Day: February 1, 2024

Hanoi: The following is a brief review of the day's events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency. - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on February 1 chaired the Government's regular meeting to review the socio-economic situation in January, the allocation and disbursement of public investment, and the implementation of national target programmes. At the meeting, the leader called for elaborating Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong's recent article titted 'Proud and confident under the Party's glorious flag, determined to build a Vietnam more prosperous, powerful, civilised and heroic with a fine and long-lasting culture' penned on the occasion of the 94th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh demanded renewing current growth drivers and optimising new ones while chairing the Government's regular meeting on February 1. The meeting reviewed the socio-economic situation in January, the allocation and disbursement of public investment, and the impleme ntation of the three national target programmes. - Brazilian President Lula da Silva affirmed that Vietnam is an important partner of his country while receiving Vietnamese Ambassador Bui Van Nghi, who came to present his credentials in Brasilia on January 31. Expressing his admiration for the achievements Vietnam have obtained over the past years, the host leader lauded the development of bilateral relations and asked the two countries to enhance cooperation in multiple spheres, including politics - diplomacy, economy - trade, agriculture, and science - technology. - Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son is in Brussels for the 24th ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting (AEMM) and the third EU-Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum (EU-IPMF) as well as a visit to Belgium from January 30 to February 3. Vietnamese Ambassdor to Belgium and head of the Vietnam Mission to the EU Nguyen Van Thao said that the EU-IPMF gathers nearly 70 delegations from EU member countries and more than 40 countries in the Indo-Pacific region , as well as representatives from a number of international organisations. - Winners of the eighth National Press Awards on Party Building, the Bua Liem Vang (Golden Hammer and Sickle) Awards 2023, will be announced at a ceremony in Hanoi on late February 1. The Party Building magazine, the standing agency of this year's awards, said the organising board had received 2,216 entries, up 184 against the previous one. Six A, 12 B, 18 C and 30 consolation prizes will be named at the awarding ceremony. - Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Duong Hai Hung has visited Italy's Campania region and its capital city of Naples, aiming to promote Vietnam's comprehensive cooperation with the Italian localities. At his meetings with Campania President Vincenzo De Luca, Naples Mayor Gaetano Manfredi and Prefect of Naples Michele di Bari, Hung briefed the host on major cooperation activities of the embassy and Italian partners in Naples. - The number of foreign arrivals to Vietnam in the first month of 2024 reached over 1.5 mi llion, the highest ever recorded for a month since the country fully reopened all tourism activities in March 2022, according to Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT). The figure represented an increase of 10.3% compared to previous month and a 73.6% hike compared to the same period last year. - One of the world's leading online travel platforms, Booking.com, has announced Da Lat - the city resort in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong - as the most-searched destination in Vietnam for the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday. According to its list of the ten most-searched destinations for tourists during the Tet holiday based on searches and bookings from February 8-14 (the 29th day of the 12th lunar month to the 5th day of the first lunar month), announced on January 31, booking.com said Da Lat, Nha Trang and Da Nang are the three destinations most searched thanks to the harmonious combination of majestic natural landscapes, romantic beaches and special cultures. - A new oceanside, multimedia and m ulti-sensory show, created by an award-winning French producer, amazed a full house at the official premiere on January 26 in Sunset Town on Phu Quoc Island in the southern province of Kien Giang. The sold-out performance is another feather in the cap for Sunset Town, which has become 'the Pearl Island's' premier destination thanks to the recently opened "Kiss Bridge", an iconic landmark, and VUI-Fest Bazaar, a new vibrant and contemporary night market concept./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue extended Lunar New Year (Tet) greetings to officers and soldiers of the border guard force nationwide at a programme held at the Border Guard High Command in Hanoi on February 1. The programme was connected online with the Border Guard Commands of 44 provinces and cities, and border guard stations on islands and in remote and mountainous areas across the country. The top legislator valued significant contributions of the border guard force to the country's important and comprehensive achievements in 2023, especially in firmly protecting territorial sovereignty, border, sea and island security; and closely coordinating with relevant sectors and forces, and local authorities to promptly and effectively handle issues related to border and territorial sovereignty and prevent violations in the country's territorial waters. The force has always strictly maintained combat readiness, and closely coordinated with other forces to protect the safety of political events , the NA Chairman said. He urged the force to continue to fully grasp and seriously implement the Party's directives and resolutions, the State's policies and laws on the task of ensuring national defence and security. Chairman Hue underlined the requirement for the