☕ Afternoon briefing on August 31

Hanoi, (VNA) – The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency on August 31.

-President Nguyen Xuan Phuc welcomed Lotte Group’s investment of nearly 5 billion USD in Vietnam and suggested the Republic of Korea’s conglomerate further invest in Vietnam’s large projects, while hosting Lotte Chairman Shin Dong-bin in Hanoi on August 31.

Expressing his delight at the two nations’ strategic partnership being consolidated across fields, particularly trade, investment and political trust, he noted RoK firms are taking the lead in terms of FDI volume in Vietnam with a total capital of 80 billion USD. Read full story

-The south central coastal province of Binh Thuan should make the most of its outstanding potential and competitive advantages by developing sea-based economy and tourism, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh told provincial leaders at their meeting on August 31.

He stressed that the province’s development potential has yet to be tapped fully, its economic restructuring is ineffective, planning work limited, and human resources quality not high. Read full story

-The President’s decision on amnesty in 2022 was announced at a press conference jointly held by the Presidential Office, the Ministry of Public Security, the Supreme People’s Court and the Foreign Ministry on August 31.

In announcing Decision 978/QD-CTN, Vice Chairman of the Presidential Office Pham Thanh Ha stressed that the amnesty in 2022 once more reflects the lenient policy of the Vietnamese Party and State, and the humane Vietnamese tradition on encouraging people committing wrongdoings to repent and strive to become useful people. Read full story

- Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN has proposed that in addition to making use of existing resources and ensuring cost-effectiveness, UNDP should be creative in finding ways to mobilise resources from stakeholders, including the private sector, to implement development programmes, proposed.

Giang made the proposal at an August 30 dialogue session of the Executive Board of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)’s second regular meeting. The meeting, taking place in New York from August 29 to September 1, discusses the budget for the implementation of the UNDP Strategic Plan for 2022-2025. Read full story

-Ho Chi Minh City’s economy has maintained its recovery pace, as seen in the increasing numbers of both new businesses and those that have restored their operations, as well as the rise in foreign investments, the city officials reported at a press conference on August 30.

Nguyen Khac Hoang, head of the municipal Statistics Office, viewed FDI attraction as a bright spot of the local economy in the month, which is the highest over the past five years.Read full story

-Over 20,000 new enterprises were established in Hanoi in the first eight months of 2022, with a total registered capital of 226  trillion VND, representing year-on-year increases of 22% and 2%, respectively. 

After the COVID-19 pandemic was brought under control, many businesses have resumed their production and business. The number of newly-established businesses increased rapidly. Read full story

-A recent article published on the news site Inquirer has described Vietnam as an economic dynamo that offers helpful lessons for its peers.

According to the author – Richard Heydarian, expert on politics, international relations and the East Sea (also known as South China Sea) at the Stratbase ADR Institute for Strategic and International Studies (ADRi), there are three main lessons that other countries can learn from Vietnam.Read full story

-Singapore, which fully reopened in April, hosted more than 107,000 Vietnamese arrivals in the first seven months.

Talking to a reporter from the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, Keith Tan, Chief Executive Officer at the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), said the number of Vietnamese tourists to Singapore is surging and ranked fifth among the international arrivals in the country after Indonesia, India, Australia, and Malaysia. Read full story/.