☕ Afternoon briefing on March 9

Hanoi, (VNA) – The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency on March 9. 

- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a meeting of the Government Steering Committee for Administrative Reform in Hanoi on March 9. He stressed that administrative reform should be strengthened to ensure a strong and effective system, aiming to benefit people and businesses and contributing to preventing corruption. Read full story

- A new set of criteria for new-style rural communes and another for advanced new-style rural communes for the 2021-2025 period were issued on March 8 following Decision No.318/QD-TTg. 

Under the decision, a new-style rural commune has to meet 19 criteria in many fields, including planning, socio-economic infrastructure, economy and production, socio-culture and environment. The criteria are specified for different regions. Read full story

- The Vietnamese Government has made significant progress in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG5 on Gender Equality, said Elisa Fernandez Saenz, UN Women Representative in Vietnam.

In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency on the threshold of the 13th National Women’s Congress, the UN Women Representative also spoke highly of Vietnam’s efforts to enhance gender equality and women’s empowerment. Read full story

-A Bamboo Airways flight departed from Hanoi at 1:55am on March 9 for Warsaw to bring home nearly 300 Vietnamese people fleeing war-ravaged Ukraine.

The flight is expected to arrive back in Hanoi at around 5:15am the next day. Read full story 

-Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City's Party Committee Nguyen Van Nen hosted a reception for new French Consul General Emmanuelle Pavillon-Grosser on March 8, during which the guest said the French business community always wishes to contribute to the city’s development, notably in urban development and waste treatment projects. Read full story

-The Vietnam Report JSC and the VietNamNet e-newspaper announced a list of 500 fastest-growing companies in Vietnam (FAST500) this year.

Vietnam Report General Director Vu Dang Vinh said a total of 186 businesses joined this year’s survey, of which 75.8 percent said they maintained their revenue growth in 2021 and 72.6 percent reported pre-tax profits up from 2020. Notably, one third of the interviewed firms said their revenue increased over 75 percent. Read full story

- An investment promotion forum to introduce potential and chances of Vietnam’s economic fields was held in Frankfurt, Germany, on March 8, seeing the participation of nearly 300 delegates.

It was part of activities in Germany to promote investment in Vietnam, which is underway until March 14. Read full story

- Trinh Tan, a Vietnamese-Czech engineer, was among 38 citizens honoured in 2020 for his contributions to the Czech Republic's national service.

A ceremony to present the award to those who made important contributions to the European country in the past two years as announced by President Milos Zeman was held in Prague on March 7 (local time). Read full story/.