☀️ Morning digest March 16

- Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Sierra Leonean counterpart, Julius Maada Bio, held talks in Hanoi on March 15, during which they agreed on orientations to foster cooperative relations between the two countries in the time to come. Read full story

- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed that New Zealand create more conditions for Vietnamese goods to access its market toward bringing the two countries' two-way trade turnover to 2 billion USD by 2024, during a reception for the new New Zealand Ambassador to Vietnam, Tredene Dobson, in Hanoi on March 15. Read full story

- Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov discussed the conflict in Ukraine in a candid and constructive manner during a phone talk on March 15. Read full story

- Members of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) will roll out various new models meeting the Euro 5 emissions standard. The new models, to be launched in the coming months, are all equipped with on-board diagnostics (OBD), which is vehicle's standard protocol to retrieve vehicle diagnostic information, and air filters reducing particulate matter (PM) and toxic air pollutants. Read full story

- The Vietnamese Government has agreed to reinstate pre-pandemic entry and exit procedures for foreigners and Vietnamese living overseas from March 15. Read full story

- The People's Court of central Khanh Hoa province on March 15 held a first-instance trial against two defendants for their “activities aiming to overthrow the people’s administration,” under Article 109 of the Penal Code. At the trial, Ton Nu The Trang, born in 1962, and Nguyen Xuan Tinh, born in 1972, were sentenced to 12 and 9 years in prison, respectively. Read full story

- The northern province of Tuyen Quang will host the first International Balloon Festival with the companionship of Vietjet, as part of a series of campaigns during "Tuyen Quang Tourism Year 2022,” the International Balloon Association and Tuyen Quang authorities announced on March 15./. Read full story