☕ Afternoon briefing on January 30

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 on January 30 examined the progress of key transport projects in the Mekong Delta.

Visiting a construction site of My Thuan 2 Bridge that crosses the Tien River and connects the Trung Luong-My Thuan and My Thuan-Can Tho expressways between HCM City and Can Tho, he asked constructors to speed up work, ensure the quality of the construction, labour safety and pay proper care to workers’ living conditions.Read full text

– National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue on January 30 attended a ceremony to launch an emulation movement and a tree planting festival in Yen Son district in the northern mountainous province of Tuyen Quang.

Speaking at the event, Hue said that in 1948, in Viet Bac region, which now comprises Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Lang Son, Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang and Thai Nguyen provinces, President Ho Chi Minh issued a patriotism emulation appeal.Read full text

– Despite decreases in both imports and exports, the country still enjoyed a trade surplus of 3.6 billion USD in the first month of 2023, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The office reported that in the month, total import-export turnover reached 46.56 billion USD, down 17.3% over the previous month and 25% year on year, with exports dropping 21.3% to 25.08 billion USD, and imports falling 28.9% to 21.48 billion USD.Read full text

– A working delegation of the Vietnam Centre for Overseas Labour (Colab) had a meeting on January 29 with representatives from the Counseling Centre for Foreign Workers of the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s Ansan city to promote the implementation of support activities for Vietnamese labourers in the RoK.

The Vietnamese centre’s Director Dang Huy Hong, who is head of the delegation, thanked the Ansan centre for supporting foreign workers in general and Vietnamese in particular when living and working in the Korean city.Read full text

– Hanoi’s consumer price index (CPI) in January inched up by only 0.35% month-on-month and 3.09% year-on-year, the municipal Statistics Office has reported.

Among the 11 commodity groups, nine saw month-on-month increases, with the highest recorded in transport services (1.14%) as a result of hikes in oil and gas prices in the month, followed by beverages and tobacco (1.01%).Read full text

– The tourism sector of the northern port city of Hai Phong will focus on developing sports and yacht tourism towards attracting more holidaymakers with high spending power, according to the municipal Department of Tourism.

The department said it will continue to coordinate with relevant agencies to better the quality of food tour products in connection with sustainably developing city tours, aiming to fully tap the city’s culture, cuisine and architectural values.Read full text/.