Day: December 10, 2023

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on December 10 asked the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho to mobilise all possible resources to successfully implement its master plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050. Speaking at a master plan announcement and investment promotion conference in the city, the Government leader said Can Tho must promote innovation, science and technology, green and digital transformation, circular and knowledge economy and consider them the main driving forces for development. He requested the city improve construction and transport infrastructure, connecting the region and the whole country. The infrastructure would create new development space and motivation, reduce logistics costs, and enhance competitiveness for products and goods, especially fresh agricultural products that need fast transport, he said, adding the city should call for a variety of development resources, including State capital, private capital, central, local and loan capital. One more important work was pro moting public-private cooperation, and attracting foreign direct investment through administrative procedures reform and improving the business environment. The city must effectively deploy specific policies, research and propose appropriate plans to create development resources. The city needed to conduct site clearance for projects, ensuring that the new places of residence are better or equal to the old ones. "The biggest issue in implementing the scheme is resources, including internal and external resources, resources from infrastructure development, from public-private partnership, from procedural reform and from solidarity,' said PM Chinh. For the business community and investors, he recommended having a long-term, sustainable business strategy, properly implementing investment commitments, and cooperation agreements, and complying with the law. The cabinet leader requested concerned ministries to effectively carry out the Party's policies and guidelines, the State's laws, and the direction of the Government and the PM. All relevant organisations must always resolve recommendations and proposals from Can Tho city, he noted. Can Tho city's master plan was approved by the PM in Decision 1519/QÐ-TTg on December 2 this year. To date, the PM has approved the master plans for 32 provinces and cities. Can Tho is the 27th locality in the country and the eighth in the Mekong Delta to have its master plan approved. According to Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Tran Viet Truong, the master plan is the basis and a solid premise for Can Tho to expand its vision, accelerate its breakthrough, and express the desire to bring the city to new heights. It also affirms the city's role as a core urban area of the Mekong Delta, on par with its potential position. The scheme aims to make Can Tho an ecological and modern city imbued with the identity of the Mekong Delta. It will belong to the group of well-developed cities in Asia, will become a livable smart city in Vietnam, and the centre and growth pole of the Mekong Delta region. The important task is to build Can Tho into an urban and commercial service centre with high-tech agriculture, education and training, he said, adding it must have an infrastructure system that adapts to climate change, meeting the requirements of inter-regional and international transport connectivity. Truong said that the city leaders would make efforts to direct and always stand side by side to build a friendly, healthy and equal investment environment for businesses and investors to contribute their ideas and implement suitable projects in the city. On the same day, PM Chinh and the city's delegation of National Assembly deputies met with voters in Vinh Thanh district to inform them of the outcomes of the legislature's sixth plenary session, which concluded on November 29./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue on December 10 morning offered incense in tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at a monument dedicated to the late leader in Udon Thani as part of his official visit to Thailand. Hue also attended a groundbreaking ceremony of a project to expand the monument, during which he emphasised that in his revolutionary journey, President Ho Chi Minh visited many places around the world, including Udon Thani - an important place where he worked under the alias of "Thau Chin" called by Thai people. He presented 50,000 USD in support of the expansion of the monument. Earlier, on December 9 evening, also in Udon Thani, the Vietnamese top legislator met around 600 people representing more than 100,000 Vietnamese who are living and working in Thailand. At the meeting, Hue shared that Thailand was the first country in the ASEAN region to establish a strategic partnership with Vietnam. During the talks and meetings this time, the King, Queen, Prime Minister, President of the Na tional Assembly, and President of the Senate of Thailand all agreed that Thailand and Vietnam need to soon upgrade their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership in the near future. He also said that the King and Queen of Thailand welcoming the Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly is unprecedented, demonstrating the King's special affection for the relationship between the two countries. He affirmed that the Party and State always create favourable conditions for Vietnamese people abroad to return to and invest in the homeland. He also shared the legislature's approval of a regulation on granting e-visas to citizens of all countries with the validity period increasing from 30 to 90 days, and the stay period up from 15 to 45 days. On this occasion, Hue presented 100 sets of books for Vietnamese language learning to Vietnamese children in Thailand. Earlier, NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue visited Udon Thani Rajabhat University, which has signed a lot of cooperation programmes with Vietnamese education institutions in various localities like Da Nang, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thai Nguyen and Dien Bien. Hue appreciated the university's cooperation activities with Vietnam, its teaching of Vietnamese language, and its recent establishment of a centre on Vietnamese studies. He expressed his hope that the university will continue to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese students learning at the university, and further promote Vietnamese language teaching as well as cooperation activities with Vietnamese educational institutions. On December 9, the Vietnamese top legislator received Governor of Udon Thani province Wanchai Kongkasem./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

