal with the global animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS, committing to stopping the trade and consumption of cat and dog meat, making it the first locality in Vietnam to do so.

The commitment takes effect at the end of this year and lasts for two years.

Julie Sanders, International Director of Companion Animals Programme at FOUR PAWS, said at the virtual signing ceremony that Hoi An’s action will set the example for other Vietnamese localities to follow.

The country saw five million dogs and one million cats slaughtered for meat trade on an annual basis, threatening the local animal welfare and community health, she informed.

Vice Chairman of the Hoi An People’s Committee Nguyen The Hung affirmed that phasing out the trade of dog and cat meat and promoting rabies eradication works are in line with the city’s growth orientation toward becoming a safe, friendly, and green tourist destination.

Participating in the ceremony, young Vietnamese singer Van Mai Huong delivered a speech calling for people, particularly youth, to support the commitment

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The rate of women in the Vietnamese workforce has reached over 70 percent, a high level in the world, according to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

The rate of girls at school age is also higher than boys while in the incumbent 15th legislature, female deputies account for 30.26 percent of the total lawmakers, the highest ratio since the fifth National Assembly.

However, Vietnam still meets a number of challenges in ensuring gender equality, especially the prolonged gender-based violence. The latest national survey showed that over 60 percent of married women had been abused physically and mentally.

A noteworthy point is the fact that gender discrimination still exists in part of the population. Girls account for the majority of victims of violence and abuse, and women find it harder to access sustainable job opportunities than men.

Officer in Charge of the International Labour Organisation Vietnam Nguyen Hong Ha said due to the COVID-19 pandemic this year, female workers are worse affected in terms of employment than their male counterparts, resulting in a 10.8 percent increase in gender-based employment gap.

Director of Hanoi’s Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Bach Lien Huong recommended that authorities allocate appropriate resources for gender equality promotion programmes.

United Nations Acting Resident Coordinator Kidong Park suggested Vietnam promote educational campaigns to raise public awareness of gender equality.

Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Ha proposed that parties concerned should work closely together to carry out a programme on preventing and coping with gender-based violence for the 2021-2025 period as well as priority policies for pregnant and COVID-19-infected women, and women caring for small children.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam’s consistent policy of protecting and promoting human rights has been clearly shown in the context of COVID-19 posing unprecedented challenges to global efforts in protecting human rights.

At a meeting with President Nguyen Xuan Phuc during his visit to Switzerland in November, Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the UN Office in Geneva lauded Vietnam’s determination and efforts in protecting human rights and realising the UN sustainable development goals (SDG).

Earlier at an international consultation workshop on the draft mid-term report on the implementation of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) third cycle recommendations in October, UN Acting Resident Coordinator Kidong Park hailed Vietnam’s commitments and efforts in human rights protection and promotion. The UN representatives’ comments showed that the international community recognises Vietnam’s efforts in ensuring people’s health, life safety and welfare amid the pandemic, which go along with endeavours to speed up sustainable and inclusive development with a cornerstone target of “not leaving anyone behind”.

Recently, the Government has issued Resolution No. 128/NQ-CP on “Safely, flexibly adapting to and effectively controlling COVID-19”. After nearly two months of implementing the document, Vietnam has managed to put the pandemic under control across the country. Meanwhile, the economy has gradually recovered, and people’s life has returned to normal. The 26 trillion VND (1.13 billion USD) supporting package has helped employees and employers overcome difficulties and considerably contributed to ensuring social welfare for people. Vietnam’ efforts to ensure human rights during the pandemic have also been demonstrated in the country’s drastic, synchronous and methodical implementation of the vaccine strategy, in which vaccine diplomacy plays the key role, heading to the goal of providing free-of-charge COVID-19 vaccination to all people.

A survey conducted by Latana research firm on people’s satisfaction with their government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which covered 52 countries and territories around the world, showed that 96 percent of Vietnamese people are satisfied with the Government’s COVID-19 prevention and control activities. Vietnam is also working hard to effectively realise the UN SDGs so as to promote human rights. UNDP Resident Representative a.i. in Vietnam Terence D. Jones affirmed that Vietnam is in the top group among the three groups of countries with fastest progress in implementing the SDGs and one of the countries with highest speed of reaching the goals in Asia.

UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Armida Salsiah Alisjabana also spoke highly of Vietnam’s achievements in SDGs implementation, especially in sustainable poverty reduction, with the ratio of poor households reduced to 2.75 percent in 2020 from 9.88 percent in 2015, and the ratio among ethnic minority groups has dropped by an average 4 percent per year.

Another imprint of Vietnam in the work is ensuring human rights amid climate change. At the 47th session in July, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) adopted a resolution on climate change and human rights, which was initiated and compiled by Vietnam together with Bangladesh and the Philippines, focusing on vulnerable groups, especially the disabled and the elderly.

Director-General of the UN Office in Geneva Tatiana Valovaya underlined that Vietnam is a developing country but it has played a leading role and become a model in combating climate change. Particularly, this year, Vietnam has for the first time built a voluntary mid-term report on the implementation of UPR third cycle recommendations to submit to the UNHRC.

Diana Torres, Assistant Resident Representative & Head of Governance and Participation Unit at UNDP Vietnam commented that through the report, Vietnam continues to make excellent progress in ensuring socio-economic rights of its people, especially in social protection, health insurance, poverty reduction and gender quality.

She held that the compiling of the report is a positive effort reflecting Vietnam’s commitments on human rights issues at international level.

