Politics

☕ Afternoon briefing on May 23

The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency.
☕ Afternoon briefing on May 23 ảnh 1
Hanoi (VNA) - The following is a brief review of the day’s eventsas reported by the Vietnam News Agency.

- Almost 53.9 trillion VND (2.29 billion USD) in state capital was saved in2022 as reported by ministries, sectors, and localities, according to theGovernment.

Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc, on behalf of the Government, delivered areport on thrift practice and wastefulness prevention last year in front of the15th National Assembly (NA) at the ongoing fifth session on May 23. He saidthat thanks to proactive governance, the state budget spending tasks in 2022basically reached their targets. Read full story

- Vice Chairman of the National Assembly (NA) Nguyen Duc Hai and Vice Chairmanof the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic Jan Bartosek held talks inHanoi on May 23, agreeing to maintain mutual visits and experience sharingbetween the two legislative bodies. Read full story

- Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang’s upcoming trip to Japan for the 28th InternationalConference on Future of Asia and a working visit not only shows the importanceof the event to Vietnam’s foreign policy but also extends the message thatVietnam wishes to contribute more to the future of Asia, Vietnamese Ambassador toJapan Pham Quang Hieu said in an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency. Read full story

- President Vo Van Thuong met in Hanoi on May 23 more than 100 outstandingathletes and coaches, who freshly brought about an unprecedented success forVietnam at SEA Games 32.

The 32nd edition in Cambodia marked the first time in history that theVietnamese contingent, despite not being at the host position, had topped thetally with 136 gold, 105 silver and 118 bronze medals, broken 12 records, andset four new records. Read full story

- A workshop was held in Hanoi on May 22, providing guidelines for displayingthe ASEAN Flag next to the National Flag at the compound of ASEAN MemberState’s military units participating in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations.

The event, held in a hybrid format, attracted the participation ofrepresentatives from ASEAN countries, the ASEAN Secretariat and the MilitaryAttachés of ASEAN countries in Vietnam. Read full story

- Permanent Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Vu on May 22 chaired a meetingbetween the Steering Committee for Economic Diplomacy and representativeagencies of Vietnam abroad to evaluate impacts, challenges and opportunitiesfrom new regulations of markets to wood and forestry sector of Vietnam, andseek ways to support the sector in promoting exports. Read full story

- The conclusion of negotiations towards the signing of the Vietnam - IsraelFree Trade Agreement (VIFTA) has opened up new and potential opportunities forVietnam's exports, and now is time for businesses to understand Israelipeople’s needs and tastes to promptly enter this new market, according toinsiders.

After seven years with 12 negotiation sessions, recently the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade (MoIT) announced that it had officially concluded VIFTAnegotiations with the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry to reachagreements in accordance with both countries’ aspirations and interests. Read full story

- Vietnamese bird's nests see great potential for export to Chinese market aspeople in China and Chinese communities in other countries across the worldspend about 5 billion USD on bird’s nests and products made from them.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the GeneralAdministration of Customs of China signed a protocol on requirements forquarantine, inspection and veterinary hygiene for bird’s nests of Vietnam to beexported to China. Read full story

- The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and the Banking Academy on May 23 organised aseries of education communication events on finance management called"Future Bankers 2023".

It aimed to help realise the Government's goals in the National FinancialInclusion Strategy, and projects that promote cashless payments. Read full story

- Remittances to Ho Chi Minh City are expected to reach 7 billion USD in 2023,an annual increase of about 6-7%.

At a May 22 workshop on the city’s remittance attraction and promotion, deputydirector of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s branch in the southern economichub Nguyen Duc Lenh further said the remittances have increased continuously inthe last five years, with the highest amount recorded in 2021, at more than 7.1billion USD. The figure exceeded 2.1 billion USD in the first quarter thisyear, up over 19% year-on-year. Read full story

- Ho Chi Minh City is striving to reactivate several key projects that havebeen shelved for years with a view to helping ease flooding and trafficcongestion.

HCM City has officially entered the rainy season, but a project worth 10trillion VND (426.4 million USD) on addressing tidal flooding with climatechange taken into account hasn’t shown any signs of resumption, the Lao dong(Labour) daily reported. Read full story

- Vietnam is seeing a great opportunity to access the mRNA technology forvaccine production, said Patrick Haverman, UNDP Deputy Resident Representativein Vietnam, at a workshop held by the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) and the Health Strategy and Policy Institute (HSPI) under the Ministryof Health in Hanoi on May 22. Read full story

- The World Health Organisation (WHO) is urgently contacting to find a sourceof rare drugs to support Vietnam in treating botulinum poisoning cases,according to the Drug Administration of Vietnam (DAV) under the Ministry ofHealth.

Botulism is a rare but life-threatening condition that is primarily caused bytoxins produced by Clostridium botulinum bacteria. The poisoning is  veryrare both in Vietnam and around the world. Read full story

- The 2023 Vietnam Day was held in Gwangju city of the Republic of Korea (RoK)on May 21, aims to popularise the traditional and unique culture of Vietnam tointernational friends as well as to strengthen cultural exchange between thetwo countries. Read full story

- The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) on May 23 announced thatthe national futsal team will play two friendlymatches with the Solomon Islands before taking training in South America.

The two teams will meet each other at 5 pm on May 25 and 26 in Ho Chi MinhCity. Read full story

- The Ho Chi Minh City Photographic Association and the Vietnam Institute ofBuddhist Studies on May 22 opened a photo exhibition on the occasion of the60th anniversary of Bodhisattva Thich Quang Duc’s self-immolation to protestthe persecution of Buddhists by the US-backed South Vietnamese government ofNgo Dinh Diem. (June 11, 1963 - June 11, 2023).

With the theme "Buddhism with peace", the weeklong exhibitiondisplays 138 photos selected from the "Buddhism with Peace" contestwhich was launched from March 31 to May 15 with more than 1,200 entries fromphotographers across the country. Read full story./.
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