Day: May 14, 2022

The Embassy of Argentina to Vietnam is organising the 7th edition of the Argentine Week in Hanoi under the slogan “Celebrating our friendship” from May 23-28, aiming to continue bringing Argentina closer to Vietnam and its peoples through political dialogue, trade and culture.

The event, held in the framework of the excellent relations between Argentina and Vietnam, the bilateral Comprehensive Partnership in force since 2010 and on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations that will occur in 2023, will consist of three main activities.

The Week will kick off with the celebration of “Argentine Beef and Wine Day” on May 23 at the restaurant “Los Fuegos – Argentinian Steak en Grill” (located in the heart of the Tay Ho district) of the renowned Argentine Chef Emilio Fusé.

The Argentine Beef and Wine day is an Argentine gastronomy promotion event organized by the Argentine Embassy in Vietnam in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City since 2014. On this occasion, the participants will have the opportunity to taste a selection of the highest quality Argentine cheese, seafood, beef, wine and dulce de leche. The Beef and Wine Day will count with the participation of entrepreneurs, executives of hotels, the gastronomy industry, retail, importers and distributors, among others, as well as selected personalities from Hanoi and from the expat community.

The companies and institutions sponsoring promoting their products are: the Argentine Beef Promotion Institute (IPCVA),the Restaurant “Los Fuegos Argentinian Steak and Grill”, Del Plata – Argentina Market, Food Source International, Warehouse, Daloc, Red Apron , TBN, Huy Phong, San Ignacio and Pampa Cheese.

During Argentine Week, the Restaurant “Los Fuegos Argentinian Steakand Grill” will be offering the “Asado Criollo” menu, based on the traditional Argentine barbecue cuisine, to accompany the celebrations.

On May 25, the Argentine Embassy will commemorate the 212th anniversary of the May Revolution, a key date in the Argentine independence process which led to the establishment of the Primera Junta, the first National Government, on May 25, 1810.

On this occasion, a reception will be held at the Official Residence of the Argentine Republic with the participation of Authorities and Officials of Vietnamese Government, the Diplomatic Corps and personalities from local affairs.

The closing event of the 7th Argentine Week in Hanoi” will be the Argentine Tango and Gastronomy Festival that will take place on May 28 from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. at the Octogonal House of the Ly Thai To Flower Garden in Hoan Kiem district.

The Argentine Tango and Gastronomy Festival will be open to the public and its main attractions will be Tango shows and classes in charge of the following Hanoian Tango clubs: Tango Hanoi, El Cielo Tango and La Boca Tango. Throughout the evening there will be dance demonstrations and basic steps will be taught to the public.

The Octagonal House will be surrounded by gastronomy booths and Argentine products. Dishes based on the typical “Argentine barbecue” will be presented by the Restaurant Los Fuegos, accompanied by Argentine wines from Warehouse and Da Loc. People will also be able to taste the popular “churros with dulce de leche”.

Matéa, the first Vietnamese company to distribute Yerba Mate (a traditional and popular Argentine infusion) in Vietnam, will also be present with its products.

The Argentine company Arcor, a world leader in the food industry, will present its “Saladix” snacks, very popular in Argentina.

The Argentine Embassy will have its official stand with touristic and cultural information about the natural beauties that travellers can find in the South American country.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Visiting Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had a reception for US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Washington DC on May 13 (local time), part of his activities while on a working visit to the US and the United Nations.

The PM spoke highly of the role and efforts by the US National Security Council in coordinating with the ASEAN member countries to organise the ASEAN-US Special Summit, thereby demonstrating President Joe Biden administration’s strong commitment for the bloc and the region.

Chinh said since Vietnam and the US normalised their relations, they have cooperated sincerely, reliably, and responsibly with the willingness for constructive exchange of ideas and dialogues when there are differences, thus overcoming difficulties and maintaining a positive development momentum together. In recent years, there has been significant progress following the direction and vision agreed upon by the two countries’ senior leaders during Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s visit to the US in 2015.

The Government leader affirmed Vietnam always considers the US one of its most important partners, and wished for joint work to continue deepening the countries’ comprehensive partnership toward practical outcomes and stability, meeting the sides’ legitimate interests and actively contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world at large.

