Politics

☕ Afternoon briefing on May 7

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

☕ Afternoon briefing on May 7

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

- General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and State President To Lam on May 7 visited the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) in Mumbai where he was invited to perform the ceremonial bell-ringing.

General Secretary and President Lam’s working trip to Mumbai came after his activities in New Delhi, within the framework of his state visit to India. Read full story

- Prime Minister Le Minh Hung and a high-level delegation of Vietnam arrived at Mactan-Cebu International Airport in the coastal city of Cebu, the Philippines, to attend the 48th ASEAN Summit at the invitation of Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr., ASEAN Chair in 2026.

PM Hung and the delegation were welcomed at the airport by Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Oban Jr., Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro, Mayor of Lapu-Lapu city Cindi King-Chan, and representatives from the ASEAN Summit organising committee. Read full story

- Dr. Rajiv Ranjan from the University of Delhi, in an interview recently granted to the Vietnam News Agency, spotlighted the significance of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and State President To Lam’s May 5-7 state visit to India and the prospects of bilateral ties.

Ranjan said the visit carries special significance as General Secretary and President Lam’s first trip to India since assuming his new leadership positions, calling it a reflection of the increasingly positive and deepening momentum in Vietnam–India ties. Read full story

- Ahead of World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day on May 8 and the 80th anniversary of the Vietnam Red Cross Society (VRCS), Humanitarian Month 2026 has been launched under the theme “80 years – A journey of compassion for the community”.

This year’s campaign marks a strategic shift, tilting resources decisively away from one-off emergency handouts toward sustainable livelihood packages that aim to lift poor and vulnerable households out of aid dependency for good. Read full story

- A film market will make its debut at the eighth Hanoi International Film Festival (HANIFF) 2026, scheduled for November 24 - 28, aiming to create an annual film trading platform and support the professional and internationally integrated development of Vietnam’s film industry ecosystem.

The five-day festival will feature opening and closing ceremonies, competition and non-competition screenings, seminars, a gala dinner and various side events. Read full story

- Ho Chi Minh City welcomed nearly 1.7 million visitors and generated 8.7 trillion VND (330 million USD) in tourism revenue in nine days from the Hung Kings Commemoration Day break to the Reunification Day and May Day holiday (April 25 - May 3), leading the country in both arrivals and tourism earnings.

The strong performance reflects not only seasonal demand but also changing travel trends, with new tourism products, immersive experiences and short-distance travel gaining popularity. Read full story

- Against the backdrop of rapidly evolving and increasingly complex global and regional landscapes, the 48th ASEAN Summit in the Philippines from May 7–8 is well beyond immediate crisis management and carries pivotal significance as the launchpad for the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, a strategic milestone designed to shape the region’s long-term trajectory for decades to come.

In that process, Vietnam is stepping into a conspicuously larger role, shifting from an “active player” to a “co-architect” in shaping the region’s strategic priorities and development approaches in the new period. Read full story

- Prime Minister Le Minh Hung has issued Decision No. 21/2026/QD-TTg promulgating the list of strategic technologies and strategic technology products, set to take effect from July 1, 2026.

Under the decision, Vietnam’s strategic technology framework comprises 10 major technology groups covering key sectors critical to the country’s long-term development and competitiveness. Read full story

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- The second Thang Long - Hanoi Festival 2026, flying the banner “Heritage Flow”, is set to hit the capital from September 11-20, turning the Thang Long Imperial Citadel, the Temple of Literature, Hanoi Museum, Dong Kinh Nghia Thuc Square, and Bat Trang pottery village into a massive, open-air platform for the city’s past.

Co-hosted by the municipal People’s Committee, the Department of Culture and Sports, and domestic and foreign agencies, the whole spectacle is meant to honour the city’s millennia-old heritage while reaffirming its strategy of establishing culture as a development engine. After the 2025 debut, they want to brand Hanoi as a creative playground with booming cultural industries and international exchange opportunities./. Read full story

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