Day: September 8, 2022

The following is a list of selected news summaries last night by the Vietnam News Agency.

– President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on September 7 extended his deepest condolences to families of victims in a karaoke parlor fire in the southern province of Binh Duong.

The blaze broke out around 8:48 p.m on September 6 at the karaoke parlor in An Phu ward, Thuan An city. Read full story

– National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said he hoped that the state audit agencies of Vietnam and Laos will further enhance the exchange of delegations, training and experience sharing for their auditors.

At a reception in Hanoi on September 7 for President of the State Audit Authority of Laos Viengthavisone Thephachanh, who is on a Vietnam visit from September 6-10, Hue said the Vietnamese NA is ready to create favourable conditions for the two agencies to strengthen their cooperation and fulfill their assigned tasks. Read full story

– Vietnam is a friend and an important partner of Brunei in the region, affirmed Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah while receiving Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son on September 7. Son is paying an official visit to Brunei to co-chair the second meeting of the Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC-2) between the two countries. Read full story

– The first half of this year saw a swift economic rebound as Vietnam’s pandemic restrictions eased following the adoption of a living-with-COVID strategy and a robust vaccination drive, according to an article published on the website of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), imf.org.

Supportive policies such as low interest rates, strong credit growth, and the government’s Programme for Socio-economic Recovery and Development have been accompanied by strong manufacturing output and a recovery in retail and tourism activity, the article said. Read full story

– Vietnamese enterprises should study the use of different dispute resolutions to settle disputes with foreign partners more efficiently, especially as commercial disputes are tending to rise in line with Vietnam’s deeper integration in the global economy through free trade agreements (FTAs).

To date, Vietnam has signed 15 FTAs with many countries and regions, of which the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) was the latest put into force in May last year. Read full story

– The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) will accompany the central province of Thua Thien – Hue in the conservation and promotion of traditional cultural heritage values, Director General Audrey Azoulay said on September 7. She made the commitment at a working session with Nguyen Van Phuong, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee. Read full story

– Vietnam has rolled out multiple programmes to tackle plastic waste in the context of the region emerging as a “hot spot” for plastic pollution.

Statistics from the World Economic Forum (WEF) reveal that every year, the world produces more than 400 million tonnes of plastics, of which 75-199 million tonnes are currently found in oceans./. Read full story

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The national COVID-19 caseload rose to 11,431,823 with 3,191 new cases recorded on September 8, according to the Ministry of Health.

With 8,503 patients given the all clear during the day, the number of recoveries rose to 10,261,401. Meanwhile, there are 154 patients needing breathing support.

One death from COVID-19 was recorded in the past 24 hours. The total fatalities rose to 43,126.

On September 7, an additional 143,278 doses of vaccines were administered, raising the total number of doses of COVID-19 vaccines injected to 257,814,888./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Overseas Vietnamese (OVs) have invested in more than 3,000 firms in Ho Chi Minh City with a total capital amounting to 45 trillion VND (1.91 billion USD), heard a meeting between the municipal Committee for Overseas Vietnamese and representatives of the group held in the city on September 7.

At the event, participating Vietnamese expatriates got updated on the city’s current situation and development. They were given necessary information about regulations on repatriation, Vietnamese citizenship registration, house purchase, and goods transport, among others.

According to the municipal committee, currently, more than 2 million or about 40% of the total number of overseas Vietnamese come from or have connections with HCM City.

The city has so far attracted more than 400 overseas intellectuals to work for a long term and nearly 200 others to participate in research cooperation projects.

On the occasion, the committee granted certificates of merit by the municipal People’s Committee to overseas Vietnamese with outstanding contributions to the city’s COVID-19 prevention and control./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Ho Chi Minh City’s districts and Thu Duc city have basically completed housing rental payments for workers in accordance with the Prime Minister’s Decision dated March 28, 2022, reported the municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs on September 8.

Accordingly, localities disbursed over 945 billion VND (41 million USD), or over 96% of the adjusted funding, to support more than 1.6 million workers.

The districts of 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, Binh Thanh, Tan Phu and the outlying districts of Can Gio and Hoc Mon have completed the disbursement of the approved funding.

The same day, the Capital Aid for Employment of the Poor Microfinance Institution (CEP) presented 42 scholarships, each worth 1.5 million VND to elementary students, and 2.5 million VND to secondary and high school students in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang.

It also presented 10 gifts to children of trade unionists and clients, four gifts of daily necessities valued at 1 million VND each, assisted in health treatment for two people worth 12 million each, constructed two houses for 60 million VND each, and offered vocational training for two students with 10 million VND each.

Founded by the Ho Chi Minh City Labour Federation in 1991, the non-profit CEP works for poverty reduction among workers and employees. It now provides credit, savings and community development services for over 318,000 clients via 36 branches in Ho Chi Minh City and 9 nearby cities and provinces. They are mostly poor workers and employees living in need or without a stable income.

During the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 and 2021, CEP held four programmes to grant daily necessities to over 45,000 disadvantaged workers, offer interest cuts or waivers, and extend payment deadlines to borrowers at a total cost of more than 62 billion VND.

Since its establishment on January 14, 2022, its Long Xuyen branch in An Giang has partnered with 10 districts, townships and the city to disburse more than 57.5 billion VND to 2,027 workers. It is expecting to lend a further 77 billion VND to 3,200 others this year./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A seminar on business relations between Russia and Vietnam was held in the framework of the 7th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok city, Russia, during which participants expressed optimism about the prospect for expanding economic cooperation between the two countries.

Many Russian enterprises have showed their interest in the Vietnamese market, saying that they intend to boost business cooperation with Vietnamese partners.

