☀️ Morning digest January 30

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

– Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on January 29 asked the southern province of Dong Nai to complete the handover of cleared ground for the first-stage construction of Long Thanh international airport by the end of this first quarter. 
During a working session with ministries, agencies, localities and stakeholders of the project after making a fact-finding trip earlier the same day to the construction site, he assigned them to responsibility for the work under their watch and solve existing issues.Read full text

– A Vietnamese delegation led by deputy head of the National Assembly’s Committee for External Affairs Le Anh Tuan attended the fifth International Conference For World Balance in Havana on January 24-28.
Themed “With all and for the good of all”, the event was one of the activities honouring Cuban national hero José Martí on the occasion of his 170th birth anniversary (January 28), with over 1,100 delegates from 87 countries globally taking part.Read full text

– The Canada-Vietnam Friendship Society (CVFS) on January 28 organised a virtual seminar on the nations’ 50 years of diplomatic and cooperative ties (1973-2023), attracting participation of Canadian scholars, international friends, and Vietnamese expatriates.
The key speaker, Vietnamese Ambassador to Canada Pham Cao Phong, delivered an overview of the relations, which are growing more comprehensively, effectively, stably, and sustainably in terms of bilateral, regional, and international aspects.Read full text


– Vietnam attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) worth 1.69 billion USD as of January 20 this year, down 19.8% annually, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).
In the month, local authorities granted licences for 153 new FDI projects worth 1.2 billion USD, up 48.5% in number and 3.1 times in value.Read full text

- Foreign suppliers have paid taxes worth 1.8 trillion VND (76.7 million USD) via the official portal serving their operations in Vietnam.
Of the sum, Meta (Facebook) contributed 34.5 million EUR, Google 28.8 million USD, and Apple 174 billion VND.Read full text

– Vietnam’s consumer price index (CPI) in January edged up by 0.52 % month-on-month, fueled by high consumer demand for the Lunar New Year or Tet which fell in the same month, the General Statistics Office said on January 29.
In addition, the prices of goods, food and foodstuffs went up during the final lunar month to prepare for the longest annual holiday and domestic fuel prices rose to global levels, contributing to the rise of the index.Read full text

- According to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), Vietnam is likely to attract 36-38 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2023. The figure was nearly 22.4 billion USD in 2022.
Deputy Director of the FIA Do Van Su said disbursement of foreign investment this year is expected to hit 22-23 billion USD.Read full text

– Viettel is the most valuable telecoms brand in Southeast Asia and the 17th in the world, according to the latest Brand Finance Global 500.
At the 234th position globally, Viettel is the only brand of Vietnam and the only telecoms one of Southeast Asia listed in the 2023 rankings.Read full text/.