☕ Afternoon briefing on May 16

The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency.

☕ Afternoon briefing on May 16

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

- The 13th Party Central Committee commenced its ninth session in Hanoi on May 16 under the chair of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

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The opening sitting of the 9th session of the 13th Party Central Committee on May 16. (Photo: VNA)

Politburo member and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh presided over the opening sitting. Read full story

- Vietnamese Ambassador to Argentina Ngo Minh Nguyet on May 15 presented her credentials to Argentinean President Javier Milei, during which the diplomat expressed her hope for close cooperation with the Argentinean Government to further expand and deepen Vietnam-Argentina ties in all fields.

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From left: Vietnamese Ambassador to Argentina Ngo Minh Nguyet, Argentinean President Javier Milei, and Argentinean Foreign Minister Diana Mondino. (Photo: VNA)

Nguyet conveyed the regards from General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong, Acting President Vo Thi Anh Xuan and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to President Milei. She also conveyed Prime Minister Chinh's thanks to President Milei for his invitation to visit Argentina in 2024. Read full story

- A member of the UNESCO Executive Council, Vietnam always supports the organisation’s role in promoting education globally, Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Vietnam's Permanent Representative to the UN, said on May 15.

At an ambassador-level session of the Group of Friends for Education and Lifelong Learning in New York, Giang also spoke highly of the group’s efforts in pushing ahead with contents and commitments relating to education. Read full story

- Ambassador Ton Thi Ngoc Huong, Vietnam’s permanent representative to ASEAN, highly valued New Zealand's steadfast commitments to support ASEAN's centrality while addressing the 12th ASEAN-New Zealand Joint Cooperation Committee (ANZJCC) meeting in Jakarta on May 15.

Huong showed her hope that ASEAN and New Zealand will have more practical activities to raise awareness by their people and enterprises to make good use of business cooperation opportunities. Read full story

- The Export Development Canada (EDC) has publicised an article “Doing business in Vietnam: Catch this rising star in the Indo-Pacific” in which, its author - international trade writer Carol Fragiskos emphasised that strategic location makes it an ideal logistics and distribution hub.

In his writing, Fragiskos said that Vietnam is called the Land of the Ascending Dragon. While its unique geographical shape may have inspired the original nickname, these days, it could be referring to its rapid economic growth. Read full story

- Vietnam has never received such attention, reflected through the establishment and signing of economic deals and partnership agreements with foreign partners, according to an article highlighting Vietnam’s outstanding position in the region, posted on the Tribune de Geneva newspaper by Alain Jourdan.

The author affirmed that a series of economic reforms initiated from 1986, along with globalisation, have transformed Vietnam from one of the poor countries in the world to a middle-income country in just one generation. Read full story

- The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) said that it has directed its branches in provinces and cities to closely monitor the developments of the local gold market, and at gold trading locations, and report to the central bank any case where people queue to buy gold.

The SBV stated that following the Prime Minister’s directive and the policy of increasing the supply of gold bars to the market through auctions, since April 19, the central bank has conducted six gold bullion auctions and their results were publicised on its portal. Read full story

- Vietnam won a gold on the last day of the 2024 Asian Taekwondo Championship's poomsae (performance) discipline on May 15 in the central city of Da Nang.

The host martial artists, Chau Tuyet Van, Nguyen Thi Le Kim and Lien Thi Tuyet Mai, persuaded judges in the women's team T30 recognised poomsae, beating Indian rivals in the final match./. Read full story

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General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and President Xi Jinping (R) welcomes General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and State President To Lam (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam, China issue joint statement on deepening Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership in new era

The State visit to China by Party General Secretary and State President To Lam was a great success, positively contributing to strengthening the traditional friendship and accelerating the building of the Vietnam–China community with a shared future that carries strategic significance, thus promoting peace, stability, development, and prosperity in the region and the world.

Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man (R) meets President of the National Assembly of Côte d’Ivoire Patrick Achi on the sidelines of the 152nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU-152) in Istanbul, Türkiye, on April 16. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam, Côte d'Ivoire strengthen parliamentary, economic ties

On parliamentary cooperation, the top Vietnamese legislator called for increased the exchange of high-level delegations and closer collaboration between the two legislatures, including sharing legislative experience and strengthening ties between their respective committees.

