Category: General

The United Nations (UN) highly valued Vietnam’s high sense of responsibility and the professionalism of Vietnamese officers in peacekeeping operations, and wished that Vietnam will continue to maintain and increase its forces in UN peacekeeping missions, according to Deputy Minister of National Defence Hoang Xuan Chien.

Speaking to a Vietnam News Agency correspondent in New York right after his meetings with UN officials on the sidelines of the opening of the UN General Assembly’s 76th session on September 21, Chien said that over the past more than seven years, Vietnam has deployed three units and more than 50 officers to UN peacekeeping operations at its headquarters and missions.

Vietnamese peacekeeping officers received good assessment for their performance, with more than 31 percent rated as excellent, especially women officers, he said. Chien said that in the time to come, Vietnam will continue to maintain its presence in peacekeeping missions, including the Level-2 Field Hospitals No.3, while preparing Level-2 Field Hospitals No.4 to replace the No.3 when its term ends.

Meanwhile, Vietnam is also making preparations in personnel, organisation and equipment for an engineering force for a suitable UN peacekeeping mission following the UN requests, he said, adding that Vietnam is ready to receive examination teams from the UN for pre-launch check.

Vietnam has paid great attention to ensure an adequate ratio of women officers in peacekeeping operations at 15-21 percent, he underlined, adding that Vietnam will strive to further increase the ratio to meet the requirements of reality.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc witnessed the signing of an agreement worth nearly 2 billion USD between Vietnam’s Bamboo Airways and the General Electric’s GE Aviation in New York on September 21.

Under the deal, the airline will purchase GENx engines, which will be delivered next year, to power its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft and a maintenance package for its Boeing 787-9 fleet.

The fleet will be used on planned non-stop routes between Vietnam and the US.

The same day, the carrier announced the launch of its Vietnam – US direct route.

If conditions permit, the flight service will begin in early 2022 with three weekly flights initially. Given the market demand, the capacity could increase to five or seven flights per week.

Initially, the airline will run flights linking Tan Son Nhat and San Francisco international airports. In the long term, it also plans to operate flights to both San Francisco and Los Angeles international airports in California state.

With the debut of the official ticket agent and linkage with the US partners, Bamboo Airways saw that it is time to make new strides in effectively tapping routes linking the two continents, contributing to boosting trade and meeting demand for travelling between the two countries.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has asked ministries, agencies and localities to take measures to facilitate the production and circulation of farm produce amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Directive No. 26/CT-TTg issued on September 21, the fourth wave of COVID-19 infections has severely affected agricultural production as well as circulation, consumption and export of farm produce.

Against the backdrop, the PM asked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to instruct localities to synchronously roll out solutions, thus ensuring smooth supply chains.

The MARD will coordinate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) and the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) to push ahead with market opening for farm produce to China via the official channel.

It will also coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to submit policies to the Government and the PM to support farmers to recover production in localities that are under social distancing in line with the PM’s Directive 16/CT-TTg.

The MoIT was requested to hold working sessions with Chinese agencies and localities on the opening of more border gates and customs clearance for farm produce. The MoFA was requested to provide updates on the market, step up trade promotion and connectivity in farm produce consumption for localities, while helping traders in the sale of agricultural products via e-commerce.

The Ministry of Transport will instruct relevant agencies to create optimal conditions for the transportation of agricultural products and materials in service of agricultural production, and consumption and export of farm produce.

According to the directive, the Ministry of Health will coordinate with other ministries, agencies and localities to instruct specialised agencies to inspect, supervise, guide and assist production and business establishments in pandemic prevention and control.

The PM asked the Ministry of Planning and Investment to work harder to improve the domestic investment environment in the field of agriculture, and encourage enterprises to invest in agriculture and rural development.

The Ministry of Finance was tasked with instructing customs agencies to speed up customs clearance at border gates.

The State Bank of Vietnam needs to direct credit institutions to further allocate capital to production, processing, circulation, consumption and export of agricultural products.

Under the instruction of the MoFA, Vietnamese representative offices abroad will increase trade promotion activities for farm produce.

The PM also urged localities to put forth plans on production, consumption and export of agricultural products, ensure smooth supply chains as well as people’s stable lives, and boost growth.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, in collaboration with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, held a national launching ceremony in response to the “Clean up the world” campaign.

The ceremony was concurrently held virtually in Hanoi, the northern provinces of Bac Giang and Thai Binh, and the central provinces of Thanh Hoa and Quang Nam.

The campaign was organised globally for the first time in 1993. It has become one of the annual international environmental events responded by hundreds of millions of people in more than 130 countries around the world.

The campaign aims to call on organisations, businesses, individuals and the entire community to participate in activities to improve and protect the environment; collect, treat, and recycle waste; and refuse to use disposable plastic products and hard-to-degrade plastic bags.

This year, the campaign focuses on conveying messages and raising public awareness of the meaning, role and responsibility of environmental protection in socio-economic development; stepping up activities to promote environmental protection, sustainable development, disaster reduction and climate change adaptation in the “new normal”.

People can respond to the campaign through actions such as sorting, recycling, reusing plastic waste, increasing environmental sanitation, and planting trees.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc met with General Raul Castro Ruz on September 20 (local time) as part of his official visit to Cuba.

The President conveyed greetings of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and other Party and State leaders, and the people of Vietnam to the Cuban General.

