Category: Politics

Thua Thien – Hue: Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on April 6 asked the central province of Thua Thien-Hue to optimise its potential and unique strengths to become an urban area with identity, which develops in a smart, adaptive, green, clean, beautiful, safe, and sustainable manner.

Addressing a conference to announce the planning of the province in the 2021-2030 period with a vision to 2050 and promote investment in the province in 2024, the Government leader underlined that Thua Thien – Hue has an important strategic position as a bridge connecting the North and the South, a gateway to the sea of the East – West trans-Asia corridor through Northern Thailand – Southern Laos – Central Vietnam, which brings the locality great potential for marine and lagoon economic development.

Thua Thien-Hue is also a land of spirituality, outstanding people, and rich culture, enabling it to be an attractive tourist destination with a rich history and unique culture with many cultural heritage sites and historical relics of
Vietnam and the world, he added.

PM Chinh underlined the need to internationalise the values of the national cultural identities and nationalise the quintessence of the world culture.

Highly valuing the design of the provincial planning and the Thua Thien-Hue urban planning, he asked the province to focus on effectively mobilising and utilising resources to promote traditional driving forces of investment, export, and consumption, while creating breakthroughs in new motivations such as green economy, digital economy, circular economy, sharing economy, knowledge economy, climate change response, sustainable development, investment in cultural industry, and entertainment industry.

Meanwhile, the locality should concentrate on enhancing human resources quality and strengthen connectivity with domestic and international regions through transportation systems, production systems, supply chains, culture and tourism, he said.

The PM also highlighted the need for Thua Thien-Hue to strengthen the development of a
concerted comprehensive strategic infrastructure system, while increasing industrial promotion to serve the cultural industry, tourism, processing industry, manufacturing, production, and supply chains for the region and the world, promoting the application of science and technology, innovation in production and business, creating stable jobs and livelihoods for people, and securing fast and sustainable growth.

Under the provincial planning of Thua Thien-Hue in the 2021-2030 period with a vision to 2050, Thua Thien-Hue is expected to become a centrally-run city in 2025 and a typical heritage city of Vietnam in 2030, as well as one of the major and unique centres of Southeast Asia in terms of culture, tourism, and intensive health care.

By 2030, the locality’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP) expansion is expected to reach 9-10% per year, with industry-construction contributing 33-35%, and services accounting for 56%. Its urbanisation rate is hoped to reach about 70%. In 2030, the province’s population
is predicted to hit 1.3 million.

Thua Thien – Hue will form and develop a number of economic corridors, including the North – South Economic Corridor, East – West Economic Corridor, Urban Economic Corridor towards the sea, along with driving centres of Hue city, Chan May – Lang Co economic zone, and Phong Dien industrial park.

The Government leader called on businesses and investors to share visions and actions with the locality, pioneering in renovation and contributing ideas to the province in administrative reform and improving the local investment environment.

At the event, Thua Thien – Hue authorities granted investment licences and investment policy approval decisions to 11 projects with a total capital of nearly 9 trillion VND (360.5 million USD), while presenting research documents for 10 projects with a capital of about 120 trillion VND in the fields of infrastructure, tourism, mechanics, energy, logistics, housing, education, health care, and digital data.

The same day, PM Chinh attended the gro
undbreaking ceremony for Hue International Central Hospital No.2.

Construction of the hospital, one of the five special-level to be upgraded to international-level, is expected to be completed in 2026.

With an investment of nearly 400 billion VND, the hospital will have a total floor area of 21,000 sq.m./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue’s upcoming visit to China is expected to create a spillover effect, creating a strong motivation and momentum for the development of the relations between Vietnam and China.

This will be the first visit to China by Hue as the NA Chairman, and also the first direct meeting between the heads of the two countries’ legislatures after the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC)

The visit is taking place in the context that the two countries celebrated the 73rd anniversary of their diplomatic relations and 15 years of bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in 2023.

Vietnam and China are close neighbours sharing many cultural and social similarities. Over the past 74 years, experiencing ups and downs, the Vietnam-China relations have developed steadily with the main flow being friendship and cooperation.

