Politics

☕ Afternoon briefing on June 16

The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency.

☕ Afternoon briefing on June 16

Hanoi (VNA) - The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency.

- With a spirit of urgency, proactiveness and high sense of responsibility, the conference on the implementation of the legislative orientation for the 16th National Assembly (NA) concluded its full agenda on the morning of June 16.

Delivering closing remarks, NA Chairman Tran Thanh Man stated that the 16th term faces an extensive legislative workload, comprising 192 law-making tasks, the majority of which will be led by the Government. Read full story

- Vietnamese Minister of Justice Hoang Thanh Tung held talks with Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Khamphan Phommathat in Hanoi on June 16, reaffirming a commitment to tighten sectoral links and deliver on high-level agreements between the two Parties and States.

Tung laid out Vietnam’s sweeping institutional and legal improvement agenda, flagging the Politburo’s Resolution 66-NQ/TW on overhauling law-making and enforcement to meet national development requirements in the new era, Conclusion 09-KL/TW on perfecting the legal system structure, Conclusion 17-KL/TW on legislative orientations for the 16th National Assembly term, and Conclusion 18-KL/TW charting the 2026–30 socio-economic roadmap. Read full story

- Vietnam’s Permanent Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Vu chaired the opening session of the 36th meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (SPLOS 36) at the UN headquarters in New York on June 15, in his capacity as President of SPLOS 35.

He later addressed a discussion on the report of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) as head of the Vietnamese delegation. Read full story

- Vietnam’s merchandise foreign trade posted impressive growth in the first five months of 2026, with total turnover rising by nearly 90 billion USD year-on-year.

Despite geopolitical uncertainties, disruptions to global supply chains, stricter import standards in many markets and rising shipping costs, exports and imports continued to expand at a robust pace. Read full story

- The community health platform operated by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health had updated health data for more than 2.3 million residents as of June 15, marking an important step in the city’s roadmap toward establishing this record type for every citizen.

The data serve as the foundation for lifetime health management while supporting disease prevention, early detection, and improved healthcare services as part of the city’s digital transformation efforts. Read full story

- An international workshop held in Hanoi on June 15 highlighted the historical, scientific and cultural values of the French School of Asian Studies (EFEO) photo collection and its potential for inscription on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.

Co-organised by the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS), the EFEO in Paris and UNESCO's Hanoi Office, the event focused on the nearly 40,000 photographs taken from the late 19th to the early 20th century by generations of EFEO scholars, documenting the culture, history, architecture and society of Vietnam and Indochina. Read full story
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