☕ Afternoon briefing on February 16

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

- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh demanded Ben Tre further tap into its advantages and develop the sea-based economy, while addressing a working session with officials of the Mekong Delta province on February 16.

He said Ben Tre holds a special position in road and sea transport connectivity. With a 65km coastline and an exclusive economic zone of nearly 20,000sq.km, it boasts favourable conditions for developing sea-based economic sectors, logistics, and wind power. Read full story

Vietnamese teams perform search and rescue activities in (Photo: VNA)

- Two search and rescue teams from the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) on February 15 discovered three locations of victims of the recent devastating earthquake in Hatay province, one of the localities hardest hit by the disaster in Turkey.

The teams, comprising engineers, sniffer dogs, and military doctors, searched eight points in Hatay’s capital city of Antakya where they located three points with victims buried under debris. Read full story

- A tree-planting ceremony was held on February 15 in Israel’s Ashdod city to mark the 30th anniversary of the Vietnam-Israel diplomatic relations.

Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to Israel Ly Duc Trung said that tree planting is one of the important activities marking the anniversary. This year, the two countries will accelerate cooperation activities for their development and people-to-people connections. Read full story

- The European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) on February 16 launched its 2022-2023 Whitebook, with the theme “Working Toward a Green Economy and Sustainable Development”.

The annual publication presents policy recommendations that aim at resolving regulatory hurdles and facilitating the growth of the country's economy, focusing on areas of health care, the green economy and sustainability, and innovation and investment.Read full story

- Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to Vietnam are slowing down but promising moves are showing that waves of FDI to the country will be stronger in the coming time, said Chief Representative of the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) in Hanoi Nakajima Takeo.

Citing the results of a survey conducted with 3,100 businesses based in Japan, the official said that Vietnam ranks fourth in the world in terms of export destinations for Japanese companies, second only behind the US in attracting Japan’s foreign investment, and this shows the great interest of Japanese businesses in Vietnam as they believe that the Vietnamese market will develop strongly and be a destination for businesses. Read full story

Tra fish exports are likely to enjoy good growth in the remaining months of 2023 thanks to increasing demand from China and the US -Vietnam’s two largest markets. (Photo: nongnghiep.vn)

- Despite experiencing a sharp decline in the last quarter of 2022 and the first month of 2023, tra fish (pangasius) exports still see bright outlook this year, according to insiders.

Le Hang, director for communications at the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said from October to December last year, tra export value decreased 12% from a year earlier to 457 million USD.  The decline continued to linger until the beginning of this year, with 50% in January. Read full story

- The 8th Vietnam – Japan Festival – the biggest of this kind will take place in Ho Chi Minh on February 23-26 as part of activities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the two countries, heard a meeting in Ho Chi Minh City on February 16.

Organised based on the concepts of "bilateral cooperation", "co-existence and development", and "building for the future" between Japan and Vietnam, the festival aims to act as a bridge facilitating mutual understanding of culture and tradition between the two countries through holding cultural and sports exchanges./. Read full story

VNA