Day: August 25, 2022

Spokeswoman of the Foreign Ministry Le Thi Thu Hang on August 25 updated the media on the issue that many Vietnamese people had been tricked to work illegally in Cambodia.

Addressing the ministry’s regular press meeting, she highlighted that the Vietnamese Government pays close attention to this issue.

The media in the two countries recently reported many Vietnamese nationals have been tricked to work illegally in Cambodia and faced difficulties.

Facing that fact, the Foreign Ministry and Vietnam’s representative bodies in Cambodia have worked closely with domestic minitries, sectors, and localities, especially the provinces bordering Cambodia, as well as Cambodian authorities to collect and verify information, carry out many citizen protection measures, and repatriate those in distress.

More than 500 Vietnamese citizens have been helped to return home safely while thousands of others received assistance in handling procedures, Hang said, noting that the Ministry of Public Security cracked down on many gangs and arrested many for sending people to work illegally in Cambodia in the first half of this year.

The spokeswoman said in the time ahead, the Foreign Ministry and Vietnam’s representative bodies in Cambodia will keep coordinating with domestic authorities and localities and Cambodia to increase citizen protection measures, help the tricked citizens return home, and ensure their rights and legitimate interests.

Localities will also step up monitoring and issue warnings to locals about working abroad, she stressed.

Regarding the 11 Vietnamese nationals who are stranded in Cambodia while trying to flee to Vietnam and could be expelled by local authorities due to lacking passports, Hang said after receiving the information, the Foreign Ministry had instructed the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia to work with local authorities to ask for early investigation and stronger examination of working sites, especially those providing entertainment services, so as to detect, prevent, and deal with any cases of illegal employment of workers.

The Foreign Ministry also requested the embassy to work with the host country’s agencies to protect and rescue the foreign workers, including Vietnamese ones, who are exploited by employers, work closely with Vietnam’s authorities to increase the management of exit and entry in the two countries’ land border areas to prevent and minimise illegal exits, according to the spokeswoman.

She added that on August 22, the Cambodian police arrested the manager of the place where 40 Vietnamese citizens escaped from on August 18, and handled procedures for 25 other Vietnamese who were also tricked to work illegally in Cambodia to return home.

The ministry’s Consular Department has worked with relevant agencies to verify information and take the next citizen protection measures, Hang went on, saying that the department and Vietnam’s representative bodies in Cambodia will keep a close watch on the case and coordinate with domestic and Cambodian agencies to solve related issues and carry out citizen protection measures when necessary

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Council for Ethnic Affairs of the National Assembly (NA) held its fourth meeting in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak on August 25 to prepare for the upcoming 4th session of the 15th NA and consider several important matters.

The two-day meeting will discuss the orientation for a plan on the NA’s supreme supervision of the national target programme for socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous regions in 2021-2030.

The council will also analyse and assess the implementation of policies on ethnic affairs in the first eight months of this year, and the progress of the masterplan and phase one of the national target programme for socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous regions in 2021-2025.

On August 25 morning, Deputy Minister-Vice Chairman of the Government’s Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs (CEMA) Y Vinh Tor presented a report, affirming that since 2021, most policies on ethnic affairs have been integrated into the the national target programme for socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous regions in 2021-2030, which helped improve the living conditions for ethnic people, and ensure social welfare and equal development among target areas and ethnic groups.

The report also pointed out outstanding problems, including the slow issuance of guidance and mechanism for allocating capital for the national target programme, the limited budget for some projects and policies related to ethnic people.

The council’s members stressed the need to clarify the responsibility of ministries, sectors and localities in handling “bottlenecks” in implementing ethnic policies.

They asked the CEMA to mobilise capital from all possible sources, particularly ODA and preferential loan to implement the national target programme, while mobilising more capital from enterprises, organisations and individuals./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Van Sinh and representatives of Vietnamese enterprises visited the Cuban Embassy in Hanoi on August 25 to send donations to help Cuba address the aftermaths of the recent oil storage facility fire.

On behalf of the Ministry of Transport that currently chairs the Vietnamese sub-committee of the Vietnam-Cuba Inter-governmental Committee, Deputy Minister Sinh extended sympathy to victims of the disaster and wished the injured soon to recover.

Sinh said several Vietnamese enterprises wish to send cash aid to Cuban people which will be transferred through a Vietnamese bank designated by the Cuban Embassy. Vietnam hopes Cuba will soon surmount difficulties and grow stronger, he said.

Cuban Ambassador to Vietnam Orlando Nicolas Hernandez Guillen said the Vietnam-Cuba friendship and brotherhood has been affirmed at this time of hardship. It has stood the test of time and most difficult circumstances, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters and most recently, the oil deport fire, he noted.

