Politics

☀️ Morning digest January 8

The following is a list of selected news summaries reported last night by the Vietnam News Agency.

☀️ Morning digest January 8

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

- Vietnam will continue facilitating activities of foreign investors, including those from the US, while prioritising bilateral cooperation in education, cultural and people-to-people exchanges, said Party General Secretary To Lam.

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Party General Secretary To Lam (R) receives Founder and Chairman of Berggruen Holdings and Berggruen Institute Nicholas Berggruen (C) and Director of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at the US’s Columbia University Nguyen Thi Lien Hang. (Photo: VNA)

At a reception in Hanoi on January 7 for Founder and Chairman of Berggruen Holdings and Berggruen Institute Nicholas Berggruen and Director of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at the US’s Columbia University Nguyen Thi Lien Hang, the Party leader spoke highly of their support for the development of Vietnam-US ties over the past years. Read full story

- Berggruen Holdings is willing to cooperate with, invest in, and support Vietnam in personnel training, affirmed Founder and Chairman of the US-based company Nicolas Berggruen while he and Director of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at the Columbia University Nguyen Thi Lien Hang were received by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi on January 7 evening.

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Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) and Founder and Chairman of Berggruen Holdings and Berggruen Institute Nicholas Berggruen at their meeting in Hanoi on January 7. (Photo: VNA)

At the reception, the PM Chinh lauded Hang’s active contributions to the organisation of Vietnamese high-ranking leaders’ policy dialogues in recent times as well as her attendance at these events. Read full story

- Technological innovation, technology transfer, and workforce training form the core strategy for transforming the nature of Vietnam’s economic growth in the coming years, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc remarked at the 17th Vietnam Economic Scenario Forum’s spring 2025 plenary session in Hanoi on January 7.

In his speech, he said all the 15 socio-economic targets set for 2024 were successfully achieved. The economy grew by 7.09%, with the GDP reaching approximately 476.3 billion USD, placing Vietnam 33rd globally. Total trade turnover was estimated at nearly 800 billion USD, with a trade surplus of 24.77 billion USD. State budget revenue exceeded projections by 19.8% to exceed 2 quadrillion VND (78.83 billion USD), while the poverty rate was reduced to just 1.95%. Read full story

- Newly-appointed Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore Tran Phuoc Anh on January 7 presented his credentials to Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

President Tharman expressed his delight at the comprehensive development of the bilateral relationship in the recent past, stressing that Singapore wants to boost cooperation with Vietnam in such promising areas as clean energy, artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductor, carbon credit, finance, education and training. Read full story

- Vietnam's total retail sales of consumer goods and services reached 6.39 quadrillion VND (251.87 billion USD) in 2024, marking a year-on-year increase of 9%, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Of this total, revenue from retail sales of goods were estimated at 4.92 quadrillion VND, an 8.3% increase compared to the previous year. Key categories saw notable growth, with food and foodstuffs up 10.8%, household appliances and tools rising 3.6%, garments increasing by 8.4%, vehicles (excluding cars) up 5.4%, and cultural and educational products growing by 9.1%. Read full story

- An online booth introducing products of the northern province of Thai Nguyen on Shopee platform was launched at an event on January 7, marking Thai Nguyen as the first locality in the country to offer its products for sale on an e-commerce platform.

On this occasion, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation between Thai Nguyen and Shopee Vietnam Co., Ltd. was inked. Read full story

- Malaysia and Singapore on January 7 inked an agreement to create a new special economic zone for business and investment.

Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim witnessed the exchange of the agreement for the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) at the 11th Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat in Putrajaya, Malaysia./. Read full story

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General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam (right) and President of Panama José Raúl Mulino at their meeting in Hanoi on October 6. (Photo: VNA)

Top Vietnamese, Panamanian leaders hold talks in Hanoi

General Secretary and President Lam believed that the two countries will continue tapping their potential for cooperation in trade, agriculture, maritime affairs, aviation, logistics and digital transformation, thus making bilateral ties more substantive, effective and sustainable for the benefit of their people and contributing to peace, cooperation and development in both regions.

