?? Morning digest on September 8

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