Though the blaze has caused heavy human and property losses to Cuba, Cuba will soon recover and move on, he emphasised.

The Vietnamese donors included the Vietnam Northern Food Corporation (Vinafood 1) and glass and construction ceramic producer Viglacera which have boasted cooperation with Cuban partners for years./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnam Social Security (VSS) is ready to further intensify the friendship and cooperation with the Lao Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (MoLSW) and the Lao Social Security Organisation (LSSO), VSS Deputy General Director Dao Viet Anh has said.

Officials of the VSS and LSSO had a working session in Vietnam’s central province of Quang Nam on August 25 to look into the implementation of the memorandum of understanding on cooperation for 2016 – 2020 and discuss cooperation orientations for the time ahead.

Anh said the VSS, which set up relations with the MoLSW and LSSO in 1998, always attaches importance to the friendship and partnership in social security with the Lao partners, and that the two sides have carried out many cooperation activities.

He underlined the agency’s readiness to step up bilateral ties to implement joint programmes in the coming time, thereby further strengthening their close-knit relations, and ensuring maximum benefits for people and businesses in the two countries.

LSSO General Director Keo Chanthavixay highly valued the implementation outcomes of the MoU for 2016 – 2020, signed between the VSS and the MoLSW, stressing that enhancing social security cooperation with the VSS is among his organisation’s tasks for the coming time.

Under the MoU, the VSS and LSSO carried out nine main cooperation activities through which their personnel’s capacity, the implementation of social security policies, and the countries’ stature in social security in the international arena have been improved.

At the meeting, the two sides also discussed a draft MoU on cooperation for 2022 – 2025.

The VSS and LSSO are set to hold an MoU signing ceremony on the sidelines of the 39th ASEAN Social Security Association Board Meeting in Vientiane, Laos this November./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Singapore recorded a year-on-year increase of 4.8% in July core inflation, compared to the 4.4% rate in June, according to the country’s Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI).

The consumer price index (CPI) last month also grew 7% from a year earlier, compared to 6.7% in June.

In the city state, core inflation excludes accommodation and private transport costs, while CPI-All Items reflects the growth trend in prices of all commodities.

The MTI and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said the pickup in core inflation in July was mainly driven by increases in food, electricity and gas prices.

On a month-on-month basis, core inflation and CPI of all items increased by 0.6% and 0.2%, respectively.

The two authorities said fresh shocks to global commodity prices, as well as domestic wage pressures, remain as upside risks to inflation.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong forecast inflation will reach its peak in the next two – four months and then gradually decline./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Philippines will use over 11% of the proposed national budget for 2023 to repay its debts, the Department of Finance said on August 25.

Philippine Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said 11.6% of the budget, or roughly 10.9 billion USD, will be allocated for debt relief, including 10.4 billion USD for interest payments and roughly 500 million USD for net lending.

Diokno said that the national debt remains “within manageable levels,” adding that most of the national debt “is long-term, spread out, and set at the lowest possible rate.”

He said that the structural reforms and enhanced tax system instituted by the previous administration ensure that the government can meet its obligations.

He expressed confidence that government revenues will continue to pick up, and the deficit will decrease on the back of a strong economy, as demonstrated by a broad-based 7.4% GDP growth rate in the second quarter of 2022.

The Philippine government aims to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio to less than 60% by 2025 and cut the deficit-to-GDP ratio from the current 6.5% to 3.0% by 2028.

In July, days after Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos took office, the new administration lowered its GDP target band for this year to 6.5% to 7.5% from 7% to 8% due to “recent external and domestic developments.”

The Manila-based Asian Development Bank forecasts a 6.5% GDP growth in 2022 and 6.3% in 2023 for the Philippines./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Indonesian Coast Guard (Bakamla) will deploy 17 patrol ships to secure three border regions in the Malacca Straits, Singapore Straits, and North Kalimantan during the 2022 national joint patrol.

The joint patrol will involve 200 personnel of the Indonesian Navy, Marine and Air Police (Polairud), the Marine and Fisheries Resources Surveillance (PSDKP) of the Marine and Fisheries Affairs Ministry, Directorate General of Customs and Indonesian Sea and Coast Guard (KPLP).

A total of 17 ships comprising state-owned and war ships, will be deployed, Bakamla Chief Vice Admiral Aan Kurnia stated at the launch of the joint operation. Seven of the ships would be provided by Bakamla, while other institutions will supply two ships each, he noted.

The joint patrol will be conducted for two months and will end in mid-October, Kurnia remarked, adding that initially, it will be focused in the Malacca Straits, Singapore Straits, and North Kalimantan, aiming to suppress illegal activities in the waters, such as illegal fishing and human trafficking.

The joint patrolling is expected to bolster coordination among institutions to reduce criminal acts in the waters, he said./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency