Day: April 13, 2022

Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son and his Canadian counterpart Mélanie Joly discussed measures to further deepen the Vietnam-Canada partnership during talks in Hanoi on April 13.

Son welcomed the first Vietnamese visit by Joly as Vietnam and Canada celebrate the 5th anniversary of their comprehensive partnership, affirming that the visit will contribute to reinforcing ties between the two countries and the two ministries.

Joly said that her country attaches great importance to relations with Vietnam and hopes to expand the bilateral partnership, especially in economy and trade.

She affirmed that Canada will strengthen cooperation with and support for Vietnam in responding to climate change and realising the commitments that it made during the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26).

Both sides shared delight at the positive growth of Vietnam-Canada ties across all fields, with two-way trade reaching over 6 billion USD in 2021, up 19 percent over 2020 despite the difficulties brought by COVID-19. Coordination in education, training, climate change response and pandemic control has also been strengthened, they noted.

Son proposed that the two sides continue to increase delegation exchanges at all levels, resume bilateral dialogue mechanisms and make full use of opportunities from the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). He suggested Canada continue to open its door for Vietnamese products and farm produce, while increasing support to Vietnam during its post-pandemic socio-economic recovery and development. Canada should recognise Vietnam’s vaccine passport, while creating favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Canada to settle down, he added.

During the talks, the two FMs shared viewpoints on regional and international issues of shared concern. Regarding the East Sea issue, both sides affirmed the need to uphold international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). They agreed to continue to work closely together at regional and international multilateral forums such as the UN, APEC, ASEAN, and the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF).

Over the Ukraine matter, FM Son highlighted Vietnam’s consistent policy of supporting the settlement of international disputes through peaceful measures with respect to the UN Charter and fundamental principles of international law. Vietnam calls for an immediate end to the use of force that causes casualties among civilians and infrastructure, including Vietnamese people in Ukraine, he said. Son stressed that Vietnam is willing to make positive contributions to humanitarian support activities, diplomatic processes, dialogue and negotiations, as well as reconstruction and development process in Ukraine.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Acting President of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) Tran Quoc Tuan on April 12 chaired a meeting with its Board of General Secretariat and relevant offices to discuss the organisation of football events of the upcoming 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31).

Representatives of the offices delivered reports and updates about the progress of the preparatory works, put forward recommendations to solve problems in preparing all necessary facilities for players, logistics, security, healthcare and others, and suggested checks of the venues for football and futsal competitions.

Tuan asked all offices to coordinate more closely and promptly report on any challenges, saying the federation’s main tasks are to successfully host football and futsal events and, at the same time, to have all Vietnamese players well-prepared for the SEA Games.

The men’s football tournament will kick off on May 6, and the women’s football events from May 9 – 21. Meanwhile, the men’s futsal will be held from May 11 – 20 and the women’s, from May 10 – 19.

SEA Games 31, themed “For a stronger South East Asia”, will run in Hanoi and 11 neighbouring localities from May 12 to 23. It will feature 40 sports with 526 events and expect to attract around 10,000 participants. The biennial event was initially slated for late 2021 but delayed due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Salaries of Vietnamese employees in the first quarter of this year surged as compared to those of the previous quarter, according to Nguyen Trung Tien, Deputy General Director of the General Statistics Office (GSO).

In the period, labourers in Ho Chi Minh City, and the southern provinces of Binh Duong and Dong Nai received the highest incomes.

Specifically, the average monthly income of Binh Duong employees hit 8.6 million VND (375 USD) per capita, up 54 percent quarter-on-quarter, or 3 million VND per month.

Employees in Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai had the average monthly wage of 8.9 million VND and 8.5 million VND, up 36.5 percent and 32.9 percent, or 2.4 million VND and 2.1 million VND, respectively.

A GSO report on the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on employment in Q1 shows that the average income in the country reached 6.4 million VND a month, 1 million VND higher than the previous quarter and up 110,000 VND year-on-year.

The average income of male workers was 7.3 million VND per month, 1.36 times higher than that of female workers (5.4 million VND per month).

In addition, the first quarter also recorded a strong recovery in the average income of employees in the Mekong Delta, with 5.6 million VND per month, up 27.8 percent quarter-on-quarter.

Tien said that the implementation of policies to support businesses and economic recovery programmes in the period improved the underemployment rate. In Q1, about 1.3 million people in the working age lacked jobs, down 135,200 people compared to the previous quarter and up 357,500 over the same period last year.

Source: Vietnam News Agency