Day: August 20, 2022

Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai has signed a decision on the National Plan of Action on prevention and control of money laundering, terrorism financing and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction for the 2021-2025 period.

The overall aim of the plan is building an effective mechanism against money laundering, terrorism financing and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, for the sake of peace, stability, development and integration, thus improving Vietnam’s prestige and position in the international community and fulfilling Vietnam’s responsibility for being a member of the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG).

It is to best protect interests of the nation, organisations and individuals, thus strengthening stability of financial organisations, contributing to ensuring social security, safety and order, and promoting economic growth.

Accordingly, it advocates perfecting the legal framework and building relevant legal documents that match realities at home and meeting international standards; improving the efficiency of assessing risks of money laundering, terror financing and financing of the proliferation of mass destruction weapons; and enhancing inspection toward taking a risk-based approach and continuing to strengthen investigation, prosecution, trials and reclamation of assets, especially in high-risk fields.

Under the plan, ministries concerned will propose regulations on administrative fines related to virtual assets as well as enhance inspection in fields under their management./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Raymonde Dien, a member of the French Communist Party and a symbol of the fight against the war by the French colonialists in Vietnam, passed away on August 19. She was 93.

Born on May 13, 1929 in the western part of France, she is known by the Vietnamese and other peoples in the world for lying on the rail to block a train carrying tanks and other weapons to Indochina on February 23, 1950. Later, she joined other French communists in their support to the Vietnamese people in their fight against the French colonialists and US imperialists, for the struggle for peace for Vietnam.

On September 2, 2004, she was decorated with a Friendship Order by the Vietnamese state.

Even in her last days, she still joined various events on Vietnam, especially those in support of Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnam Social Security (VSS) chapters have over the last week paid nearly 845 billion VND (36.1 million USD) in financial aid for more than 298,000 workers hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The aid was sourced from the VSS’s unemployment insurance fund.

The beneficiaries accounted for roughly 72% of those eligible to receive aid for COVID-19-hit labourers from the support package under Resolution 03/2021 of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee and Resolution 116/NQ-CP of the Government.

In Ho Chi Minh City, close to 266 billion VND from the unemployment insurance fund has been paid to 95,300 workers as of August 18. Each received 1.8 million to 3.3 million VND./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam recorded 2,704 new COVID-19 cases on August 20, raising the national caseload to 11,382,258, according to the Ministry of Health.

With 6,395 patients given the all clear during the day, the number of recoveries rose to 10,062,585. Meanwhile, there are 113 patients needing breathing support.

One death from COVID-19 was recorded in the past 24 hours. The total fatalities stand at 43,104.

On August 19, an additional 696,048 doses of vaccines were administered, raising the total number of doses of COVID-19 vaccines injected to 254,094,673./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Foreign Ministry’s Consular Department is working with domestic authorities to verify the identity of and provide citizen protection measures for Vietnamese nationals who recently escaped from a casino in Cambodia’s Kandal province and swam across Binh Ghi River to return home, said spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang on August 20.

Hang added that the ministry asked the Vietnamese representative agencies in Cambodia to contact the host authorities and inspect the casino in Chrey Thum hamlet, Sampeou Poun commune, Kaoh Thom district.

It also asked the Cambodian side to assist in finding the person who went missing and investigate the case.

The Foreign Ministry and Vietnamese representative agencies in Cambodia will continue keeping close track of the case as well as situation of Vietnamese guest workers, thus offering timely and necessary citizen protection measures and protecting legitimate rights and interests of Vietnamese citizens, she said.

According to her, the Foreign Ministry and Vietnamese representative agencies in Cambodia have saved and brought home over 500 citizens who were lured into working there, as well as offered support in procedures to thousands of others.

The Foreign Ministry asked concerned agencies and domestic press to raise awareness of outgoing Vietnamese guest workers, she said.

Earlier on August 18 morning, a group of Vietnamese nationals were arrested by An Giang Border Guards.

They said a total of 42 people tried to escape from the casino. Some have sustained minor injuries. One person is missing and another, a 16-year-old male from Kon Tum province, was caught by the casino staff in his attempt to escape

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnam – UK Friendship Association of Hanoi held the fourth Congress on August 20 and set out orientations for the 2022-2027 tenure.

The Congress elected an executive board comprising 27 members led by Secretary of Hoan Kiem district Party Committee Vu Dang Dinh.

During the new tenure, the association will continue to build itself with new partners, contributing to friendship and cooperation between the two peoples. It will also strive to have 4-6 more chapters, with priority given to businesses having partnership with the UK.

Friendship exchanges celebrating the National Day of Vietnam, anniversaries of bilateral diplomatic ties, and other political events of the two countries are also planned.

Chairwoman of the municipal Vietnam Fatherland Front and Chairwoman of the municipal Union of Friendship Organisations Nguyen Lan Huong suggested the association actively expand ties with mass and friendship organisations in the UK, and promote cooperation in economy, culture, education and tourism./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

There will be rankings and evaluations of competitiveness designed for the logistics industry and its businesses as an effort to make it a high value-added service sector, according to Le Duy Hiep, Chairman of the Vietnam Logistics Association (VLA).

One of those is the Logistics Competitiveness Index (LCI), a tool recently launched to measure the growth level, quality and infrastructure of the logistics and assess policies of provincial administrations to develop the industry.

The LCI will provide a ranking for each unit and local administration and show where they need to improve, giving policymakers a much-needed overview of the sector, said Le Thanh Ha from the VCCI’s Legal Department.

Hiep said the index will offer a panorama of the sector in different cities and provinces, on the basis of which policymakers can design policies for local development.

It will provide an insight and an explanation of why there are gaps among cities and provinces in the growth of logistics, he noted, adding that regulators can refer to the LCI indicators for evaluation of various economic reforms and, in the long run, the index will help cut down logistics costs and support production for export./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Tourism regulators from five south-central coastal provinces of Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, and Khanh Hoa and travel agencies from both Vietnam and India gathered in the resort city of Nha Trang for a tourism promotion conference on August 19.

Jointly held by the Khanh Hoa Department of Tourism and the Consulate General of India in Ho Chi Minh City, the event promoted destinations of the south-central region and India; and discussed the possible launch of a direct air route between Khanh Hoa’s Cam Ranh International Airport and India, and ways to strengthen bilateral ties in the field.

Addressing the event, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Pham Van Thuy highlighted great potential for Vietnam and India to develop partnership in tourism, saying by the end of 2022, there will be 21 direct air routes connecting the two countries, with more than 60 flights available weekly.

Vietnamese Ambassador to India Nguyen Thanh Hai said the Vietnam-India connectivity is now stronger than ever. Given that tourists from Vietnam and India are showing increasing interest in each other’s destinations, both countries should take measures to boost travel and push for the opening of direct air routes, he said.

Indian Ambassador to Vietnam Pranay Verman, for his part, said Khanh Hoa and other south-central provinces hold great potential to become favourite destinations to Indian visitors and the strong connectivity are providing opportunities for accelerating tourism promotion between the two sides./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency