☕ Afternoon briefing on February 27

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 has directed a further review and aggressive reduction of administrative procedures, with a focus on mininising inconvenience and compliance costs for citizens and businesses.

Chairing the Government’s monthly law-building session in Hanoi on February 27, PM Chinh asked ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies and government-affiliated bodies to lead and directly engage in institutional development within their respective sectors and across the broader government framework. Read full story

- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on February 26 signed an official dispatch, calling for stronger measures to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the arrangement, handling and utilisation of public assets following recent administrative restructuring.

Addressed to ministers, heads of ministry-level and Government agencies, and chairpersons of provincial and municipal People’s Committees, the dispatch underscores the need to prevent wastefulness and loss of State property amid the reorganisation of the political system and administrative units at all levels. Read full story

- South Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Monday Semaya Kumba has proposed fostering ties with Vietnam in economy, trade, agriculture, education - training, oil and gas, information technology, and people-to-people exchanges.

Kumba made the suggestion during a working session in Cairo on February 26 (local time) with Vietnamese Ambassador to Egypt and South Sudan Nguyen Nam Duong. Read full story

- The 19th round of negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), comprising Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, is taking place in Geneva with highly positive signals, reflecting strong political determination on both sides to conclude the deal at an early date.

At a bilateral meeting with Switzerland on February 25, the two sides discussed key outstanding issues. They acknowledged significant progress across core areas, including trade in goods, services and investment, intellectual property, sustainable development, and government procurement. To accelerate the process, both sides agreed not to introduce new issues into the negotiations and to focus on flexibly resolving remaining differences. Read full story

- Disease prevention and maternal and child healthcare have received special attention from the Party and State through a range of resolutions, strategies, and national target programmes in recent years.

Despite constraints from limited resources, natural disasters, epidemics, and socio-economic volatility, the health sector met major targets in 2025, while advancing legal and institutional reforms, broadening service access, and outlining a long-term development roadmap through 2035. Read full story

- The 11th Vietnam–Japan Festival, which will take place in Ho Chi Minh City on March 7–8, is expected to attract around 450,000 visitors, heard a press conference on February 27.

Pham Dut Diem, Director of the municipal Department of External Relations, highlighted the significance of the festival, saying that it contributes to further deepening and substantiating the sound relationship between Vietnam and Japan in general, as well as Ho Chi Minh City and Japan in particular, especially in the context that the two countries upgraded their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the world in November 2023. Read full story

- Vietnam will hold its first-ever public auction of two-character “.vn” domain names in 2026, marking a significant step in unlocking the value of scarce national digital assets.

The Vietnam Internet Network Information Centre (VNNIC), operating under the Ministry of Science and Technology, said the auctions will be conducted in two rounds, slated for March and June. Read full story

- A modern financial centre will help upgrade capital markets, connect directly with global capital flows, diversify financial products, advance green and digital finance, and channel funding into infrastructure, technology and clean energy projects – all key pillars for sustainable development, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh has stressed.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the training course for managers of the Vietnam International Financial Centre (IFCR03) held in Ho Chi Minh City on February 27, Deputy PM Binh, who also serves as Chairman of the Executive Board of the Vietnam International Financial Centre, described the successful establishment and operation of the IFC as a strategic component of the country’s growth model transformation. Read full story

Vietnam has firmly established itself on the global map as a premier destination for "surreal" cable car experiences that defy imagination (Photo: Sun Group)

- The world's leading travel magazine, Travel + Leisure, has just named Hon Thom cable car (Phu Quoc) and Ba Na cable car (Da Nang) on the list of the 11 most spectacular cable car routes in Asia, calling these "must-try once-in-a-lifetime" experiences.

To capture the essence of these aerial adventures, Travel + Leisure evokes the wisdom of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche: “The value of a symphony is not in the last note.” Much like a masterpiece of music, the true magic of these cable cars lies not just in the destination, but in the journey itself—suspended between heaven and earth. Through the panoramic glass cabins, travellers are treated to a sweeping gallery of nature: plunging valleys, drifting mists, pristine forests, and the endless turquoise of the sea./. Read full story

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