☕ Afternoon briefing on March 22

Hanoi (VNA) - The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency on March 22.

- Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob and a high-ranking delegation of the Malaysian Government left Hanoi on March 22, successfully concluding their three-day official visit to Vietnam.

During the visit, the Malaysian PM held talks with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, witnessed the signing of cooperation agreements between the two countries, and attended a banquet hosted by PM Chinh. Read full story

 

- Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong paid a working visit to northern Hoa Binh province on March 22, saying the most important task now is to press on with the COVID-19 fight and economic recovery.

He highlighted that Hoa Binh holds a strategic location, serving as a gateway to the country’s northwestern region and a bridge linking this region with Hanoi capital and provinces in the Red River Delta. Read full story

- A Vietnamese delegation attended a discussion on emergency issues within the 144th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and related meetings in Bali, Indonesia, on March 22.

Addressing the event, Thai Quynh Mai Dung, standing member of the National Assembly (NA)'s Committee for External Relations, reaffirmed that peace and cooperation is the top priority and goal of Vietnam, which is also the principle and purpose of the IPU from the very first days of its establishment 133 years ago. Read full story

- A Vietnamese defence delegation attended the online opening ceremony of the 15th Annual Conference and the 7th Track II Network of ASEAN Defence and Security Institutions Retreat (NADI Retreat-7) on March 21.

Major General Vu Cuong Quyet, Director of the Institute for Defence Strategy under the Ministry of National Defence, led the delegation to attend the event from Hanoi. Read full story

 
- A Francophone delegation for trade and economic promotion is visiting Vietnam from March 21-30 to help French-speaking enterprises expand business overseas and promote sustainable post-pandemic recovery.

Led by General Secretary of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) Louise Mushikiwabo, the visit forms part of the efforts to implement the Francophone Economic Development Strategy from 2020 – 2025. Read full story

- Vietnam always wishes to be a long-term and stable rice supplier for Sierra Leone as its domestic production has not yet met the demand, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien said at a recent meeting with Sierra Leone’s counterpart Edward Hinga Sandy.

Dien appreciated the latter's proposal for considering the re-signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on rice trade to strengthen the legal framework for cooperation activities relating to the matter between the two countries. In particular, the two sides agreed to create conditions for their businesses in conducting rice import and export. Read full story

- The Vietnam Network for Child Online Protection (VN-COP) recently debuted its website, aiming to popularise child online protection skills and knowledge and receive child abuse reports.

The website, vn-cop.vn, was launched by the Authority of Information Security under the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC). Read full story

- The Republic of Korea (RoK) has decided to list Vietnam among countries subjected to strengthened medical supervision as part of its measures to prevent the pandemic.

The decision is likely to affect many areas in partnership between the two countries, including labour cooperation, said Ta Thi Thanh Thuy, head of the Labour Management Board under the Vietnamese Embassy in the RoK. Read full story

- Vietnam won four medals, including one silver and three bronze, at the Asian Kurash Championship, which closed on March 21 in Tajikistan.

Tran Thi Thanh Thuy took the silver in the women's over-87kg class. Her teammates To Thi Trang (women's U48kg), Vu Ngoc Son (men's U73kg) and Bui Minh Quan (men's U81kg) bagged the bronze medals./. Read full story