Politics

☕ Afternoon briefing on March 30

The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency.
☕ Afternoon briefing on March 30 ảnh 1
Hanoi (VNA) - The following is a brief reviewof the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency.

- Vietnam and the UK held thefourth defence policy dialogue in Hanoi on March 29 under the chair ofVietnamese Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lt. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien and TheBaroness Goldie DL, Minister of State at the British Ministry of Defence,reported the Quan doi Nhan dan (People's Army) daily.

Chien said as the two countries are celebratingthe 50th anniversary of their bilateral diplomatic ties this year, theirstrategic partnership has continued to be promoted, with defence cooperationremaining an important factor of bilateral relations. Read full story
☕ Afternoon briefing on March 30 ảnh 2National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (R) welcomed Malaysian Prime Minister Dato Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob in Hanoi on March 21, 2022 (Photo: VNA)
- Since Vietnam and Malaysia set up theirdiplomatic relations 50 years ago, their ties have been expanded extensivelyand comprehensively across all pillars of Party, State and people diplomacy,stated Chargé d'affaires of the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia Nguyen Thi NgocAnh.

In an interview granted to the Vietnam NewsAgency, Anh said that the 50-year journey that the two countries have taken ismarked with an important milestone when they lifted their ties to a strategicpartnership on August 7, 2015, making Vietnam the only strategic partner ofMalaysia among the ASEAN countries. Read full story

- Malaysian Minister of Foreign Affairs ZambryAbdul Kadir has expressed his satisfaction that the future of Malaysia -Vietnam relations looks very promising, and that both countries will continueto engage even more closely for greater success.

In a recent interview granted to the Vietnam NewsAgency on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the bilateral diplomaticrelationship (March 30, 1973 - 2023), he also described the deepening ofbilateral relations over the past 50 years as remarkable and outstanding,saying through the years, Vietnam has emerged as one of Malaysia’s closestpartners, economically and socially, and that the strength of the ties wasreflected by the elevation of bilateral relations to a strategic partnership in2015. Read full story

- A global problem, climate change requires a global approachbased on multilateral cooperation and institutions, particularly the respectfor international law and the UN Charter, Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang,Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations (UN), has said.

Vietnam’s engagement in UN resolution that urges theInternational Court of Justice (ICJ) to outline nations' legal obligationsrelated to curbing climate change disasters and their impacts on vulnerablecommunities proves the country’s point of view, the ambassador said in a recentinterview to the Vietnam News Agency right after the resolution was adopted onMarch 29. Read full story

- ThaiDeputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam hosted a reception in Bangkok on March29 for Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand Phan Chi Thanh.

The meeting aimed to further promote bilateralcooperation in investment, trade, justice, culture and education. Read full story

- Vietnam is expected to ship about 6.5-7 million tonnes ofrice abroad this year thanks to the return of markets like Indonesia,Bangladesh, and China, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

Vietnam now sees a sharp increase in rice ordersfrom the Philippines and China. Read full story

-  Foreign small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)are paying much attention to Vietnam, given the fact that the number ofunder-1-million USD projects accounted for nearly 70% of the total number offoreign-invested projects registered in Vietnam in the first three months ofthis year.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA)under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, in the first quarter, Vietnamattracted nearly 5.45 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI), down 39%year on year. Read full story

-  Foreign investors’ continuous investment in Vietnamhas shown their optimistic about the country’s economic outlook, despitethe difficult situation of the global banking sector. 

Recently, VPBank announced that it has enteredinto an agreement with Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) - asubsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc (SMFG) - to issue 15% ofequity stake at a value of 1.5 billion USD through a private placement. Thedeal saw the record value in the financial sector of Vietnam so far, breakingVPBank’s own record in the 1.4-billion USD deal with FE Credit. Read full story
☕ Afternoon briefing on March 30 ảnh 3People see the result of the project. (Photo: VNA)
- The Centre for Social Research and Development (CSRD) on March29 held a workshop in the central city of Hue to summarise the results of itsproject on enhancing women’s role in increasing the resilience of the coastal communityand eco-system in the central region of Vietnam.

The 66,752 Euro (72,323 USD) project, sponsored by UP Transfer -Potsdam University of Germany, was implemented between 2021 and 2023./. Read full story
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