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 chaired a meeting between permanent Government members and the executive committee of the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Hanoi on July 6 to seek solutions to challenges facing SMEs.
Due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the world situation, SMEs have suffered from declining orders, struggling sales, and high input costs, which have affected their revenue as well as jobs and income for workers, the association reported.
PM Chinh applauded the contributions and achievements by SMEs, which account for over 97% of the total businesses nationwide.Read full text
- Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha received Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Andrew Goledzinowski in Hanoi on July 7.
Regarding Vietnam’s roadmap for implementing the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), Ha expressed his wish that Australia will participate in building a mechanism for coordination and join hands with developed and developing countries to achieve the net-zero target.Read full text
-Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai spoke highly of the effective cooperation between Vietnam and Singapore, while addressing the seventh Singapore Regional Business Forum (SRBF) in Hanoi on July 7.
This is the first time the forum has been held outside Singapore.Read full text
-Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son on July 6 received outgoing Ambassador Giorgio Aliberti, head of the European Union (EU) Delegation the to Vietnam, appreciating his guest’s active role and effective contributions to the Vietnam - EU comprehensive partnership and cooperation.
Congratulating Aliberti on fulfilling his term from 2019 to 2023 in Vietnam, Minister Son highly valued the EU and its member countries’ donation of vaccine and medical supplies amid the COVID-19 pandemic.Read full text
- Vietnam and China held the 16th round of negotiations of the working group on the sea area beyond the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin and the 13th round of talks of the working group for consultation on cooperation for mutual development at sea in China’s Guangdong province on July 4.
The Vietnamese delegation was led by Trinh Duc Hai, deputy head of the National Boundary Commission under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while the Chinese side was headed by Yang Renhuo, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
They are the first in-person negotiation rounds of the two working groups since the COVID-19 outbreak.Read full text
-K-pop music group Blackpink's tour organiser on July 6 issued an apology over its use of China's nine-dash line map, which Vietnam considers an infringement of its territory and sovereignty.
During a press briefing in Hanoi on July 6 afternoon, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Pham Thu Hang stated that the promotion and use of products or publications featuring the nine-dash line in Vietnam is in violation of the laws.
IMe Vietnam, the organiser of the Blackpink show slated for July 29-30 in Hanoi, said that the map was used in its Asian regional website, and there is currently no separate website for the Vietnam market.Read full text
-Vietnam sent nearly 72,300 labourers abroad in the first half of 2023, accounting for 65.72% of the whole year plan, and 1.55 times higher than the same period last year.
According to the Department of Overseas Labour under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Japan was the largest market receiving 34,508 Vietnamese labourers in the period, followed by Taiwan (China) with 31,538, the Republic of Korea (1,608), and China (902).Read full text
- The number of Lao tourist arrivals to Vietnam soared in the first half of the year, with a growth rate of 117%, which is the third-highest rate among nations having visitors to Vietnam, following Cambodia (338%) and India (236%).
The most popular destinations for foreign tourists in Vietnam until June 2023 were the central beach city of Da Nang; the ancient city of Hoi An; Da Lat, known as the city of a thousand flowers in the Central Highlands; the coastal cities of Nha Trang and Vung Tau; and the “Paradise Pearl Island” of Phu Quoc, the Lao media reported.Read full text/.