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam and his spouse welcome Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino and his spouse (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam, Panama cast themselves as gateways between Southeast Asia and Latin America

In his speech, General Secretary and President Lam stressed that Mulino's official visit holds special significance for bilateral ties. He expressed his belief that the visit will not only resume high-level contacts after a long gap but also give new momentum to ties, moving them into a more substantive, effective and deeper phase.

General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee and President To Lam and President of Panama José Raúl Mulino meet with the press immediately after their talks (Photo: VNA)

Vietnamese, Panamanian leaders meet the press following talks

Both sides agreed that there is ample room for cooperation, particularly in trade, investment and services. They pledged to step up joint work in the economic, trade, investment, agriculture, port logistics, finance, banking, tourism and transport sectors, as well as other areas of mutual strength. They also plan to continue negotiating agreements on investment protection, aviation and other areas to create a more favourable framework for expanding cooperation.

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President To Lam (second, right) and Panama President José Raúl Mulino (second, left) witness the exchange of an agreement on maritime transport cooperation between the Governments of Vietnam and Panama (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam, Panama exchange cooperation documents witnessed by top leaders

The documents include an agreement on maritime transport cooperation between the Governments of Vietnam and Panama, an agreement on cooperation in combating transnational crime, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on agricultural cooperation, and an MoU on tourism cooperation between the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism and the Panama Tourism Authority.

Uch Leang, Acting Director of the Department of Asia, Africa and Middle East Studies at the Royal Academy of Cambodia’s Institute of International Relations speaks to Vietnam News Agency correspondents in Phnom Penh (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam, Cambodia strengthen connectivity, create new momentum for growth

The visit’s focus is expected to be on translating high-level agreements into economic and infrastructure connectivity projects and practical cooperation that benefit people and businesses, said Uch Leang, Acting Director of the Department of Asia, Africa and Middle East Studies at the Royal Academy of Cambodia’s Institute of International Relations.

President of the Republic of Panama José Raúl Mulino and his spouse, Maricel Cohen De Mulino, visit Hanoi's Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam on October 6, 2026 (Photo: VNA)

Panamanian President and spouse visit Temple of Literature

Visiting Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature - Imperial Academy) in Hanoi, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino showed keen interest in the historical, cultural and artistic values of the World Documentary Heritage site, which houses 82 stone steles honouring doctoral laureates. He praised Vietnam’s tradition of learning, respect for teachers and appreciation of talent.

Member of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Party Committee and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Manh Cuong holds talks with visiting President of the Hungarian Workers' Party Gyula Thürmer in Hanoi. (Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

CPV, Hungarian Workers' Party seek to deepen ties

The CPV pursues a policy of expanding relations with political parties, including the Hungarian Workers' Party, a traditional partner that has consistently shown interest in and supported Vietnam.

Former Panamanian Ambassador to Vietnam Servio S. Samudio with Vietnamese children he met during his trip to a Vietnamese northern mountainous region (Photo courtesy of Former Panamanian Ambassador to Vietnam Servio S. Samudio)

People-to-people exchanges forge stronger Vietnam-Panama ties

The October 5-8 official visit to Vietnam by Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino and his spouse is expected to create new avenues for collaboration and open more doors for the people of the two countries to meet, for Vietnamese culture to become more familiar to Panamanians, and for Vietnamese people to have more opportunities to discover Panama.

The meeting between Politburo Member and Standing Member of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee’s Secretariat Tran Cam Tu and President of the Hungarian Workers’ Party Gyula Thürmer in Hanoi on October 5, 2026 (Photo: VNA)

Key Party leader hosts Hungarian Workers’ Party chief

The Communist Party of Vietnam always values its solidarity and friendship with the Hungarian Workers' Party and communist and workers' parties worldwide, which helps build political trust and supports Vietnam's relations with other countries, said key Party leader Tran Cam Tu.