National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man (left) and Yerlan Koshanov, Speaker of the Mazhilis - the lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament, during their in Istanbul, Türkiye, on April 16 (Photo: VNA)

NA Chairman meets with Kazakhstan’s lower house speaker in Türkiye

The two sides also consented to continue close coordination at multilateral parliamentary forums, particularly the IPU, promoting the role of legislatures in advancing multilateralism and respect for international law, and contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development regionally and globally.

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and State President To Lam (L) receives Chen Gang, member of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Secretary of the CPC Committee and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (Photo: VNA)

Top Vietnamese leader receives Secretary of Guangxi’s Party Committee

Vietnam is a close neighbour, trusted friend and one of Guangxi’s most important partners. The Party organisation and authorities of China's autonomous region attach great importance to friendship and cooperation with Vietnamese localities; and will continue to take the lead in thoroughly implementing the important common perceptions reached by the two top leaders, thereby deepening cooperation and friendship between China and Vietnam.

Vietnam’s National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man (L) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at their meeting in Istanbul on April 16, 2026. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnamese NA Chairman meets Turkish President

Vietnam’s National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan emphasised that economic, trade, and investment ties should serve as key pillars of the relationship. They agreed to create favourable conditions to raise bilateral trade turnover to 4 billion USD, while continuing to encourage Turkish enterprises to invest in Vietnam and contribute to its economic development.

Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Tran Thanh Man speaks at the general debate of the 152nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU-152) in Türkiye on April 16, 2026. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam's top legislator addresses general debate at 152nd IPU Assembly

Vietnam is striving with confidence and self-strengthening to enter a new stage of development, aiming to become a developing country with modern industry and upper-middle income by 2030, and a high-income developed country by 2045, said NA Chairman Tran Thanh Man at the general debate of the 152nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU-152).

Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Tran Thanh Man speaks at the policy dialogue aimed at promoting Vietnam–Türkiye cooperation (Photo: VNA)

NA Chairman attends policy dialogue promoting Vietnam–Türkiye cooperation

Türkiye is one of Vietnam’s key partners in the region, serving as a strategic bridge between Asia and Europe. Conversely, Vietnam, with its dynamic and fast-growing economy, is an important gateway for Türkiye to access Southeast Asian and Asia-Pacific markets. These complementary advantages provide a solid foundation for the two countries to further deepen their cooperation in the coming period.

Chairman of the Vietnamese National Assembly Tran Thanh Man (R) presents a commemorative gift to Chairman of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili during their meeting in Istanbul on April 16, 2026. (Photo: VNA)

NA Chairman meets Georgian parliament speaker on IPU-152 sidelines

NA Chairman Tran Thanh Man underlined that there remains ample room to further expand cooperation between Vietnam and Georgia in areas where both sides have strengths and potential, including education and training, culture, tourism, sports, logistics and transport, particularly rail transport.

Prime Minister Le Minh Hung (C, first row) and representatives from 52 leading US enterprises (Photo: VNA)

Prime Minister meets delegation of leading US businesses

At the meeting, representatives of USABC, the US Embassy in Vietnam and participating businesses commended Vietnam’s socio-economic achievements and improving investment climate, as well as its strategic development orientation toward rapid and sustainable growth driven by science, technology, innovation and digital transformation.

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra (R) receives President and CEO of Japan’s erex Co., Ltd. Honna Hitoshi (Photo: VGP)

Deputy PM hails cooperation in personnel training with Japan

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra highly valued the training programme jointly implemented since 2022 by Vietnam’s Ministry of Home Affairs and Japan’s erex Co., Ltd, which focuses on enhancing public administration capacity, particularly for grassroots officials, young civil servants and female cadres. Through the initiative, nearly 300 local-level officials and leaders from Vietnam have been sent to Japan for training and professional development.

☕ Afternoon briefing on April 16

☕ Afternoon briefing on April 16

Vietnamese PM Le Minh Hung's phone talks with his Singaporean counterpart Lawrence Wong, NA Chairman Tran Thanh Man's attendance at the opening of the IPU-152, and the presentation of the 20th Devotion Awards are among news highlights on April 16.

President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Lee Jae Myung (Photo: Yonhap)

RoK President to pay state visit to Vietnam

President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Lee Jae Myung and his spouse will pay a state visit to Vietnam from April 21 – 24 at the invitation of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and State President To Lam and his wife./.