☀️ Morning digest March 7

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

- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh underlined the necessity to create breakthroughs and promote mutual commitments to further strengthen the ASEAN – Australia relations to commemorate the 50th anniversary while addressing the plenary session of the Special Summit in Melbourne on March 6. 

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the session. (Photo: VNA)

While highlighting the significance of the summit, the Vietnamese government leader spoke highly of the close and long-standing relationship between ASEAN and Australia and Australia's cooperation with and support for the bloc over the last five decades. Read full story

- Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has met with leaders of member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Timor Leste, Australia and New Zealand, and the ASEAN Secretary-General on the sidelines of the ASEAN - Australia Special Summit in Melbourne, Australia.

Leaders attend the ASEAN - Australia Special Summit. (Photo: VNA) 

At the meetings, the PM conveyed regards from General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong and other key leaders of Vietnam to the foreign leaders and the ASEAN Secretary-General, and thanked them for their cooperation and support for Vietnam in economic recovery and development. Read full story

- Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan hosted a meeting in the northern province of Bac Ninh on March 6 with female foreign ambassadors and chief representatives from international organisations in Vietnam on the occasion of the International Women’s Day (March 8).

Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan and female foreign ambassadors and chief representatives from international organisations in Vietnam visit Dong Ky temple in Bac Ninh province. (Photo: VNA)

Addressing the meeting, Xuan extended greetings to the ambassadors and representatives. She said that during the different periods of national construction and defence of Vietnam, women played a crucial role with great dedication. Read full story

- Vietnam has become an important partner of Australia and in recent years, the relations between the two countries have grown closer than any other, Greg Earl, former member of the Australia - ASEAN Council said on the sidelines of the ASEAN - Australia Special Summit which wrapped up in Melbourne on March 6.

He assessed that Vietnam has achieved great successes in the field of economic regulation, adjusting rules and opening the economy. Read full story

- Cambodian Defence Attaché in Vietnam Major General Leang Sovannara on March 6 visited the Telecommunications University (TCU) (Signal Officers Training College) in Nha Trang city, south-central province of Khanh Hoa.

Vietnamese and Cambodian representatives at the meeting. (Photo: The Courtesy of the Telecommunications University)

TCU Vice Principal Nguyen Danh Khoa briefed the Defence Attaché on the university’s training of Cambodian students, and pledged to raise the quality of the work in the time ahead. Read full story

- An estimated 399.4 trillion VND (nearly 16.18 billion USD) was collected for the state budget in the first two months of 2024, equivalent to 23.5% of the year’s target and up 10.4% from a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance reported on March 6.

The ministry said that domestic revenue reached 24.6% of the target and increased 14.6% compared to that of the same period last year partly because economic activities in the first months of the year still maintained positive growth momentum from the end of the previous year and good consumption during the Lunar New Year holiday. Read full story

- The processing and manufacturing sector has lured the most Australian investments in Vietnam, the Ministry of Planning and Investment reported.

The ministry said Australian businesses have invested in 631 projects in the Southeast Asian nation, with a total registered capital of 2.04 billion USD. Read full story

- Standing Vice Chairman of the Da Nang city People's Committee Ho Ky Minh on March 6 called on TheCityUK, the industry-led body representing UK-based financial and related professional services, to coordinate with the Vietnamese central locality in building an international financial centre (IFC) there as soon as possible.

At an online working session with Andrew Oldland, head of TheCityUK’s IFC working group, Minh briefed the guest on the IFC project in Da Nang, where all investors will be considered foreign businesses./. Read full story