☕ Afternoon briefing on June 30

Hanoi (VNA) - The following is a brief review of theday’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency on June 30.

– Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong onJune 30 stressed the task of addressing shortcomings and filling in “vaccums”and “loopholes” so as to prevent corruption and negative phenomena. Speakingat a national conference held in Hanoi to review the 10-year combat againstcorruption and negative phenomena, the Party leader also said fightingcorruption is a critically important but also extremely difficult andcomplicated task that requires resolute, persistent, continuous, and unceasingefforts from all levels and in all sectors and areas. Read full story

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (L) meets Speaker of the UK House of Lords John Mcfall (Photo: VNA)

- Vietnam wishes to share experience with theUnited Kingdom (UK) in legislative affairs, especially in the building of thelegal framework, policies and mechanisms to support the Government in realisinginternational commitments, National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue toldSpeaker of the UK House of Lords John Mcfall during their talks in London onJune 29 (local time). The two leaders discussed the situation ofrelations between the two countries and the two parliaments with the hope thatVietnam and the UK, especially the parliaments, will jointly set out neworientations and solutions to deepen bilateral cooperation in all fields. Read full story

A scene in the documentary (Photo: hochiminh.vn)

– Vietnamese and UK officials said they wish toturn defence cooperation into a pillar in the countries’ overall relations atthe 1st session of the 4th Vietnam-UK defence policy dialogue held in London onJune 29 (local time) as part of National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue’songoing official UK trip. Co-chairing the dialogue, Vietnamese DeputyMinister of National Defence Sen. Lieut. Le Huy Vinh and UK Minister of Stateat the Ministry of Defence Baroness Goldie expressed their delight at thepositive and dynamic growth of the Vietnam-UK strategic partnership. Read full story

– A French-language documentary titled “Ho ChiMinh: Sketching the Portrait of a Politician” was screened in June 29 by theVietnamese Embassy in Algeria. The 58-minute documentary was produced in1973 by French director Gérard Guillaume. It was copyrighted and stored byCiné-Archives of the French Communist Party. The Vietnamese Embassy in Algeriapurchased the copyright to use the copy for screening. Read full story

– The Ministry of Finance announced on June 30that it has proposed the Prime Minister to consider a plan to reduce specialconsumption and value-added taxes on gasoline. According to theministry, the move aims to contribute to reducing the price of petroleumproducts, and supporting people and businesses to recover and develop theeconomy. Read full story

– It is crucial to promptly turn Party andState’s policies regarding overseas Vietnamese affairs into practical actionsto ensure their efficiency, stated Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son at aconference on June 29 to popularise and implement the Politburo’s Conclusion onthe work. FM Son underlined that OV affairs have received greatattention from the Party and State as an important part of the policies tobuild and reinforce the national great solidarity bloc. Read full story

– The Lianhe Zaobao daily in Hong Kong, China,on June 30 ran an article highlighting Vietnam’s impressive economic growth of7.72% in the second quarter. It wrote that with export and consumptionrecovery, the Vietnamese economy rebounded strongly in Q2, with gross domesticproduct (GDP) increasing 7.72% year on year – the fastest pace in almost 11years. Read full story

– The UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA),which took effect in early 2021, has so far brought about positive outcomes forboth countries, Deputy Director General Ngo Chung Khanh of the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade’s Multilateral Trade Policy Department has affirmed. Ata virtual conference on promoting firms’ UKVFTA-induced advantages in Hanoi onJune 29, Khanh noted the exports from Vietnam to the UK have grown by 17% andfrom the UK to Vietnam, by 23%./. Read full story

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