☕ Afternoon briefing on December 2

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

– National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue on December 2 met Governor of Victoria state Linda Dessau and received Tim Ayres, Assistant Minister for Trade and Assistant Minister for Manufacturing, within the framework of his official visit to Australia.
Linda Dessau said that her state always attaches importance to its relations with Vietnam, reflected through the opening of a trade and investment office in the Southeast Asian country in 2021, and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on trade, investment, education - training, science and technology and food processing with Ho Chi Minh City this year.Read full story

– The upcoming state visit to the Republic of Korea (RoK) by Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc will be a big breakthrough in the relationship between the two countries, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the RoK Park Jin has affirmed.
In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency ahead of the visit, FM Park said he expects that the two Presidents will discuss and agree on new orientations for the bilateral ties on this occasion. Read full story

– Vietnam resolutely opposes and demands Taiwan (China) to cancel its live-fire exercises in the waters around Ba Binh island that belongs to Vietnam's Truong Sa (Spratly), Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang stated on December 2. 
The official added that Vietnam demands Taiwan not to repeat the act in the future.Read full story

- Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations, has called for strengthening viewpoint coordination among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the United Nations.
He made the suggestion at a meeting held on December 1 by Cambodia, Chair of the ASEAN Committee in New York in 2022 to review its activities during the year. Read full story

– The 11-month state budget revenue is estimated at nearly 1.64 quadrillion VND (67 billion USD), equivalent to 116.1% of the target and up 17.4% from a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) announced on December 1.
In particular, the central budget collection was equivalent to 114.9% and the local budget collection 117.4% of the respective targets.Read full story

– The central city of Da Nang has been granted the Best Vietnam Smart City Award 2022, the third time so far.
This award was among the 43 bestowed upon cities, enterprises, and products considerably contributing to smart city building and national digital transformation.Read full story

– The index of industrial production (IIP) in the first 11 months of 2022 is estimated to increase by 8.6% year-on-year, doubling the 4.2% of the same period last year.
According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), in the reviewed period, the processing and manufacturing industry grew by 8.9%, contributing 6.8 percentage points to the overall growth; electricity production and distribution by 7.7%, contributing 0.7 percentage point; water supply, waste, and wastewater treatment and management activities by 7.1%, contributing 0.1 percentage point; and the mining industry by 6.5%, contributing 1 percentage point to the overall increase.Read full story

- Vietnam saw nearly 194,700  newly established and re-operating enterprises in the first 11 months of 2022, up 33.2% over the same period in 2021, a 1.3 times higher than the average rate in January – November period from 2017 - 2021, according to the Business Registration Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).
In November alone, the country counted 11,943 new enterprises with a total registered capital of 104.49 trillion VND (over 4.27 billion USD) and 73,988 labourers.Read full story/.