☕ Afternoon briefing on September 8

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 President To Lam met with a delegation of the Russian War Veterans Association and the Russia–Vietnam Friendship Association in Moscow on September 7 afternoon (local time), part of his state visit to Russia.

The Vietnamese leader expressed his pleasure and emotion at meeting Vietnam's close friends, noting that despite their advanced age, they had travelled a long way to attend the warm and friendly gathering out of their special affection for Vietnam and its people. Read full story

- President of the Vietnamese National Assembly Tran Thanh Man met with Chairman of the Korea-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Group Moon Jin Seok in Seoul on September 8 morning (local time).

He said the Vietnamese delegation was the first foreign one to make an official visit at the invitation of NA Speaker of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Cho Jeong Sik, with representation from the Party, NA, Government and localities. Meetings with the RoK's NA Speaker and Prime Minister were highly successful and covered practical issues that fostered trust and opened specific cooperation avenues. Read full story

- Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee and Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Vu Dai Thang held a bilateral meeting with Mayor of Seoul Oh Se-hoon on September 7, part of National Assembly President Tran Thanh Man’s official visit to the Republic of Korea (RoK).

At the event, Thang stressed that looking back on their three decades of friendship (1996–2026), bilateral cooperation between the two capitals of Hanoi and Seoul has been continuously strengthened and expanded across key areas such as urban management and development, planning, transport, e-government, culture, tourism and people-to-people exchanges. Read full story

- Vietnam’s economy showed strong signs of acceleration in the third quarter, creating greater room for expansion in the final months of the year.

Many key sectors posted strong growth compared with the same period in 2025, providing an important foundation for the country to strive for its double-digit growth target. Read full story

- Six groups of products and services have been proposed to be developed at the Vietnam International Financial Centre (VIFC), Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc said at a meeting of the centre’s Executive Council chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Van Thang in Hanoi on September 7.

Ngoc said the products and services include investment funds and asset management, asset-backed digital assets, international carbon credits, commodity trading and derivatives infrastructure linked to trade and supply-chain financing, financial technology, and bonds issued at the centre. As these groups are at different stages of readiness, they will be rolled out in phases rather than simultaneously. Read full story

- Hanoi is studying a four-level underground complex around the Opera House, combined with pedestrian tunnels to improve connections with Trang Tien street and nearby cultural and art spaces.

The study area covers about 32.51ha in Hoan Kiem and Cua Nam wards, bounded by Cau Go street to the North, Hang Trong street to the West, Hai Ba Trung street to the South, and Ly Thai To and Tran Quang Khai streets to the East. Read full story

- Nguyen Thi Lien Huong, a lecturer at National Taiwan University (NTU) in Taiwan (China), has been honoured as one of eight Vietnamese Language Ambassadors Abroad 2026 on the occasion of the Day honouring Vietnamese language among overseas Vietnamese communities (September 8).

With nearly 20 years of experience teaching Vietnamese, Huong is also an executive board member of a forum dedicated to preserving Vietnamese language and culture abroad. She has compiled and published nearly 20 research works and learning materials on the subject. Read full story./.

VNA