☕ Afternoon briefing on February 28 hinh anh 1
Hanoi (VNA) - The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency.

- The Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) is willing to share and exchange experience with the Lao NA and to learn from the law-making body’s effective models to boost its operation, said Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue as he received Lao NA Vice Chairman Khambay Damlath in Hanoi on February 28. Read full story

- Vietnam always gives the highest priority to consolidating and enhancing the great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation with the Lao National Assembly, NA Vice Chairman Nguyen Khac Dinh affirmed in Hanoi on February 28. Read full story

- Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang met UN Secretary General António Guterres and officials of foreign countries on the sidelines of the 52nd regular session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on February 27.

Guterres recalled his visit to Vietnam last November, and affirmed that the UN will continue its efforts in promoting the good relations with the Southeast Asian nation. Read full story

- Total import-export revenue in the first two months of this year is estimated at 96.06 billion USD, down 13.2% year on year, with a trade surplus of 2.82 billion USD, reported the General Statistics Office (GSO).

According to the office, so far this year, the country has exported 49.44 billion USD worth of goods, down 10.4% over the same period last year, with 37.92 billion USD coming from the foreign-invested sector, accounting for 76.7%. Read full story

- Vietnam’s consumer price index (CPI) in February grew by 0.45 % month-on-month, fueled by higher prices of oil, petrol, gas, and rental houses, the General Statistics Office said on February 28.

This month’s CPI and core inflation increased by 4.6% and 5.08% year-on-year, respectively. Read full story

- Vietnam’s rice export this year is expected to benefit from many favourable conditions, including high global demand, to reach 7 million tonnes, according to the Cong Thuong (Industry & Trade) newspaper. Read full story

- Maintaining raw material areas for the industry, improving the value of products, and ensuring incomes for farmers are major goals of Vietnam’s coconut sector this year, according to Vietnam Coconut Association.

In 2022, Vietnam’s exports of coconut and coconut products reached over 900 million USD. This does not include those made from coconut wood and commercial handicraft products using raw materials from the trees. Read full story

- Vietnamese digital technology enterprises have both advantages and challenges when going global, and support and coordination are needed, according to insiders.

Speaking at a recent conference “Vietnamese digital companies going global: Global digital cooperation –Trusted partners in building the digital world”, Nguyen Thien Nghia, Deputy Director in charge of the Department of Information and Communications Industry, Ministry of Information and Communication, said that the world technology market can bring many opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises which have an advantage of cheap but high-quality labour. Read full story

- The Vietnam Trade Promotion Centre for Agriculture (Agritrade) on February 28 signed a deal on strategic cooperation with TikTok to improve the digital transformation capacity for the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and cooperatives taking part in the One Commune, One Product (OCOP) programme.

Accordingly, TikTok will co-organise training courses on short video production and the TikTok for Business advertising solutions, open a section for OCOP products on TikTok Shop, and cooperate with Agritrade and other agencies to build marketing programmes for OCOP products as well as related events in 2023. Read full story

- The northern province of Quang Ninh, home to UNESCO-recognised Ha Long Bay, welcomed about 1.7 million visitors and earned some 3 trillion VND (126.56 million USD) from tourism services in February.

 In the first two months of this year, the figures stood at 3.35 million tourists, doubling that in the same period last year, and more than 6.5 trillion VND, respectively. Read full story

- Vietnam will attend the ITB 2023 (Internationale Tourismus-Börse Berlin), the world’s largest tourism trade fair, which will be held at Berlin ExpoCenter City in Germany, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

In addition to showcasing tourism products in a 450 sq.m booth at the fair, the Vietnamese delegation will host several events to promote the country’s tourism, including working sessions with international partners. Read full story

- The Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang has launched an emulation movement in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The emulation movement comprises two phases, from January to May and from June to December 2023. It targets collectives and individuals of authorised forces based in Kien Giang, including Naval Region 5, Coast Guard Region 4, Maritime Border Guard Unit 28, and Fisheries Resources Surveillance Region 5, along with districts and cities across the province. Read full story

- The central coastal province of Nghe An has requested departments, sectors and localities to intensify supervision over the implementation of the measures against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

This act aims to join national efforts towards the European Commission (EC)’s removal of its ‘yellow card’ warning on Vietnamese seafood. Read full story

- Vietnam ranked 6th out of the 10 ASEAN member countries and 55th globally in the 2022 Government AI Readiness Index, up seven places compared to 2021, according to the index report released by the UK’s Oxford Insights.

The country earned an average score of 53.96 points in 2022, increasing from 51.82 points in 2021 and surpassing the global average of 44.61, according to Oxford Insights, which ranked 181 countries this year, up from 160 in last year’s iteration. Read full story

- Vietnamese midfielder Dinh Xuan Tien has been identified as a player to watch at the upcoming 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U20 Asian Cup finals in Uzbekistan, according to the-afc.com.

The website highlighted one player from each of the 16 teams set to compete for the March 1-18 championship, with Tien among those singled out for praise. Read full story

- Vietnamese martial artists are set to showcase their skills in the upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games 32, where they will compete in the traditional Cambodian martial art of bokator.

The Games, which will be hosted by Cambodia in May, will see participants engage in hand-to-hand combat and employ a variety of weapons. Read full story

- A fashion show entitled "Kimono - Ao dai Fashion Show" will be held in Hanoi on March 4 by non-profit organisation Be-Japon in collaboration with the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam and BRG.

The cultural event is a part of the activities in celebration of the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties between Vietnam and Japan (1973-2023). Read full story./.
VNA