The friendship nurtured by generations of leaders of th
e two countries has become a shared asset of the two peoples, contributing to maintaining a stable and healthy trend of cooperation, bringing practical benefits to both countries.

Particularly, since Vietnam and China normalised their relations in 1991, they have enjoyed thriving partnership across all fields of politics, economy, culture, and defence and security.

In 2008, the two sides decided to establish a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, the highest partnership framework with the widest and deepest contents in Vietnam’s relations with other countries. China is the first country to share this partnership with Vietnam.

Over the past 15 years, the two Parties and countries have maintained healthily and stably growing ties with high political trust.

Commenting on the relations between Vietnam and China recently, Vietnamese Ambassador to China Pham Sao Mai said that with the joint efforts of both sides, the relationship between the two Parties and the two countries has developed positively
and reaped many important achievements in all fields.

Leaders of the two Parties, States, Governments, parliaments, and fronts have regularly maintained meetings and exchanges, contributing to strengthening political trust and reinforcing the political foundation for the ties between the two Parties and countries, he said.

Especially, the historical visits by CPV General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to China in October 2022 and CPC General Secretary and Chinese President Xi Jinping to Vietnam in December 2023 created strong momentum for the two Parties and countries to continuously reinforce and promote their neighbourliness and comprehensive cooperation.

The outstanding feature of meetings between high-ranking leaders of the two countries is that they affirm that they take each other as the priority in their external relations.

At multilateral forums, especially ASEAN and the UN, Vietnam and China have actively coordinated with each other, promoting peace, stability, and cooperation in the region and the w
orld.

Meanwhile, economic, trade and investment cooperation has been deepened and made more substantive, becoming a bright spot in the two countries’ relations recently.

China continuously remains Vietnam’s largest trade partner and second largest export market, while Vietnam is China’s largest trade partner among the ASEAN member countries, and China’s fifth largest trade partner in the world after the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Russia.

Two-way trade reached 133.09 billion USD in 2020, 165.9 billion USD in 2021, 175 billion USD in 2022, and 171.9 billion USD in 2023, according to Vietnam customs data. In the first two months of 2024, the figure hit 27.3 billion USD.

Vietnam and China shared many bilateral cooperation agreements as well as multilateral deals such as the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). China is promoting the process to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Sinc
e the two sides implemented commitments of the ACFTA, China has reduced tax rates for more than 8,000 products imported from Vietnam, including farm produce and fresh fruits.

Regarding investment, as of March 2024, China had invested 27.64 billion USD in Vietnam with 4,418 valid projects, ranking sixth among the 145 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. In 2023 alone, China invested 4.47 billion USD in Vietnam, an increase of 77.5%, ranking 4th among the foreign investors, but leading in the number of new projects. In the first quarter of 2024, China led in the number of the new FDI projects in Vietnam, accounting for 27.8%. The two sides have also actively coordinated to settle major problems in a number of previous economic cooperation projects.

Cooperation in culture, education, tourism, and people-to-people exchange, especially contacts between the youth of the two countries, has been promoted, helping enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the two Parties, countries, and peoples.
So far, nearly 60 cities and provinces across Vietnam have set up friendship relations with Chinese localities.

In terms of tourism, before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, China had led in the number of tourists to Vietnam for many years. On average, for every three foreign visitors to Vietnam, there was one Chinese. Currently, China has basically restored commercial flights with Vietnam with more than 200 two-way flights between the two countries each week. China has also reissued visas for Vietnamese students and workers returning to China. In 2023, there were more than 1.7 million Chinese visitors to Vietnam. In the first three months of 2024, the figure reached nearly 890,000, an increase of 634.5% over the same period last year.

According to Ambassador Mai, NA Chairman Hue’s visit to China from April 7-12 is crucial to maintaining high-level exchanges, upholding the strategic orientations for bilateral relations, and realising the common perceptions shared by the top leaders of the two Parties and cou
ntries, affirming that Vietnam considers developing ties with China as the top priority and a strategic choice in its external policy.