border guard force to properly implement Treaties, Protocols, Agreements, and regulations related to territorial border, border management and protection, and border gates signed between Vietnam and neighbouring countries. The border guard force needs to deeply grasp the direction of Party General Secretary and Secretary of the Central Military Commission Nguyen Phu Trong that the border guard force must be a fulcrum in the border; focus on researching and perfecting methods and plans for organising national border management and protection in the new situation; and properly evaluate situations to effectively handle arising incidents. The top legislator also emphasised the request for building a clean, revolutionary, strong, regular, elite, an d gradually modern border guard force to meet tasks and requirements in the new situation. He asked the force to closely collaborate with relevant sectors and agencies to create breakthroughs in anti-corruption; and speed up the application of information technology, administrative reform and digital transformation to improve the efficiency of the management of immigration activities. The NA Chairman requested the border guard force to participate in building a strong political base, and promote socio-ecnomic development, poverty reduction and new-style rural area building in border areas. The border guard force was also demanded to enhance the legal education and popularisation work to raise public awareness of laws; and pay attention to building a strong and sustainable all-people border defence posture associated with a strong people's security posture, and a widespread all-people border protection force. The force must constantly improve the effectiveness of national defence and border defence foreign affairs; accelerate twinning activities between the Vietnamese Border Guard and border protection forces of neighbouring countries, contributing to building the shared land borderlines of peace, friendship, cooperation and sustainable development, he stressed./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Da Nang: Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of the central city of Da Nang Le Quang Nam hosted a reception on February 1 for a delegation from Laos' Savannakhet province led by Vice Governor Lingthong Sengtavanh. Briefing the guests about the city's socio-economic achievements last year, Nam said Da Nang successfully held many national and international-scale events, welcomed over 7.3 million tourists, including 372 foreign delegations comprising 3,106 people who came to work in trade, education, culture, tourism and sci-tech. He spoke highly of cooperative ties between Da Nang and Laos' southern and central provinces, including Savannakhet, saying that the city is rolling out cooperation programmes outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation for the 2023-2027 period that it signed with five provinces in southern and central Laos, with significant results in education and training, notably a scholarship programme enabling Lao officials and students to study at the University of Da Nang. The host informed that in early April, a local high-ranking delegation will visit and extend Bunpimay New Year greetings 2024 to Laos's southern and central provinces, including Savannakhet. The city is also in the process of building plans to carry out cooperation programmes outlined in the MoU between the two localities this year. Sengtavanh, for his part, expressed thanks to Da Nang for its support over the past years. He wished that friendly ties between the two localities would be further tightened, contributing to fostering the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries' Parties, States and people./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: A delegation from the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security (MoPS) led by Deputy Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Duy Ngoc began a working visit to Singapore on February 1. During the trip, the delegation worked with the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO) and the Government Technology Agency (GovTech). Ngoc also paid a courtesy call to Singaporean Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean, during which both sides underscored the robust and comprehensive development of the bilateral strategic partnership over the past years. Building upon this foundation, the two countries will continue to deepen their cooperation this year, thereby laying the groundwork to elevate the bilateral relations in the time ahead. Teo, for his part, expressed his delight at the growing collaboration between Singaporean law enforcement agencies and the MoPS over the past years. He also took note of cooperation proposals from the Vietnamese side and expressed his hope for continued collaboration in key areas such as security, digital economy, and human resources training. In the morning of the same day, the Vietnamese delegation attended the annual dialogue between the MoPS and Singapore's Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI), SNDGO and GovTech led by Deputy Secretary Sim Fengji. The discussion focused on advancing the negotiations on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the MoPS and MCI. Notably, they deliberated the connecting of population databases through the integration of Vietnam's VNeID app and Singapore's SingPass. They also agreed on the legal aspects of data sharing between the two countries for cooperation in fields such as health care, education, tourism, crime prevention and control, and sharing of training experiences to support the establishment of a national big data centre, particularly in legal, technological and human resources aspects. Following the dialogue, the Vietnamese delegation attended an exhibition on programming technology s olutions for better public services for people - an annual event showcasing public service applications to the public./. Source: Vietnam News Agency