Politics

☕ Afternoon briefing on December 17

The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency.

☕ Afternoon briefing on December 17

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

- Party General Secretary To Lam has urged the Government’s Party Committee to direct the Party Committee of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and relevant agencies to effectively implement orientations for mobilising financial resources, prioritising macroeconomic stability and inflation control to attract maximum domestic and foreign investment for national development.

Chairing the second meeting of the central steering committee for perfecting institutions and laws in Hanoi on December 17, he underlined the need to create the most favourable legal framework to promote the country’s development. Read full story

- State President Luong Cuong emphasised the need for the army to proactively and effectively promote international integration and defence diplomacy to ensure the national interests at the highest while addressing a national political-military conference in Hanoi on December 17.

The conference, jointly organised by the Central Military Commission and the Ministry of National Defence, aimed at assessing the outcomes of military and national defence tasks in 2025 and discussing objectives for the coming year. Read full story

- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on December 17 called for stronger, more coordinated efforts to meet housing demand and ensure people’s right to housing, while chairing the fourth meeting of the Central Steering Committee for Housing Policy and Real Estate Market.

The meeting reviewed the implementation of real estate management and social housing development in 2025, and outlined tasks and solutions for 2026 and beyond. Read full story

- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has stressed that the deadline for completing all housing repairs must be met by December 31, 2025, while all the construction of new homes must be finished by January 31, 2026, insisting that these targets will not be changed.

PM Chinh made the remarks while chairing a hybrid meeting with ministries, central agencies and local authorities on December 17 to review the implementation of the “Quang Trung Campaign” to rebuild and repair homes that collapsed, were swept away or were severely damaged by recent storms and floods. Read full story

- The Prime Minister has issued an official dispatch directing the organisation of ground-breaking, inauguration ceremonies for projects celebrating the 14th National Party Congress.

The dispatch states that in preparation for the groundbreaking, inauguration, and technical opening ceremonies of works and projects marking the 14th National Party Congress, the PM has assigned specific tasks to ministries, sectors, provincial and municipal People’s Committees, corporations, groups, and relevant units to promptly perform the work. Read full story

- As Vietnam moves into a new stage of development, the central challenge is no longer to increase the coverage or speed of the Internet, but to proactively shape its development to fully leverage the obtained achievements in support of fast, sustainable, and inclusive growth, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Pham Duc Long has said.

Speaking at the Internet Day 2025 in Hanoi on December 17, Long noted that as of October 2025, Vietnam’s fixed broadband Internet speed ranked 10th globally, while mobile broadband speed was placed 15th worldwide. After nearly a year of commercial rollout, the 5G network now covers 59% of the population, laying a critical foundation for the digital economy, digital government and digital society. Read full story

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Vietnam is likely to lead developing East Asia and Pacific economies in 2025, with a GDP growth rate of 6.6%, according to the WB, (Illustrative photo: VNA)


- International organisations and global media have shared a forecast that Vietnam will remain among the fastest-growing economies in the Asia-Pacific region in 2026, underpinned by stable growth prospects, strengthened macroeconomic fundamentals, and increasingly evident domestic potential.

Vietnam is entering 2026 with an ambitious GDP growth target of around 10%, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said at the 10th session of the 15th National Assembly. The PM underscored that Vietnam’s economy has demonstrated its resilience and capacity to withstand external shocks, maintaining its position as one of the world’s fastest-growing ones. Read full story

- The garment and textile sector of Vietnam has recalibrated its development strategy amid rapid changes in policies, markets and supply chains, said Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) Chairman Vu Duc Giang at a seminar held on December 16 as part of the HanoiTex & HanoiFabric 2025.

Giang noted that rising logistics costs, stricter compliance requirements, shifting purchasing policies in major markets, tariff measures and sustainability demands are exerting growing pressure, making strategic repositioning in the medium and long term. Read full story

- December 17 marked one of Vietnam’s most successful days at the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, with the country's athletes claiming gold medals in several of their traditional strengths, including rowing, shooting, and pencak silat, boosting Vietnam's position in the overall medal standings.

A standout moment came with Vietnam's 54th gold medal, earned in shooting. In a thrilling women’s 25m pistol event, Trinh Thu Vinh and Nguyen Thuy Trang delivered an intense duel. Thu Vinh claimed gold, while Thuy Trang took silver, with both setting a new SEA Games record by scoring 34 points. This victory brought Thu Vinh’s total gold medal count at the 33rd SEA Games to four, spread across both individual and team events, marking a significant improvement from the previous seasons./. Read full story

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