The visit also aimed to concretise six major directions of cooperation between the two countries, especially promoting “higher political trust” and consolidating a “stronger social foundation”, contributing to raising the level of the bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Vietnam and China for the benefit of the two peoples, for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

In addition, in the context that the relationship between the National Assembly of Vietnam and the National People’s Congress (NPC) of China has been constantly consolidated and developed well, the visit is expected to contribute to deepening and improving the effectiveness of cooperation between the two legislatures, affirming the important role of the Vietnamese National Assembly’s foreign affairs in the country’s development./.

Source: Vietnam
News Agency

Geneva: Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son reaffirmed Vietnam’s priorities when participating in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), including protecting vulnerable groups, promoting gender equality and digital transformation, and ensuring human rights, while delivering his opening statement at the 55th regular session of the council, which took place from February 26 to April 5.

He emphasised that human rights can only be best ensured when peace, stability, and international law are maintained and respected, with states placing people at the centre of all policies and ensuring inclusive and sustainable development.

Son called on countries to support Vietnam’s re-election as a member of the UNHRC for the 2026-2028 term.

The Vietnamese delegation led by FM Son actively joined many sessions, discussing specific rights such as the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment; the right to food; cultural rights; rights of persons with disabilities; and rights of children.

Additionally, Vietn
amese delegates also engaged, exchanged views, and consulted with delegations from other countries, co-sponsoring a number of initiatives in the spirit of dialogue and cooperation. They also fulfilled their duties as a member of the UNHRC by participating in consultations and voting on 32 draft resolutions and two decisions of the council.

Vietnam gave a joint statement on a topic of mutual interest shared by other ASEAN countries, focusing on fisheries exploitation and ensuring the right to food.

Vietnam also spoke on behalf of the core group of the resolution on human rights and climate change – including Vietnam, Bangladesh, and the Philippines – during a dialogue session related to the report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on measures to mitigate the impact of climate change on the enjoyment of the right to food.

Representing the inter-regional group, Vietnam delivered two joint statements with strong endorsement from partner countries, calling for the acceleration of the implementation o
f Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to promote gender equality and protect essential infrastructure for people in armed conflicts.

In these statements, Vietnam emphasised consistency, efforts, and achievements of the Southeast Asian nation in promoting and protecting human rights; reaffirmed Vietnam’s commitment to sustainable development for the benefit of its people; and highlighted the necessity to address inequality and protect vulnerable groups.

Vietnam called for addressing global challenges such as climate change and protecting human rights in armed conflicts, while affirming its commitment to enhancing constructive cooperation with countries, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UNHRC and the council’s mechanisms to promote and protect human rights for all based on respect for the UN Charter, international treaties on human rights, ensuring national sovereignty and principles of objectivity, fairness, constructive dialogue, and cooperation.

The UNHRC completed its 55th se
ssion with a heavy workload and record-long meeting times, in the context that humanity still faces many challenges such as strategic competition; the conflict in Ukraine; the Hamas-Israel conflict; climate change; food, energy, water insecurity; and many other social injustices.

The council reviewed and discussed about 80 reports, consulted and adopted 32 draft resolutions, adopted reports of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on human rights of 14 countries, and approved decisions to postpone some activities of the UNHRC./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Guangxi: Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and Secretary of the Party Committee of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China Liu Ning discussed measures to further promote relations between Vietnamese ministries and agencies, and Guangxi province of China at their meeting in Chongzuo city on April 3.

Son, who is paying an official visit to China, affirmed that the Vietnamese Party and State always support and facilitate cooperation between Vietnamese localities and their Chinese counterparts, including Guangxi.

The minister suggested the two sides focus on implementing high-level common perceptions and major outcomes gained during the visit to China by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong in October 2022, and the visit to Vietnam by General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and President of China Xi Jinping in December 2023.

Vietnamese ministries, agencies and localities, and Guangxi should maintain and raise
the efficiency of their existing cooperation mechanisms, step up friendship, conduct theory exchanges and share experience in Party building, social management and economic development, he continued.

Son asked Guangxi province to facilitate customs clearance at border gates, especially for Vietnamese agricultural products, and speed up the construction of border gate infrastructure.

At the same time, the two sides should enhance railway and road connectivity, and work to raise mutual understanding and friendship between the two countries’ people, especially younger generations, he said.

