☀️ Morning digest February 17

Hanoi (VNA) - The following is a list of selected news summaries last night by the Vietnam News Agency.

- Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Quang Hieu attended the World Government Summit (WGS) 2023 and visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where he co-chaired the second deputy ministerial level political consultation, from February 13-15.

At a working session of the World Government Summit. (Photo: VNA)

Speaking at a session of the WGS on promoting breakthrough initiatives in climate change response and education, Hieu affirmed Vietnam’s efforts to achieve the net zero emission target by 2050, saying the country prioritises pushing economic transformation based on science and technology and innovations. Read full story

- Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Phan Van Mai hosted a reception for visiting former French Prime Minister Edouarad Philipe, who is now Mayor of Le Havre city, on February 16.

Mai expressed his belief that Philipe’s visit will open up many cooperation opportunities for businesses of the two countries and the two cities in particular.Read full story

- As of 13:00 on February 16 (local time), the search and rescue team of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) discovered five locations of earthquake victims in Turkey, with two showing survival signs, and informed them to local forces.

As of 19:00 on February 16, Turkey recorded a total of 36,187 deaths and 108,061 injuries due to the huge earthquake and its aftershocks. (Photo: VNA)

Turkish people have expressed their gratitude to the team, led by Maj. Gen. Pham Van Ty, Deputy Chief of the Office of the National Committee for Incident and Disaster Response, Search and Rescue and Deputy Director of the VPA's Department of Search and Rescue, for their search and rescue efforts.  Read full story

- Offshore wind power will be fundamental to delivering Vietnam’s green transition goals, said Stuart Livesey, the Vietnam Country Director for Copenhagen Offshore Partners (COP) - the offshore wind project developer of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).

CIP is implementing La Gan offshore wind project in the central province of Binh Thuan. Read full story

- The southern province of Binh Duong as of the end of 2022 had attracted more than 4,082 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects worth nearly 40 billion USD of registered funds, ranking it among the top two provinces in the country in FDI attraction, just after Ho Chi Minh City.

HCM City and Binh Duong were the leading localities in FDI attraction in 2022 with 3.94 billion USD and 3.14 billion USD, respectively.Read full story

- Ordinary passports with electronic chips will be issued for Vietnamese citizens from March 1, 2023, according to the Ministry of Public Security’s Immigration Department.

Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

A passport with an e-chip attached to its back cover stores encrypted information of the passport holder and the signature of the issuer, aiming to facilitate travel and raise the efficiency of state management in immigration and meet the country’s requirements in international integration. Read full story

- The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has proposed China resume outbound travel tours to Vietnam to improve and recover tourism between the two countries.

The ministry confirmed on February 16 that it had sent a diplomatic note to China on February 9 proposing travel agencies be allowed to organise outbound tours to Vietnam./.Read full story