The official visit to Vietnam from December 11-12 by Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet will continue to strengthen and further expand traditional friendship between the two countries, said Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sok Chenda Sophea. In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency's correspondents in Phnom Penh, the diplomat highlighted the importance of the visit, saying this will be the Cambodian leader's first visit to an ASEAN member country since he took office in August. During a short period of time, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet had four meetings with his Vietnamese counterpart at international forums and conferences, he sad, adding in 2022, Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam Vuong Dinh Hue and Prime Minister of Vietnam Pham Minh Chinh visited Cambodia. According to Sok Chenda Sophea, in addition to mutual visits, Vietnam and Cambodia have also promoted their coordination in multilat eral frameworks. The two countries attended meetings of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), Lancang-Mekong cooperation framework and ASEAN, during which the two countries discussed collaboration in fields of economy, diplomacy, security, health care and transportation. They also talked about regional and world issues of shared concern, typically food security in the current context, at bilateral meetings. In the time to come, the two countries must continue to foster their fine relationship to bring development and prosperity to their people, he noted. Looking back on the special relationship over the past 60 years, he said the relationship has become closer, and is looking forward to a longer future, he said. The people of Cambodia and Vietnam supported and helped each other during the wars. The year 1979 was a historical milestone when Vietnam helped Cambodia overthrow the genocidal regime. Despite the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries have still seen bustling trade activities, with two-way trade hitting 10.57 billion USD in 2022, more than double the figure of 5 billion USD recorded in 2020. The two neighbours should make more efforts to boost trade, investment and tourism links, along with other areas such as industry and agriculture./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam, as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for the 2023-2025 period, has so far this year had six outstanding initiatives at all three regular meetings of the council, which received the support and co-sponsorship of many countries and international organisations, according to Ambassador Le Thi Tuyet Mai. Mai, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and other international organisations in Geneva, said that amidst fluctuations of the world situation, Vietnam has actively and responsibly contributed to the council's activities, made efforts with other countries to promote dialogue and cooperation, boost mutual understanding, and build consensus in discussing and adopting resolutions and decisions of the council. In particular, at the UNHRC's 52nd session, the Resolution marking the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the 30th anniversary of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (VDPA), propos ed by Vietnam, was approved by the council, with 121 co-sponsors. This resolution is an important hallmark creating a basis for organising commemorative activities of the council throughout 2023 at the national, regional and global levels, with the highlight being the high-level event celebrating the two important documents from December 10-12. At the 53rd session in the middle of this year, Vietnam, the Philippines and Bangladesh drafted and negotiated the annual Resolution on climate change and human rights, which was then approved by the council with 80 co-sponsors. The three countries also jointly organised a thematic discussion session on climate change and human rights, with focus on negative impacts of climate change on the full realisation of the right to food. At this session, Vietnam also held an international seminar on combating gender-based discrimination, violence and harassment in the workplace with the co-sponsorship of the US and Argentinian delegations. In addition, at the 54th session, V ietnam implemented two initiatives to promote the right to immunisation. In 2024, Vietnam will continue to promote its role and position as an active and responsible member of the council. The Vietnamese delegation in Geneva will actively participate in regular meetings, with focus on implementing several cooperation initiatives to promote and ensure human rights, in which it will preside over the building and negotiation of a draft Resolution on climate change and human rights at the June 2024 session. In addition, Vietnam will submit and defend the National Report under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism, said Mai./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