Son stressed the need for the two sides to closely coordinate in land border management in line with three legal documents on the land border and relevant agreements that Vietnam and China had previously signed.

Liu, for his part, expressed his support for Son’s proposals, and affirmed that Guangxi province attaches importance to friendship exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation with Vietnamese ministries, agencies
and localities.

The two sides should maximise their potential, strengths and reciprocity in cooperation, he noted./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: The Party Central Committee (PCC)’s Inspection Commission convened its 39th meeting in Hanoi on April 2 and 3, during which it looked into disciplinary measures against the Party Civil Affairs Committee of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) and some relevant Party organisations and members.

Implementing a decision made at its 37th session, the Inspection Commission decided to remove Nguyen Hong Minh, former Secretary of the Party Committee and former Director General of the MoLISA’s Directorate of Vocational Training, from all of his Party positions.

It also issued warnings against the Party Committee of the Directorate of Vocational Training for the 2010-2015 and 2015-2020 tenures, and Nguyen Ngoc Phi, former member of the Party Civil Affairs Committee and Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs; Duong Duc Lan, former Secretary of the Party Committee and former Director General of the Directorate of Vocational Training; and Pham Quang Phung, Secretary of the
Party Cell and Director of the Department of Planning-Finance under the MoLISA.

The Inspection Commission reprimanded the Standing Board of the MoLISA’s Party Committee for the 2015-2020 term, and Truong Anh Dung, Secretary of the Party Committee and Director General of the Directorate of Vocational Training.

It proposed the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee consider and discipline the MoLISA’s Party Civil Affairs Committee for the 2011-2016 and 2016-2021 terms, Dao Ngoc Dung, member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Party Civil Affairs Committee, and Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs; Pham Thi Hai Chuyen, former member of the Party Central Committee, former Secretary of the Party Civil Affairs Committee, and former Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs; and Huynh Van Ti, former member of the Party Central Committee, former member of the Party Civil Affairs Committee, and former Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

At the
meeting, the Inspection Commission also mulled over the case of the Party Civil Affairs Committee of the People’s Court of Kon Tum province, and some concerned Party organisations and members.

It gave a warning against the Party Civil Affairs Committee of the People’s Court of Kon Tum province for the 2020-2025 term, and Do Thi Kim Thu, Secretary of the Party Civil Affairs Committee and Chief Judge of the People’s Court of Kon Tum province.

Nguyen Tien Tang, member of the Party Civil Affairs Committee and Deputy Chief Judge of the provincial People’s Court, was reprimanded. The Inspection Commission opined on reports proposing the issuance of disciplinary measures against some members of Party organisations in Quang Ngai, Vinh Phuc, Dak Lak and Binh Phuoc provinces.

It proposed the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee consider and discipline Le Viet Chu, former member of the Party Central Committee, former Secretary of the provincial Party Committee, former Secretary of the Party Ci
vil Affairs Committee and former Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee of Quang Ngai province.

The Inspection Commission also suggested the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee consider disciplinary measures against Pham Hoang Anh, Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Vinh Phuc province; and Doan Huu Long, former member of the provincial Party Committee, former Secretary of the Party Committee and former Director of the Department of Health of Dak Lak province; and Dang Gia Dung, former member of the provincial Party Committee, former Secretary of the Party Committee and former Director of the Department of Construction of Dak Nong province, as well as Ma Ly Phuoc, member of the provincial Party Committee and Deputy Head of the provincial Party Committee’s Board for Mass Mobilisation of Binh Phuoc province for their wrongdoings.

For the cases relating to permanent members of the Party Committees of Cao Bang province and Can Tho City, the Inspection Commission
asked them to carry forward their achievements, and seriously review, draw lessons and promptly correct their wrongdoings and shortcomings in leadership as pointed out.

Similar requests were also made for the Standing Board and permanent members of the Party Committee of Quang Tri province./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

HCM City: Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organisations of the Vatican, will visit Vietnam from April 9-14 at the invitation of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam, the office of the conference announced on April 3.

