☀️ Morning digest March 19

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

- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov, who is paying an official visit to Vietnam, in Hanoi on March 18.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov at the meeting in Hanoi on March 18. (Photo: VNA)

The host leader affirmed Vietnam always keeps in mind Uzbekistan’s wholehearted assistance during its struggle for independence, and that it attaches importance to the traditional friendship with the republics that used to be part of the former Soviet Union, including Uzbekistan. Read full story

- Le Hoai Trung, Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee and Chairman of the CPV Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations, held talks with Liu Jianchao, Secretary of the Communist Party of Chia (CPC) Central Committee and Chairman of the CPC Central Committee’s International Liaison Department, in Jilin province on March 18.

The talks between the delegations of the CPV Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations and the CPC Central Committee’s International Liaison Department in Jilin province on March 18 (Photo: VNA)

The talks formed part of the CPV delegation’s visit to China at the invitation of the CPC Central Committee. Read full story

- Vietnam is ready to provide favourable conditions for APM Terminals to pilot green port projects along with a mechanism for direct electricity trading from renewable energy projects in Vietnam, said Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha while hosting the Danish company's CEO Keith Svendsen. 

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha (R) receives CEO of APM Terminals Keith Svendsen in Hanoi on March 18. (Photo: VNA)

Ha said the traditional friendship and the newly-established green strategic partnership between Vietnam and Denmark have created chances for Danish businesses to invest in Vietnam, especially in the fields of green economy, renewable energy and seaport infrastructure. Read full story

- Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son held talks with his visiting Uzbek counterpart Bakhtiyor Saidov in Hanoi on March 18.

At the talks between Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son his visiting Uzbek counterpart Bakhtiyor Saidov in Hanoi on March 18. (Photo: VNA)

Stressing that it is the first visit to Vietnam by an Uzbek foreign minister since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1992, Son said this occasion serves as an opportunity for both sides to review and agree on directions and measures to strengthen the longstanding friendship and to promote practical bilateral cooperation in areas of their strengths. Read full story

- Vietnam’s elevation of relations with major and important partners reflects the strongly enhanced mutual understanding and political trust between the country and the partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son told a question-and-answer session on March 18.

Replying to legislators’ questions at the event, part of the 31st meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee, Son cited Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong as saying at the 32nd Diplomatic Conference that the upgrade of Vietnam’s relations with important partners to comprehensive strategic partnerships was a highly important result that carries historic significance. Read full story

- Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dang Quoc Khanh on March 18 had a working session with visiting Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management Mark Harbers, who expressed his country’s readiness to assist Vietnam in offshore sand mining, groundwater management, and mineral exploitation.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dang Quoc Khanh (R) and Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management Mark Harbers at the meeting in Hanoi on March 18. (Photo: baotainguyenmoitruong.vn)

Harbers spoke highly of the active moves by the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) to protect the environment, especially nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation. Read full story

- Vietnam's exports to the US have steadily rebounded since late last year, experiencing robust growth in export value during the first two months of 2024.

Increased consumption in the US has led to a revival in orders, lifting Vietnam's export value to this market to 17.4 billion USD in the first two months of the year, marking a notable 34% surge compared to the corresponding period in 2023. Read full story

- While economic freedom is declining around the world, Vietnam is bucking the general trend, with lot of work to do to join the ranks of economically free countries, said Rainer Zitelmann in his recent article published by the Washington DC-based news outlet Washington Examiner.

In the article titled “Vietnam ‘has been a development success story’: World Bank,” the author wrote no other country of comparable size has made such strong gains in the Index of Economic Freedom in recent decades./. Read full story