President Phuc and Gen. Castro Ruz recalled the latter’s first visit to Vietnam 55 years ago in his capacity as Second Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) Central Committee, which opened up a new period for solidarity and mutual support between the two countries.

President Phuc informed Gen. Castro Ruz about the contents of his talks and meetings with leaders of the Cuban Party, State and National Assembly during the trip, which are expected to deepen the special traditional friendship, and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Cuba in a more effective manner.

Leaders of Vietnamese and Cuban ministries and agencies also held meetings to discuss specific cooperation measures.

The President reaffirmed Vietnamese’s solidarity and support to the Cuban people, and thanked the Caribbean nation for its timely assistance to Vietnam during the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cuba has sent doctors, presented treatment drugs and shared its homemade Abdala vaccine with Vietnam in the combat, he added.

According to the Vietnamese leader, the two countries reached an agreement on the supply and transfer of production technology of the vaccine, and are working on a cooperation plan regarding COVID-19 vaccines for children.

The Cuban General said he always keeps a close watch on Vietnam’s development, expressing his delight at achievements Vietnam has recorded.

President Phuc said he wishes to welcome the General to visit Vietnam again when conditions permit.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The Vietnam – Russia oil and gas joint venture Vietsovpetro is likely to complete all of its yearly targets in revenue, profit and State budget payment right in September thanks to comprehensive and effective measures to promote production.

A representative from the firm said that the fourth wave of COVID-19 that broke out in early May has posed adverse impacts on the health of all workers of Vietsovpetro as well as the operations of the firm as well as the entire oil and gas sector.

In order to maintain safe operations amid the pandemic, Vietsovpetro leaders have given drastic and flexible directions on the implementation of solutions to ensure the health of workers and maintain production at the same time.

Particularly, the firm has strengthened measures to cut cost and speed up digital transformation to maximise its performance in all conditions and circumstances.

By giving proper assessments and forecasts of risks, Vietsovpetro has applied measures to adapt to and cope with changes in the economy.

As part of its efforts to implement the programme to cut cost and improve operational efficiency, the firm has saved 11.7 million USD in costs in the first eight months of 2021, equivalent to 124 percent of its yearly target.

Vietsovpetro General Director Nguyen Quynh Lam said that the firm has continued to roll out solutions to optimise the crude oil production process to reduce cost. It has minimised production cost in all stages from platform erection, oil drill operations, oil exploitation and transport, thus saving about 20 million USD during the processes.

Regarding oil and gas exploitation, Vietsovpetro exploited over 2.1 million tonnes of oil equivalent and condensate in the first eight months of this year, exceeding its target for the period by 5.4 percent. Meanwhile, its natural gas output reached 55.8 million cu.m, surpassing the set goal by 8.4 percent. The volume of gas supplied to the shore also reached 605.3 million cu.m.

Its total revenue from oil and gas reached about 1.06 billion USD, 293.3 billion USD higher than its target and up 23.3 percent year on year.

Its budget payment hit 535.5 million USD, exceeding the plan by 154.5 million USD and representing a year-on-year rise of over 27 percent. Its profit hit 163.7 million USD, 52.9 million USD more than the figure set in the plan and increasing nearly 31 percent over the same period last year.

With the results, Vietsovpetro is likely to complete the targets for the whole year of 2021 in terms of revenue, payment to the state budget and profit in September, three months ahead of schedule.

In 2020, the joint venture’s oil and gas output reached 3.42 million tonnes, surpassing the set target by nearly 300,000 tonnes.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines is set to receive its permit from US authorities for concducting regular direct flights to the US.

It has officially completed all necessary documents to be approved by the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the airline said, adding that it is set to receive the permit from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Once licensed, Vietnam Airlines will become the first Vietnamese airline to be allowed to operate regular direct flights to the US – the country applies the most stringent barriers, legal procedures and aviation security regulations in the world.

Flights will be organised regularly in accordance with schedules announced by the airline. Tickets will be available on the airline’s website, mobile apps, and ticket offices.

Meanwhile, international special charter flights will be limited in terms of schedule, passenger and purpose. The flights are only allowed to operate within a specified period, and the airline has to re-apply for a new permit when the time frame expires.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on September 20 visited the Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) in Havana as part of his official visit to Cuba.

Established in 1986, the CIGB is a leading biotechnology centre of Cuba. It has successfully researched and produced five types of vaccines against COVID-19, including Abdala, making Cuba the first and only Latin American-Caribbean country to research and produce its own COVID-19 vaccines.

According to Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan, during the President’s visit, the health ministries of Vietnam and Cuba have reached agreements on eight cooperation contents in research, training, technology transfer and production of medicines.

At the CIGB, President Phuc witnessed the signing of an agreement between the CIGB and the Centre for Research and Production of Vaccines and Biologicals (POLYVAC) under the Vietnamese Ministry of Health on purchasing 5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from Cuba. Businesses of both sides also signed deals on the transfer of Soberana 2 COVID-19 vaccine.

He expressed his hope that health care partnership between the two countries will continue to grow effectively to match the sound relations between the two sides.

The Vietnamese State leader is scheduled to visit General Raul Castro Ruz before leaving Havana for Santiago, the second largest city of Cuba, where he will lay wreaths at Cuban leader Fidel Castro’s grave and the monument commemorating national hero Jose Marti.

After concluding the Cuban visit, President Phuc will head to New York for a general debate of the UN General Assembly’s 76th session and a number of bilateral activities in the US.

Source: Vietnam News Agency