☕ Afternoon briefing on July 6 hinh anh 1

Hanoi, (VNA) – The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency on July 6. 

-Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Hieu made a visit to Qatar on July 4 – 5 where he co-chaired a political consultation at foreign deputy ministerial level, the second of its kind, with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Soltan bin Saad Al-Muraikhi.

Hieu also paid a courtesy call to Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and met with Saleh bin Majid Al-Khulaifi, Assistant Undersecretary for Commerce Affairs at the Qatari Ministry of Commerce and Industry; Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al-Mahmoud, CEO at Qatar Investment Authority; and Mohammed Bin Ahmed Twar Al Kuwari, First Vice Chairman of Qatar’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Read full story

-A delegation of the Vietnam - Belgium Parliamentary Friendship Group is paying a four-day working visit to Begium during which the two sides will share lawmaking experience and discuss scientists’ role in legislative activities.

The delegation had a meeting with members of the Belgium - Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Group in Brussels on July 5. Read full story

-Vietnam always attaches importance to friendly cooperation among countries in the Mekong River basin, and highly values the role of the Mekong River Commission (MRC), affirmed Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet.

Making the remarks while hosting Dr Anoulak Kittikhoun, CEO of the MRC Secretariat, the diplomat also noted that the MRC and the 1995 Agreement on “Cooperation for the Sustainable Development of the Mekong River Basin” have made important contributions to the stability and sustainable growth in the area. Read full story

-The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on July 6 adopted a resolution on environmental protection tax for petrol, diesel and grease, with 100% of ‘yes’ votes. Read full story

- HSBC has raised its forecast for Vietnam’s economic growth this year to 6.9%, from the previous prediction of 6.6%, which is possibly the fastest pace in the region.

In the Vietnam At A Glance report in July, HSBC Global Research noted that decreasing risks posed by the Omicron variant and eased restrictions have paved the way for Vietnam to return to the normality. Read full story

-The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has highly valued Vietnam’s policy support to cushion the impact of COVID-19 in tandem with successful maintenance of fiscal, external, and financial stability and an impressive vaccination rollout.

In a press release following a recent consultation with Vietnam, the IMF Executive Board said growth is expected to reach 6% in 2022 as activity normalisation continues and the programme for recovery and development is implemented. Read full story

-The 16th-tenure People’s Council of Hanoi on July 6 adopted a resolution on key tasks for socio-economic development and budget collection and spending in the six last months of 2022, as part of its on-going 7th session.  

The resolution approved a report of the municipal People’s Committee on socio-economic performance and budget collection and spending estimates in the January-June period. Read full story

-A workshop took place in Hanoi on July 6 to share Japan’s experiences and policy suggestions for Vietnam in developing a roadmap to implement circular economy.

It was co-held by the Institute of Policy and Strategy in Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japanese engineering consultancy Nippon Koei Vietnam International (NKV), aiming to provide a rationale for developing a national action plan on circular economy in Vietnam. Read full story

-For the last half of 2022, Hai Phong city will apply itself to flexibly and effectively fighting COVID-19 and shoring up business and investment activities so as to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI), a local official has said.

Nearly 1.1 billion USD of FDI was poured into the northern port city in the first six months, falling by over 11% from a year earlier and equivalent to almost 44% of this year’s target. Read full story

-The number of international search volume for Vietnam’s tourism in June surged by 1,125% year-on-year, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

Large volumes of search for Vietnamese tourism information are seen in the US, Singapore, Australia, India, Japan, France, Thailand, Germany, Canada and the UK. Read full story

-Domestic visitors to Ho Chi Minh City surged in the first six months of the year, as Vietnamese travellers sought to make up for lost time after more than two years of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

About 11 million domestic visitors visited HCM City in the first half of 2022, up 43.1% over the same period last year, according to HCM City Department of Tourism. Read full story

- ASEAN senior officials on July 5 and 6 joined a virtual conference on tourism, discussing ways to attract more visitors and ensure their health and safety as the COVID-19 pandemic virus continues to circulate.

Participating ASEAN officials said they will continue to work together to revive tourism in the region under an action plan approved earlier this year, in collaboration with the relevant sectors. The ultimate goal is to revitalise the industry and restore visitor numbers to pre-pandemic levels. Read full story/.
VNA