The upcoming State visit to Vietnam by General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and President of China Xi Jinping will help to deepen and elevate the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, Vietnamese Ambassador to China Pham Sao Mai said in an interview with the Vietnam News Agency. According to Ambassador Mai, the December 12-13 visit takes place at a meaningful time as the two countries are celebrating the 15th anniversary of their comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. It will be a continuation of high-level exchange activities between the two Parties and the two countries since the historic visit to China by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong in from October 30 to November 1, 2022. The visit demonstrates the importance the Chinese Party and State and CPC General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping attach to Vietnam - China relations. During the visit, high-ranking leaders of th e two Parties and countries will have in-depth discussions on major, comprehensive orientations on deepening and elevating the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Vietnam and China; promote exchanges between senior leaders of the two Parties and countries to further consolidate political trust; actively bolster areas of collaboration, contributing to bringing bilateral relations to a more substantive and effective stage of development. Regarding political relations, the ambassador said regular high-level exchanges between the two sides have made important contributions to strengthening political trust between the two Parties and countries. This year, President Vo Van Thuong attended the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation organised by China in October; while Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh paid an official visit to China, and attended the World Economic Forum's 14th Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin in June, the China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) and the 20th China- ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (CABIS) in Nanning in September. During these activities, the two countries' leaders continued to put forth major measures to effectively realise the important common perceptions reached by the two highest-level leaders, creating a strong driving force to promote the stable and healthy development of the friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation between Vietnam and China, he said. Economic and trade cooperation continues to be a bright spot in the two countries' relationship, with two-way trade in the first 10 months of 2023 reaching 139.2 billion USD. China remains Vietnam's largest trading partner and second-largest export market while Vietnam is China's biggest trading partner in ASEAN and sixth largest partner in the world. In the 11 months of 2023, China invested 3.06 billion USD in Vietnam, accounting for 18,7% of the total newly licensed foreign investment capital in the country, ranking fourth after Singapore, the Republic of Korea, and China's Hong Kong. H owever, it led in the number of new investment projects in Vietnam with 22.1%. Cooperation in other fields such as tourism, culture, and education has seen progress. China has reopened commercial flights to Vietnam. In the first 11 months, there were 1.5 million Chinese visitors to Vietnam, he added. The diplomat said the Vietnam-China land border maintains peace and stability. The two sides have closely coordinated to implement legal documents on the two sides' land border while strengthening security and safety management in border areas. In maritime issues, the two sides reached a common perception on satisfactorily controlling disagreements, maintaining peace and stability at sea in line with international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS 1982), and fully and effectively implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) as well as building a substantive, effective and efficient Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC). Both sides have also acti vely coordinated at multilateral forums to promote peace, stability, and cooperation in the region and the world, uphold the central role of ASEAN, and comply with the UN Charter and international law. He stressed that Vietnam and China have a long-standing traditional friendship which has been built and nurtured by many generations of leaders and people of the two countries and the visit to Vietnam by CPC General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping will certainly create more motivation to deepen and elevate the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, bringing practical benefits to the Parties, States, and people of the two countries as well as contributing to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

The 'Proud of Vietnamese Goods' programme 2023 was kicked off by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in Hanoi on December 9. Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said results of the 'Vietnamese people prioritise using Vietnamese goods" campaign and the 'Proud of Vietnamese Goods' programme have contributed to successfully completing economic targets in the direction of curbing inflation and stabilising the macro economy. He noted that since 2009, the total annual revenue of retail goods and services has grown by around 10% year-on-year. Even during the COVID-19 epidemic or in the current period of declining world demand, the domestic market is a large enough space for businesses to continue maintaining the growth momentum of retail sales of goods and services. The three-day event features a range of activities, including a run with the participation of more than 1,000 runners on Hoan Kiem pedestrian street, mini games, activities to spread the message 'Vietnamese peo ple prioritise using Vietnamese goods', among others. In addition, the festival also introduces, promotes and honours Vietnamese goods and services with strengths and high quality, a fashion show, art performances and exchanges. A forum discussing development trends in production and consumption of Vietnamese goods in the new situation; experience and solutions to enhance position and increase recognition of Vietnamese products in the domestic market; solutions to effectively tap the quintessential characteristics of Vietnamese goods; creative solutions and ways to boost linkages in sale of Vietnamese goods in the new context will also be held. The event runs until December 11./. Source: Vietnam News Agency

The southernmost province of Ca Mau needs to identify its three strengths in agriculture, tourism and renewable energy, so as to take measures to make the most of its distinctive potential, competitive advantages, and outstanding opportunities for rapid and sustainable development, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has suggested. Working with the standing board of the provincial Party Committee on the implementation of socio-economic development tasks on December 9, Chinh highly valued Ca Mau's socio-economic development results, affirming that achievements of the country and the Mekong Delta region have been partly contributed by the province. He asked the province to continue focusing on developing aquaculture, especially shrimp farming, developing the Ca Mau gas-electricity-fertiliser complex, tapping the potential of wind power, solar power, and renewable energy, and making the most of the 'Ca Mau cape' brand to promote tourism. Ca Mau needs to implement breakthroughs in transport infrastructure through upgrading Ca Mau airport, building expressways and developing inland waterways and seaways via Hon Khoai port. It is also necessary to develop digital infrastructure, agricultural and rural infrastructure, educational infrastructure, health care, culture and sports, the PM stressed, requesting the province to research and build specific schemes and projects to respond to climate change, subsidence, and landslides. Earlier, the Government leader inspected the upgrading and renovation of the Ca Mau airport runways, and the construction of a North-South Expressway section running through the province and the Ca Mau gas-electricity-fertiliser complex./. Source: Vietnam News Agency