He suggested the US further support Vietnam in overcoming the consequences of the war; building an independent and self-reliant economy; pressing ahead with technological and digital transformation; and integrating substantively and effectively into the world.

Other sectors for such assistance include supply chains diversification and climate change response, he added.

The US official shared the PM’s idea that sincerity, trust and responsibility are the motto for the positive relationship between the two countries.

He affirmed the US respects independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity as well as differences in the political systems between his country and partners, stressed the US attaches importance to relations with Vietnam, and spoke highly of Vietnam’s ability to overcome challenges. The official pledged to continue providing support to Vietnam to cope with such challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and risks of supply chain disruption.

The two sides agreed on the central role of the ASEAN in dealing with regional problems as well in the US’s efforts to intensify its cooperation with Asia – Pacific and the Indian Ocean regions. The US official agreed with the PM’s proposal on the need to further clarify the connotation of the initiative on the Indo-Pacific economic framework of the US.

They also stressed the importance of ensuring peace, freedom, security and safety of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, and of settling disputes by peaceful measures on the basis of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), helping maintain peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world over.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received President and Chief Executive Officer of Murphy Oil Corporation Roger Jenkins in Washington D.C on May 13 afternoon (US time) as part of his trip to the US.

At the meeting with Roger, PM Chinh spoke highly of the cooperation and active participation of Murphy Oil in oil exploration activities in Vietnam over the past time. He welcomed the corporation’s plan to expand operation in Vietnam in the future.

Roger said he highly appreciated the Vietnamese market and reported about Murphy Oil’s activities in Vietnam, particularly the progress of the Lac Da Vang oilfield project. He proposed support measures to help promote the progress of the project.

PM Chinh said he had issued directions relating to the project, and the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam or PVN) held many meetings with contractors and ministries, agencies to consider and deal with the project’s problems. He proposed the two sides to speed up the progress of related works.

PM Chinh said Murphy Oil needs to promptly continue to coordinate with the PVN and the PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation (PVEP) to handle related works. He stated that he had asked the Vietnamese ministries of Industry and Trade, and Planning and Investment to study proposals of the corporation and implement related tasks in order to speed up the progress of the Lac Da Vang project.

Murphy Oil has invested around 300 million USD in oil exploration in Vietnam and is managing oil fields in Be Cuu Long and Be Phu Khanh. It is cooperating with the PVEP to carry out the Lac Da Vang oilfield project with a total investment capital of 700 million USD.

In the coming time, the corporation will continue oil exploration activities at oilfields under its management as committed with the Government of Vietnam.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on May 14 sent a letter of condolences to Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi over the death of the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ruler of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The President passed away on May 13 at the age of 73.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnamese No.1 swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang started his first competition day at the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31) on May 14 with a gold medal in the men’s 1,500m event.

Hoang finished at 15:00:57, leaving Nguyen Huu Kim Son, also from Vietnam, behind. Following the good start, Hoang is aiming for another gold in the 400m freestyle on his third competition day.

Meanwhile, fencer Nguyen Tien Nhat earned the second gold medal for Vietnamese fencing at SEA Games 31 by defeating his Philippine rival Jose Noelito 15-11.

In the men’s 70kg event of SEA Games 31’s bodybuilding, Tran Hoang Duy Thuan bagged a gold medal, raising the number of gold medals of Vietnamese bodybuilding to three. Earlier, Pham Van Mach and Dang Thanh Tung won two gold medals in the men’s 55kg and 65kg events.

Also on May 14, Vietnamese Chinese chess team won a gold in men’s fast chess team event.

At the same time, the national jujitsu team also brought home one silver and two bronze medals. Duong Thi Thanh Minh took silver in the women’s Ne-Waza GI-48kg event, while Can Van Thang and Nguyen Ngoc Tu contributed two bronze medals in men’s Ne-Waza GI-62kg event and women’s Ne-Waza GI-62kg event, respectively. The team aims for 1-2 gold medals at SEA Games 31.

