☕ Afternoon briefing on March 5

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 attended the Vietnam - Australia Business Forum in Melbourne on March 5 morning (local time) as part of his ongoing trip to Australia to attend the ASEAN - Australia Special Summit and pay an official visit to Australia.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh addresses the Vietnam - Australia Business Forum in Melbourne on March 5 (Photo: VNA)

Addressing the event, which drew the participation of leaders from nearly 200 enterprises of Vietnam and Australia, PM Chinh revealed that during his official visit to Australia, the two countries are scheduled to announce the upgrade of bilateral relations. Read full story

– The Vietnamese Government always creates all favourable conditions for airlines, both state-owned and private, to develop and compete healthily, and encourages Australian carriers to fly to Vietnam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stated at a ceremony to mark 30 years of Vietnam – Australia direct air route in Melbourne city on March 5 morning.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (6th from the left) and other delegates at the ceremony. (Photo: VNA)

The PM attended the event as part of activities in his trip to attend the ASEAN - Australia Special Summit, and his official visit to the country. Read full story

- President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel has affirmed he always treasures and highly evaluates the traditional friendship and multi-faceted cooperation with Vietnam while receiving Vietnamese Ambassador Duong Hoai Nam who came to present President Vo Van Thuong's credentials in Prague on March 4.

President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel (R) and Vietnamese Ambassador Duong Hoai Nam. (Photo: VNA)

President Pavel asked Nam to convey his best wishes and regards to Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President Vo Van Thuong and other high-ranking leaders of Vietnam. Read full story

– Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) and Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Tan Cuong led a Vietnamese delegation to the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Retreat (ADMM-Retreat) held in the northern Lao city of Luang Prabang on March 5.

Heads of delegations at ADMM Retreat (Photo: VNA)

In his address, Cuong described 2024 as a pivotal year to develop a long-term strategy for ASEAN's post-2025 vision, help ASEAN uphold its past achievements; strengthen its solidarity, unity, central role and self-resilience with a common vision and strategic choice, which is cooperation and joint action for peace, stability and security in the region while improving the ability to adapt to new developments in the global and regional landscapes. Read full story

– President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) Nguyen Dinh Khang shared VGCL’s outstanding activities at the second conference of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) Presidential Council held in Sao Paolo, Brazil from March 1-2 (local time).

Khang, who is also WFTU Vice President, said in his speech on March 1 that under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the VGCL has reaped important achievements in its tasks of representing, caring for and protecting trade union members and workers. It also successfully held the 13th National Congress for the 2023-2028 tenure last year, which aligned with working orientations set at the 18th World Trade Union Congress. Read full story

– The export of products of the foreign direct investment (FDI) and traditional products of domestic enterprises are expected to rebound this year, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan has said in a recent interview with the Vietnam News Agency (VNA).

The official revealed that the number of export products logging over 1 billion USD in turnover each has increased over the years and accounts for a significant proportion of the country's total export value. There were only 23 commodities with export earnings of over 1 billion USD in 2013, and the figure increased to 29 in 2018 and 35 in 2023. Read full story

– The foreign direct investment (FDI) sector maintained its role as an export pillar of Vietnam’s economy with revenue of 43.2 billion USD in the first two months of this year, up 14.7%, and accounting for 72.8% of the country’s total export value.

Exports of items as phones, computers, machinery, equipment and garments-textiles experienced strong growth, ranging from 4.1% to 33.9%, Dau tu (Investment) Newspaper reported./. Read full story

VNA