☕ Afternoon briefing on July 11

Hanoi, (VNA) – The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency on July 11:
-The 13th session of the National Assembly Standing Committee opened in Hanoi on July 11 morning.  

In his opening remarks, NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said committee will give opinions on the outcomes of the session of the 15th NA and start preparations for the NA’s fourth session.Read full story

-Jan Zahradil, a member of the European Parliament (EP), has highly valued Vietnam’s role and stature, as well as its relations with the European Union (EU) and the Czech Republic, during a recent meeting with some Vietnamese ambassadors.

Talking to the Vietnamese ambassadors to the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Belgium at the event in Mikulov town of the Czech Republic on July 8 - 9, Zahradil said the EP has passed a report on the Indo-Pacific strategy in the area of trade and investment which highlights the situation in the Indo-Pacific region and stresses the importance of the EU’s free trade agreements with partners in the region. Read full story

-A Vietnam – European Union (EU) agricultural business forum was held on July 11, on the occasion of an official visit to Vietnam by EU Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski.

The forum saw the presence of senior officials of the two sides, along with about 50 European businesses specialising in such areas as wine, beverages, meat and meat products, agricultural products, vegetables and fruits. Read full story

-The price of petrol decreased by more than 3,000 VND (0.13 USD) per litre from 0:00 on July 11 following the latest adjustment of the Ministries of Industry and Trade, and Finance.

Accordingly, the retail price of RON95 fell by 3,088 VND to a maximum of 29,675 VND per litre, while that of E5RON92 bio-fuel was down 3,103 VND to 27,788 VND per litre. Read full story

-Cloud computing services, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G technology, fixed broadband internet, and blockchain technology are expected to lead the information technology and telecommunications sector in the time ahead, according to a recent survey.

The survey, conducted by the Vietnam Report JSC, revealed that technology companies are investing in core and fundamental technologies to serve digital transformation. Read full story

-The Ministry of Health is urging the acceleration of the vaccination of the third and fourth shots, given continuously complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in many European countries related to variants BA.4 and BA.5.

According to the ministry, in Vietnam, the pandemic has basically been under control across the country, but the two above-mentioned variants have been detected in the community.

The ministry predicts that the number of COVID-19 cases may continue to increase and break out on a large scale in the coming time if no drastic measures are taken. Read full story

-Vietnam will compete in four sports at the 2022 World Games which began on July 7 in Birmingham, Alabama, the US.

Athletes will compete in Muay Thai, wushu, billiards and women's beach handball. The 11th edition of the Games will run for ten days. Read full story/.