The promotion of human rights is the highest priority and the final target as well as the motivation of sustainable development in Vietnam. Efforts by the Party and State of Vietnam to ensure that all people enjoy their fundamental rights, especially amid the adverse impacts of COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, have manifested the country’s persistent and thorough policy on protecting and promoting human rights.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Ministry of Transport has proposed two stages for the upcoming resumption of regular international commercial flights starting December 15.

At a meeting chaired by Deputy Minister Pham Binh Minh on December 9 regarding the plan, a representative of the ministry said the first stage, lasting for two weeks from December 15, will see the operation of flights between Vietnam and the destinations of Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei – Taiwan (China), Bangkok, Singapore, Vientiane, Phnom Penh, and San Francisco or Los Angeles.

All international flights will land in the Noi Bai aiport in Hanoi and Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City, with the frequency of four flights per week. The weekly number of foreign arrivals is expected at about 14,000.

The second stage starting from January next year will last for one month and covers more destinations – Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong (China), Paris, Frankfurt, Sydney, and Moscow. More airports are suggested to join the scheme, including Da Nang in the central city of Da Nang, Cam Ranh in the central province of Khanh Hoa, Phu Quoc in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang, and Van Don in the northern province of Quang Ninh. Flight frequency will be increased to seven per week, with the weekly number of entries estimated at some 40,000.

Participants agreed with the policy of reopening international flight routes given that Vietnam now basically put the COVID-19 pandemic under control. They said there are a large number of Vietnamese people wishing to go home, including workers with expired labour contracts; students and people on working trips trapped overseas; and expatriates.

The resumption will create conditions for foreign investors and experts to travel to Vietnam to study the market and work for foreign-invested projects, they added.

Deputy PM Minh said the resumption is a practical need in the new normal situation. He required the building of a single medical declaration software applied to people on entry and good implementation of related information work.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A scientific workshop themed “Russia in the eyes of Vietnamese researchers of Russian studies: humanistic aspects” was organised in Hanoi on December 10, highlighting the fruitful development of Russia – Vietnam relations.

In his opening speech, Russian Ambassador to Vietnam Gennady Bezdetko said the event offered an opportunity for Vietnamese researchers who specialise in Russian studies to discuss the role and position of Russia in the Asia-Pacific region, and economic, trade and humanity cooperation between Russia and Vietnam.

He highlighted the flourishing development of the Russia – Vietnam strategic partnership in the last two decades, saying that the relations has been strengthened and is confidently developing across fields in the spirit of friendship and cooperation for mutual benefit.

High-level and top-level political dialogues have been still maintained despite many impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, the ambassador said.

During Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s recent visit to Russia, the two sides approved a joint statement on the vision of the comprehensive strategic partnership until 2030.

According to the diplomat, the most important direction in the Russia – Vietnam cooperation remains the cooperation in oil and gas industry, military and military technology, and coordination of action in areas of energy, transportation, industrial production, digital technology, education and training, science and culture.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs To Anh Dung highlighted the significance of the workshop, saying that it helped connect scholars and researchers in the fields Russian studies and Vietnam – Russia relations.

The 13th National Party Congress affirmed that Vietnam would continue pursuing a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance and multilateralisation and diversification of relations, in which Russia is a traditional partner, a comprehensive strategic partner and a top priority in Vietnam’s external policy, he said.

Russia is an important partner of Vietnam in the fields of energy, and oil and gas. Joint cooperation projects between the two sides have been implemented effectively in both Vietnam and Russia, he noted, adding that the two countries have also expanded cooperation to clean and renewable energy.

The increasingly tightened and strengthened relations between the two countries will be a foundation for maintaining security and stability in the region and the world, he stressed.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Chien Thang, Director of the Institute of European Studies, said Russia is an important subject of international relations that makes active contributions to the integration and cooperation processes in the region and the world.

Scientists of Vietnam and Russia discussed, analysed deeply and proposed solutions to strengthen the role and position of Russia in the Asia-Pacific region in general, and strengthen cooperative ties between Russia and Vietnam in particular.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The United Nations will continue to support Vietnam in human rights issues in the time ahead, Acting UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam Rana Flowers has affirmed.

The UN official made the remark while addressing an international consultation workshop on the second draft voluntary mid-term report on the implementation of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) third cycle recommendations in Hanoi on December 10.

The theme of this year’s Human Rights Day (December 10) is Equality, she said, highlighting human rights issues in such spheres as labour and employment, and the rights of women and children.

UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam Caitlin Wiesen also presented opinions on the draft report.

This is the first time that Vietnam has compiled a mid-term report on the implementation of UPR third cycle recommendations, which will be sent to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

In his opening remarks, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Dang Hoang Giang emphasised the significance of Human Rights Day and the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, saying the best way to ensure and promote human rights globally is to conduct result-oriented cooperation and dialogue, both bilateral and multilateral, and promote the spirit of international solidarity as well as the principles of equality, transparency and non-discrimination.

Giang reiterated Vietnam’s commitment and consistent policy of human rights protection and promotion, with people as the centre, goal and motivation for national development, which, he said, has been reflected through documents of the 13th National Party Congress as well as during the COVID-19 pandemic combat.

A responsible member of the UN and the international community, Vietnam always pays attention to the UPR process, and strongly commits to further contributing to activities of the UNHRC in an active and responsible manner, especially in the context of the country running for a seat at the council for 2023-2025, he said.

Source: Vietnam News Agency