☕ Afternoon briefing on June 1

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 has signed an official dispatch on the implementation of urgent measures to settle goods congestion and promote the export of farm produce through northern border gates.

The document was issued as there is a surge in number of trucks carrying agricultural products at border gates in the northern province of Lang Son, leading to a high risk of congestion due to long customs clearance procedures and modest clearance capacity. Read full story

Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Nguyen Tat Thanh. (Photo: Vietnamese Embassy in Australia)

- The upcoming visit to Vietnam by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will create momentum for bilateral cooperation in such potential areas as culture, investment, labour and people-to-people exchanges, Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Nguyen Tat Thanh has said.

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)'s resident correspondents in Sydney ahead of the PM’s trip from June 3-4, Thanh said the visit takes place at a time when the two countries are celebrating the 50th founding anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic ties and the 5th anniversary of the strategic partnership. Read full story

- Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations, chaired an ambassadorial-level meeting of the 12 founding countries of the Group of Friends on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in New York on May 31 to review their past activities and launch future tasks.

Ambassadors shared the view that despite various challenges such as COVID-19 pandemic and emerging global issues, the UNCLOS Group of Friends, with its 115 member states, has maintained regular activities and diversified forms of exchanges since its establishment. Read full story

- Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Nguyen Thi Hong provided explanations regarding the high lending rates and credit room management during a plenary session of the 15th National Assembly’s ongoing fifth meeting in Hanoi on June 1.

Hong pointed out two reasons for high lending rates last year, including rapid and significant hikes in global interest rates while domestic inflation is higher than the same period of 2021. Moreover, there was a great pressure on the devaluation of the Vietnamese dong as countries tightened monetary policies and the US dollar experienced a strong appreciation. Read full story

-  More than 5.22 trillion VND (over 222.6 million USD) are set to be disbursed for component projects of the North-South expressway project in June, including more than 1.6 trillion VND in the first stage and the remainder in the second stage, reported the Transport Ministry’s Department of Planning and Investment.

Since the beginning of 2023, the ministry disbursed around 28.6 trillion VND, or 30% of the yearly plan, higher than the country’s average of 15.65%. Read full story

- As many as 43 outstanding works winning the Vietnam Science and Technology Innovation Awards 2022 were honoured at a ceremony jointly held by the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA) and the Vietnam Fund for Supporting Technological Creations (VIFOTEC) in Hanoi on May 31.

Addressing the event, Chairman of VUSTA and VIFOTEC Phan Xuan Dung, who is also head of the organising board, said over the last 28 years, the Awards have attracted the involvement of numerous scientists across the country. Read full story

- The Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (HCYU), the Health Ministry’s Fund for Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms and the Global Public Health Organisation Vital Strategies held a symposium in Hanoi on May 31 to discuss the harmful effects of e-cigarettes in schools.

The event attracted the participation of over 600 students from the Hanoi University of Industry. They had a chance to join a mini-game to learn about the detrimental effects of e-cigarettes. Read full story

- German journalist Hellmut Kapfenberger has introduced his new book, which is a collection of writings and photos about the war in Vietnam in 1972 that the author gathered when he worked as a resident correspondent of ADN News Agency of the German Democratic Republic and Neues Deutschland Newspaper in Hanoi.

Entitled “Vietnam 1972. Ein Land unter Bomben. Mit Notizbuch und Kamera im Norden unterwegs” (Vietnam 1972. A country under bombs. Out and about in the North with a notebook and camera), the 256-page book presents a large number of writings and 36 photos that the author took in the North of Vietnam, bringing readers a panorama and true picture on the resistance war of the Vietnamese people, especially in the tough fight in 1972. Read full story

Illustrative photo (Photo: businessinsider.com)

- Four out of the five international undersea cables that were damaged last year and early this year have been repaired, the Department of Telecommunications under the Ministry of Information and Communications announced on June 1.

Up to now, only the Asia Pacific Gateway (APG) internet cable that connects Vietnam with the rest of Asia is still experiencing errors. The APG, with 10,400 km of cable under the Pacific Ocean, is the cable with the largest bandwidth connecting to Vietnam. It provides a maximum bandwidth of 54 terabytes per second and opened in 2016./. Read full story