With total score of 183.8 points, only 0.7 points lower than that of the Philippines, the Vietnamese women gymnast team won a silver medal in team event. The Singaporean team came third with 182.55 points. Gymnastics competitions will continue on May 15 at Quan Ngua Sports Palace in Hanoi.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Thang Long-Hanoi Heritage Conservation Centre has allowed free daytime admission to the Thang Long Imperial Citadel for athletes and sports delegations attending the ongoing 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31) to welcome the largest regional sports event.

As part of its efforts to attract visitors to the citadel, the centre has also reduced the entrance fees of the night tour “Decoding the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long” in May 2022 from 300,000 VND (12.99 USD) per person to 200,000 VND.

According to the centre, the night tour, which just restarted at the end of April, has received positive feedback from locals and visitors.

With these attractive programmes, the centre expects more visitors, especially those attending SEA Games 31.

On the occasion, an exhibition themed “General Van Tien Dung – famous General of the Ho Chi Minh era” is being organised, featuring more than 150 valuable documents and artifacts related to the General – a talented military expert.

The Thang Long Imperial Citadel, which was placed on the UNESCO list in August 2010, was a power centre for over a thousand years of Vietnamese history and unique evidence of the Vietnamese civilisation during the development of monarchies in Southeast Asia and East Asia.

It is one of the attractive destinations for international friends who arrive in Hanoi during SEA Games 31.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnam Social Security (VSS)’s digital transformation efforts have helped provide chip-based ID cards for health insurance at more than 4,000 medical facilities across the country.

With 16 million labourers taking out social and unemployment insurance and 88 million people with health insurance, the VSS has strengthened the application of information technology to improve its operational efficiency.

Nguyen Hoang Phuong, Vice Director of the VSS’s Information Technology Centre, said the centre has been developing a national insurance database, while also sharing population data.

The centre is also implementing Decision No.06/QD-TTg approving a project to develop the application of population data, ID and electric identification serving national digital transformation in the 2022-2025 period, with a vision to 2030, Phuong said. After the national population database was put into operation, the VSS connected with the system and has been working with the Ministry of Public Security to link the demographic information. So far, the system has identified about 40 million people, said Phuong, adding that the VSS has provided social and health insurance information for more than 21 million people to the national population database.

He said the VSS will continue to synchronise its data with the national population database to form a complete connection between insurance and population data. The work is scheduled for completion by the end of 2022.

On February 28, 2022, the Ministry of Health sent Dispatch No.931/BYT-BH to health departments of localities and medical facilities across the country asking for the pilot use of chip-based ID cards for health check-ups and treatment services covered by health insurance. On March 1, 2022, the VSS started to implement the scheme in all of its branches nationwide.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue met voters in Le Chan district, the northern city of Hai Phong on May 14, ahead of the third session of the 15th legislature.

During the meeting, NA Chairman Hue briefed participants on the recent socio-economic situation as the COVID-19 pandemic has gradually been put under control, saying that most industries and fields tend to recover and grow again.

He emphasised the importance of maintaining macroeconomic stability in the long term, stating that more efforts are needed to achieve the set targets for the whole year.

Voters at the event spoke highly of the recent sessions of the 15th NA, expressing their support and confidence in the Party and State’s anti-corruption effort.

The legislative body issued the anti-corruption law and many legal documents, creating a solid legal foundation for the fight against corruption, contributing to strengthening the people’s trust, they said.

Taking note of the opinions of voters, the NA Chairman said that a project to continue improving the quality of the NA’s sessions needs more time to prepare, and the central role of NA deputies should be upheld in this scheme.

He agreed with the opinion of voter Pham Tien Du from Tran Nguyen Han ward that the NA needs to continue to reform itself and improve the quality of legal documents, and better solve the problem of issuance delay of guiding documents.

The top legislator also shared some solutions in improving the quality of the legal system in order to continue to promote the country’s rapid and sustainable development and facilitate international integration.

He added that the issuance of guiding documents has made great progress, with delay reduced greatly.

According to the NA Chairman, the draft Law on Land (revised), one of the important laws, is expected to be submitted and reviewed through three sessions of the NA, so that it can be enacted by early 2024, he said.

During the meeting, the NA Chairman also informed voters on issues related to disbursement of public investment capital, reconciliation in the court sector, planning, the importance of preventive and grassroots health care, and national digital transformation.

Source: Vietnam News Agency