☕ Afternoon briefing on December 13

Hanoi (VNA) - The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency.

- State President Luong Cuong received in Hanoi on December 13 outgoing Algerian Ambassador to Vietnam Sofiane Chaib.

Congratulating Chaib on being appointed by the Algerian Government to the position of Secretary of State to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cuong expressed his hope that, in his new role and with the special affection he developed during his tenure in Vietnam, the diplomat will continue to pay attention to and promote measures to further deepen the traditional friendship between Vietnam and Algeria in various fields. Read full story

- Vietnam has officially announced its candidacy for re-election to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for the 2026 - 2028 tenure.

The announcement was made at a ceremony held by the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the United Nations (UN) in New York on December 12 on the occasion of International Human Rights Day, drawing a large number of diplomats and representatives from various UN missions. Read full story

- The Politburo convened a meeting on December 13 to consider disciplinary measures against several former high-ranking leaders.

Based on the content, nature, extent, consequences, and causes of the violations committed by the above-mentioned party members, the Politburo decided to issue warnings against Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Truong Hoa Binh, and a reprimand against Truong Thi Mai. Read full story

- Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc on December 12 urged ministries and sectors to do their utmost to implement the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s 17 recommendations to lift Vietnam out of its list of Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring (grey list) related to money laundering.

The FATF added Vietnam to the list in June 2023. Immediately after that, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) advised and submitted to the Prime Minister for signing Decision 194/QD-TTg promulgating the National Action Plan to implement the Government's commitments to preventing and combating money laundering, terrorism financing, and financing for the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Read full story

- Vietnam supports all efforts to ensure the safe and effective operations of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), including ensuring that sufficient resources are available for the agency to carry out its mandate, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet has said.

The official made the statement while addressing a special emergency session of the UN General Assembly chaired by its President Philemon Yang in New York on December 4 and 11 to discuss the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Read full story

- With double-digit growth in key markets, Vietnam's shrimp exports are projected to rake in 4 billion USD in 2024, according to insiders.

While this figure is lower than the record of 4.3 billion USD achieved in 2022, it marks a strong recovery compared to 2023, when shrimp exports totalled only 3.4 billion USD. This recovery highlights the resilience of the shrimp industry as it continues to regain momentum. Read full story

- Vietnam’s total retail sales of consumer goods and services saw a year-on-year increase of 8.8% to more than 5.8 quadrillion VND (228.4 billion USD) in January – November, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Revenue from retail sale of goods for the 11-month span hit 4.48 quadrillion VND, accounting for 77.1% of the total revenue and rising 8.1% against the same time last year. Read full story

- The Homeland Spring 2025 programme is slated to take place in Hanoi from January 18 - 21, or from the 19th to the 22nd of the last lunar month of the Year of the Dragon, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese.

The programme, themed "Vietnam – rising in the new era", is an annual event with great significance for the Vietnamese community abroad, helping to strengthen the connection between the community and the home country. Read full story./.

VNA