Erkozha Akylbek, Chairman of Udokan Copper’s Board of Directors and General Director of USM JSC which specialises in metallurgy and mining, said that Udokan has planned to sell its products in countries in the Asia-Pacific region such as China, India, and Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Oleg Deripaska, who owns many large Russian companies and also is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Stolypin Institute for the Economy of Growth, said that Vietnam is one of Russia’s important partners in Indo-Pacific, with diverse cooperation fields as energy, oil and gas, manufacturing and agriculture.

This is a great basis for the two sides to develop stronger economic ties in the time to come, he noted.

According to Deripaska, the scale and speed of economic development make Vietnam an attractive market for Russian products. Vietnamese businesses have many opportunities in the Russian market with highly competitive products.

For Vietnam, ensuring a sustainable supply of low-carbon raw materials is critical for its development and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Meanwhile, Russia is one of the world’s leading suppliers of sustainable raw materials. Therefore, there is a large room for the two countries to expand cooperation.

Participant underlined the necessity to strengthen transport connectivity and simplify administrative procedures in order to make it easier for the exchange of goods between the two countries, thus further bolstering the bilateral economic ties./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Ireland sees great potential to provide high-quality dairy products to the Vietnamese market, especially as tariffs will be reduced to zero percent on the first day of next year.

Thanks to the European Union (EU) and Vietnamese Free Trade Agreement (FTA) European dairy tariffs will be removed on January 1, 2023, after which Europe’s market share is expected to rise.

“As the country at the heart of Europe, we see the huge potential in the trade deal in exporting high quality of Ireland agro products to Vietnam,” said Ireland’s Minister for State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon T.D, affirming that Vietnam was an important strategic partner of Ireland.

Thanks to the EVFTA, Ireland will also enjoy the zero percent of tariff, which is currently 15%.

“The recognition of Vietnam as an important trade partner of the EU, along with the European Union’s EVFTA taking effect from August 1, 2020, Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board, aims to introduce premium dairy products to Vietnamese customers,” said Minister Heydon.

Heydon said Europe is the largest dairy-producing region in the world, producing about 145 million tonnes of dairy products in 2021. Ireland, a traditional dairy farming powerhouse, has about 17,000 farms.

According to the Bord Bia, the Irish government agency that manages the promotion, trade development and marketing of the Irish food, drink and horticulture industry, Ireland has a herd of 1.6 million dairy cows producing 8.8 billion litres of milk, an average of 5,648 litres/head.

Bord Bia said Ireland exported more than 30 million euros of food and beverages to the Vietnamese market in 2021, an increase of 55% compared to 2020.

The minister said Ireland’s dairy products like cheese, milk and powder exports to Vietnam increased by 159% in value in the first six months of 2022.

Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, Director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s International Cooperation Department, said Vietnam has export strengths in rice, coffee, rubber, pepper, cashew, tea, wood, etc. though also imports many shortage products like meat products, fertilisers and pesticides.

Michael Murphy, CEO of Bord Bia, who visited Vietnam with the minister, announced Bord Bia’s new three-year strategy outlines a target of 800 million euro in Irish food and drink exports to South East Asia by 2025, led by the Irish dairy and meat sectors.

In its Prioritising Markets – Opportunities for Growth study (2017), Bord Bia identified Vietnam and the wider South East Asia region as a priority destination for Irish food and drink exports, with high potential for dairy exports in particular.

As part of the trade mission, Minister Heydon will be meeting with representatives from Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to discuss market access issues and will also attend Bord Bia trade receptions with customers of Irish dairy, pork and seafood in Hanoi.

Ciaran Gallagher, Regional Director, South East Asia, Bord Bia, said: “With the population of South East Asia predicted to expand by a further 100 million people by 2050, there will be a growing import demand, and one that ‘Ireland is ideally positioned to meet’.”

He added: “Ireland and Vietnam share an understanding that security of supply is key to allowing both countries to plan ahead for growth and success and, as such, we are committed to developing durable business relationships with our customers here.”

He added that the ambition is to build further on the strong partnerships Ireland has with customers in Vietnam and that trade missions like this are a valuable means of raising the profile of Ireland as a food producing nation and unlocking commercial opportunities for Irish food and drink companies.

The degegation announced Bord Bia would be hosting an Ireland stand at Food & Hotel Asia (FHA) trade show in Singapore as part of the trade mission./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

A delegation of the Vietnamese Ministry of National Defence led by its Deputy Minister Sen. Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien attended the 11th Seoul Defence Dialogue (SDD-11) in the Republic of Korea (RoK) on September 7.

SDD-11, from September 6-9, brought together defence officers and experts from 54 countries worldwide, and representatives from regional and international organisations.

Under the theme “How to Address Complex Security Challenges: Fostering International Solidarity,” the dialogue features three plenary sessions on cooperation in promoting non-denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula, rebuilding trust in the region and the military’s role in hybrid warfare.

There are also four special sessions on international peacekeeping operations, the fight against disinformation, technologies for military modernisation and defence acquisition efforts.

On the sidelines of the dialogue, the SDD Space Security Working Group was launched to discuss global cooperation in promoting security in the strategically crucial domain.

The forum’s Cyber Working Group saw the participation of defence officers and experts from 43 countries, and representative from regional and international organisations.

On this occasion, Chien had a bilateral meeting with Japanese Deputy Minister of Defence Masami Oka, during which the two sides agreed on cooperation contents to strengthen the defence ties in a more pragmatic and effective manner.

Chien invited leaders of the Japanese Defence Ministry to attend the Vietnam International Defence Expo 2022, scheduled to take place in Hanoi in December./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency