Politics

☀️ Morning digest on December 8

The Government meeting that reviewed the socio-economic situation in November and the first 11 months of 2025, a trade surplus of 20.53 billion USD recorded in the first 11 months, and Da Nang named Vietnam’s Smart City of 2025 are among news highlights on December 6 and 7.

☀️ Morning digest on December 8

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

– Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has demanded ministries, heads of sectors, and leaders of localities to promote decisive and effective actions to ensure the tasks and targets for 2025 and the 2021–2025 period are achieved with the best possible results, creating momentum for successfully implementing the resolution of the coming 14th National Party Congress.

He made the request on December 6 while addressing the Government meeting that reviewed the socio-economic situation in November and the first 11 months of 2025. Read full story

– Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has signed Official Dispatch No. 237/CD-TTg dated December 6, 2025, calling for faster disbursement of public investment capital in the rest of the year.

The document highlighted recent progress in public investment disbursement, noting that efforts by ministries and localities helped raise the 11-month rate to an estimated 60.6% of the plan assigned by the PM — higher than the 58.2% recorded a year earlier and equivalent to about 155.7 trillion VND (5.9 billion USD) more in absolute terms. Read full story

– Party General Secretary To Lam, State President Luong Cuong, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on December 6 attended the signing ceremony for the new regulations on coordination between the Ministries of Public Security, National Defence, and Foreign Affairs.

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Party General Secretary To Lam, State President Luong Cuong, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh witness the signing of the new regulations on coordination between the Ministries of Public Security, National Defence, and Foreign Affairs on December 6. (Photo: VNA)

The Hanoi event was co-chaired by Minister of Public Security General Luong Tam Quang, Minister of National Defence General Phan Van Giang, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung. Read full story

– A ministerial-level bilateral conference between the Ministries of Public Security of Vietnam and Laos took place on December 6 in Champasak province, southern Laos, focusing on fostering cooperation on crime prevention, social order and safety, and counter-narcotics efforts in 2025.

The event was attended by Sen. Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Van Long, Deputy Minister of Public Security and head of the Vietnamese ministry's Investigation Police Agency; Sen. Lieut. Gen. Khamkinh Phuilamanivong, Lao Deputy Minister of Public Security; and representatives of relevant agencies from both countries. Read full story

– Vietnam enjoyed a trade surplus of 20.53 billion USD in the first 11 months of 2025, the National Statistics Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Finance unveiled on December 6.

In the period, the total value of goods exports and imports reached 839.75 billion USD, up 17.2% year-on-year; of which, exports rose by 16.1% and imports by 18.4%. Read full story

– Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into Vietnam maintained strong growth momentum over the past 11 months while the disbursed capital reached the highest level in five years, the National Statistics Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Finance said on December 6.

Disbursement progress continued to accelerate, hitting a record high for the 2021–2025 period, reflecting Vietnam’s improved capacity to absorb capital and foreign enterprises' commitment to project implementation. Read full story

– The National Statistics Department on December 6 reported positive signs in business registration, with sharp increases in both newly established enterprises and their registered capital over the first 11 months of 2025.

Nearly 178,000 new firms were set up nationwide during this period, with registered capital surpassing 1.75 quadrillion VND (66.38 billion USD) and registered employees totalling 1.05 million. Compared to the same period in 2024, these figures represent impressive growth of 20.9% in both the enterprise number and registered capital, and 16% in the registered workforce. Read full story

– Vietnam has once again been honoured as the World’s Leading Heritage Destination at the World Travel Awards (WTA), marking its sixth recognition after wins in 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024, according to the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

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The buckwheat flower season on the Dong Van Karst Plateau in Tuyen Quang province (Photo: VNA)

The award, which was announced at the WTA Grand Final Gala Ceremony 2025 held in Bahrain on December 6, recognises Vietnam’s sustained efforts in preserving and promoting its heritage in parallel with advancing sustainable tourism. Read full story

– Da Nang has been named Vietnam’s Smart City of 2025, securing the top and only national title granted this year by the Vietnam Software and IT Services Association (VINASA).

VINASA announced the award on December 6 after a final judging round earlier this month, where experts assessed presentations and an independent review of participating provinces and cities. Read full story

– The VinFuture Foundation officially announced the laureates of the VinFuture Prizes 2025 at a ceremony in Hanoi on December 5.

The 2025 VinFuture Grand Prize valued at 3 million USD has been awarded to four scientists, including Dr. Douglas R. Lowy, Dr. John T. Schiller, Dr. Aimée R. Kreimer and Prof. Maura L. Gillison (USA), for their discoveries and development of HPV vaccines for prevention of tumors caused by human papillomaviruses. Read full story./.

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