☕ Afternoon briefing on May 13 hinh anh 1

Hanoi, (VNA) – The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency on May 13.

-President Nguyen Xuan Phuc hosted visiting Secretary of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP)’s Central Committee and President of the Lao People’s Supreme Court Viengthong Siphandone in Hanoi on May 13.

President Phuc affirmed that the Party, State and people of Vietnam always attach great importance to preserving and developing the special Vietnam-Laos ties, including the cooperation between the two Supreme People’s Courts. Read full story

- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and leaders of other ASEAN countries had a working lunch with US lawmakers in Washington D.C. on May 12 (local times), ahead of the ASEAN-US Special Summit.

Participants discussed issues related to cooperation in trade, investment, people-to-people exchange, science-technology, renewable energy development, and the response to security challenges in the region and the world. Read full story

-As part of his trip to the US, PM Chinh attended a meeting with the US business community in Washington D.C on May 12 (local time). At the meeting, Chinh said cooperation activities between Vietnam and the US continue to develop deeply in all fields, particularly in investment and finance, with businesses of the two countries playing a very important role.

The meeting was held by the US-ASEAN Business Council and the US Chamber of Commerce. Read full story

-At his meeting the same day with Chief Executive Officer of the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) Scott A. Nathan,  PM Chinh suggested that, on the basis of the positive cooperation results attained so far, DFC continue to support Vietnam in areas such as green transition, circular economy, renewable energy, climate change response, digital transformation, and addressing war aftermaths. Read full story

-In another meeting with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai also on May 12, PM Chinh said the Government of Vietnam views the economic, trade, investment and financial relations with the US as a strong driver for boosting the bilateral comprehensive partnership. Read full story

-Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong have agreed to promote high-level visits and meetings and maintain bilateral cooperative mechanisms during their meeting ahead of the ASEAN-US Special Summit in the US. Read full story

-Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung expressed his hope for stronger partnerships between Qualcomm Incorporated and technology companies of Vietnam, while receiving an executive of the US firm in Washington D.C. on May 12.

The meeting with Alex Rogers, President of Qualcomm Technology Licensing and Global Affairs, took place as Hung was accompanying Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in his ongoing working visit to the US. Read full story

-Minister of National Defence Gen. Phan Van Giang and his visiting Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto agreed to intensify bilateral defence relations in the time ahead in their talks in Hanoi on March 13.

Subianto, who is on an official visit from May 12 to 14, said his country always attaches importance to the relations with Vietnam. Read full story

- Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Vietnam Francois Painchaud has said Vietnam has successfully maintained fiscal, external and financial stability.

Speaking at a May 12 forum on forecast for Vietnam’s economy in 2022-2023 held by the Economy & Forecast Review, Painchaud said Vietnam’s economy is projected to grow 6 percent in 2022 and 7.2 percent in 2023. Read full story

-The HSBC has forecast that Vietnam's inflation will increase 3.7 percent, still below the inflation ceiling of 4 percent set by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).

In its "Vietnam at a glance" report in May, HSBC Vietnam said that inflation pressure in Vietnam remains low in the ASEAN region. Read full story

-Pandora, a Danish jewelry manufacturer, will invest 100 USD million to build a new facility in the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) in the southern province of Binh Duong under a memorandum of understanding signed between two sides on May 12. Read full story

- All countries need to make stronger commitments and take more drastic and effective measures to demonstrate their responsibility for the sustainable development of the ocean economy, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh told the International Conference on Sustainable Ocean Economy and Climate Change Adaptation.

The conference is being held on May 12 and 13 in both online and offline formats by the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Read full story

-Politburo member and head of the Party Central Committee's Economic Commission Tran Tuan Anh stressed Vietnam’s commitment made at COP26 to achieving net zero emission by 2050 while receiving UK and EU diplomats in Hanoi on May 12.

Anh had meetings with John Murton, UK government's Envoy for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), and EU Ambassador for Climate Diplomacy Marc Vanheukelen. Read full story

-The homepage of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the international media have run articles reflecting their impressions with the brilliant and magnificent opening ceremony of the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31) at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi in the evening of May 12. Read full story/.
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