According to Chief of the office Archbishop Giuse Dao Nguyen Vu, this will be the first Vatican Secretary for Relations with States-level visit to Vietnam. During the visit, Archbishop Gallagher will meet with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, representatives of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Government Committee for Religious Affairs.

He planned to visit the Hanoi-based National Children’s Hospital, which has had medical cooperation with Rome’s Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital since 2005.

Archbishop Gallagher will celebrate the Mass at designated cathedrals in Hanoi, Hue and Ho Chi Minh City; and meet with members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam before wrapping up the
visit./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

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 April 3 demanded ministries, sectors, and localities resolutely not surrender to difficulties but keep persistence in the set targets.

He made the request while chairing the Government’s regular meeting for March and a teleconference with the 63 provinces and centrally-run cities to discuss the socio-economic situation in the first quarter and set tasks for Q2.

– Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai had a meeting with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai in Boston on April 2 (local time), as part of his US trip for the Vietnam Executive Leadership Programme (VELP).

Khai highlighted Vietnam’s consistent policy of building an independent and self-reliant economy in association with active, extensive, and effective international integration.

– The Vietnam-Hungary comprehensive partnership has grown soundly across various sectors, with the countries’ parliamentary cooperation
thriving on both bilateral and multilateral fronts, stated Vice Chairman of the National Assembly (NA) Tran Quang Phuong at his recent talks with Márta Mátrai, First Deputy of the Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly, in Budapest.

The Vietnamese legislator took the occasion to propose both sides maintain exchanges of high-level delegations and specialised committees, enhance mutual cooperation and support at multilateral forums, and coordinate the implementation of agreements signed between the two parliaments during the visit of Vietnamese NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue to Hungary in 2022.

– The Ministry of Information and Communications has set a target of increasing the usage of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) to 65-80% by the end of this year, bringing Vietnam into the top 8 for IPv6 usage in the world.

Converting to IPv6, the most recent version of the Internet Protocol, is critical to ensure address resources for Internet development and connection with new services such as Internet of Things, c
loud computing and 5G/6G networks, the ministry said.

– The total revenue from the retail sales of goods and consumer service in March was estimated at 509.3 trillion VND (20.3 billion USD), up 0.5% month-on-month and 9.2% year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

In the month, the retail revenue of food and foodstuffs rose by 11.6%, household appliances and tools 16%, garment 10.1%, accommodation and catering services 15.8%, and tourism and travel services 66.1% against the same period last year.

– The General Statistics Office (GSO) reported a decade-high number of new businesses established nationwide in the first quarter, reaching 36,224.

Taking into account enterprises resuming operation, the number reached 59,848.

– The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism on April 3 launched the 2024 stimulus programme, with discounts of 10-60% on various tourism products and services.

Participating businesses have already signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) to ensure a comprehensive
range of discounted options. The programme, with nearly 100 travel agents, accommodation and dining facilities, shopping venues and entertainment centres taking part, will be officially introduced to tourists at the upcoming Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Festival slated for April 4-7 at 23/9 Park in District 1.

– The 17th International Processing and Packaging Exhibition and Conference (ProPak Vietnam 2024) opened in Ho Chi Minh City on April 3.

The three-day event attracts 310 exhibitors from 30 countries and territories, including India, the Republic of Korea, China’s Hong Kong, Singapore, Spain, and the US. It also features a number of international conferences, seminars, and technical sessions.

– The Vietnam International Trade Fair (Vietnam Expo 2024), one of the leading international trade exhibitions in Vietnam, kicked off in Hanoi on April 3, attracting 480 enterprises from 15 countries and territories worldwide.

The 33rd event of this kind features nearly 600 pavilions, up 20% compared to the figure l
ast year.

– The Metro Line 1 (Ben Thanh – Suoi Tien) in Ho Chi Minh City is expected to start commercial operation in October this year, according to the Ho Chi Minh City’s Management Authority for Urban Railways (MAUR).

Addressing a meeting on April 2 of the municipal People’s Committee to review socio-economic situation in the first quarter, Nguyen Quoc Hien, deputy head of MAUR – the investor of the project, said 98% of the workload on the metro line has been completed and six task groups to prepare for the official operation of the urban metro line are underway. ./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency