Vietnam welcomes 10 million foreign visitors in 2016 (Phôt: VNA) 1. The 12th National Party Congress
With the spirit of “Solidarity – Democracy –Discipline – Renovation”, the 12th National Party Congress was successfullyheld from January 20-28, 2016. The congress reviewed 30 years of reform (DoiMoi) and set out development orientations of the nation in the new period. Thecongress defined six key tasks in a bid to enhance the Party building andrectifying wok and continue stepping up reform comprehensively andsynchronously to build Vietnam into a strong country with prosperous people,and democratic, fair and civilised society.
2. The election of deputies to the 14thNational Assembly and People's Councils at all levels for the 2016-2021 tenure
The election of deputies to the 14th NationalAssembly and People’s Councils at all levels was organised publicly,democratically, legally, safely and economically, becoming a festival of theentire people. The success of the election laid a foundation for strengtheningthe organisational and personnel structure of the State apparatus andcontinuing to build a socialist law-governed State of the people, by the peopleand for the people, with the resolve to build an upright, tectonic, active andserviceable government.
3. Overcoming difficulties, the economycontinues to record fairly high growth
Under the leadership and drastic direction ofthe Government, the determination of the entire political system and the activeparticipation of the business community, Vietnam’s economy has continued torecord fairly high growth despite difficulties caused by drought, salineintrusion, maritime environmental incident in the central region and negativeimpacts from the global economy.
The country has successfully maintainedmacroeconomic stability, curbed inflation, ensured the economy’s major balancesand accumulated the highest-ever foreign currency reserves. Vietnam’s businessclimate has seen remarkable improvements and the private sector has flourished,while the number of newly-established enterprises has increased rapidly.
4. Fight against corruption and negativephenomena stepped up
In the past year, many serious economic andcorruption cases went on trial and a series of violations in personnel workwere brought to light, with a number of senior officials being disciplined. The4th plenary meeting of the 12th Party Central Committee issued a Resolution onenhancing the Party building and rectifying work; and preventing and pushingback the degradation in political ideology, morality and lifestyle as well asthe signs of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” within the Party. Arange of specific and drastic measures were deployed, receiving the positiveresponse from officials, party members and the people.
5. Bustling and effective foreign affairs
Vietnam’s foreign affairs have been promotedin 2016 with the successful hosting of the 7th Ayeyawady – Chao Phraya – MekongEconomic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) Summit (AMECS-7), the 8th Cambodia –Laos – Myanmar – Vietnam Cooperation Summit (CLMV-8), and the World EconomicForum (WEF) on the Mekong region (WEF Mekong). The country actively attendedregional and international forums and arranged many important bilateral visits.These activities affirmed Vietnam’s consistent foreign policy and determinationto promote intensive and comprehensive international integration, helping to maintaina peaceful and stable environment for national construction and defence.
6. Maritime environmental incident in thecentral region
Wastewater discharged illegally from Taiwan’sHung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation seriously polluted the maritimeenvironment of the central provinces of Thua Thien-Hue, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh andQuang Tri, causing severe impacts on production and daily life of local people.The Government, relevant ministries, sectors and localities worked hard tostrictly handle violations and support affected residents. Formosa acceptedfull responsibility for the incident and agreed to compensate for the losses.
7. Heavy consequences caused by naturaldisasters
A large-scale cold spell in northernmountainous provinces, continuous floods in the central region, drought in theCentral Highlands and saline intrusion in the Mekong Delta caused severeimpacts on production and daily life of local people in 2016. Administrationsat all levels, sectors and the entire community join hands in supportingaffected people to stable their production and lives, change production modelsand respond to climate change.
8. Vietnam’s athletes achieve exploits atOlympics and Paralympics
In the Rio Olympics 2016 in Brazil, shooter HoangXuan Vinh won the first-ever Olympics gold medal for Vietnam after claiming themen’s 10m air pistol title and a silver medal in the men's 50m air pistol.
At the Paralympics 2016, weightlifter Le VanCong won the first Paralympics gold medal for Vietnam, breaking the Paralympicsand world records in the men's up-to-49kg category.
9. Three more Vietnamese heritage honoured byUNESCO
“The royal literature on Hue royalarchitecture” and “Phuc Giang School Woodblocks” were recognised as documentaryheritage at the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific(MOWCAP)’s 7th General meeting in May 2016.
Meanwhile, the practice related to theVietnamese belief in worshiping Mother Goddesses of the Three Realms wasofficially recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage of humanity inDecember.
10. Vietnam welcomes 10 million foreignvisitors
In 2016, Vietnam’s tourism sector welcomed arecord number of 10 million foreign tourists, up 25 percent year-on-year, andserved 62 million domestic visitors. The tourism sector’s total revenue reached400 trillion VND (17.6 billion USD) in the year. This marked an importantmilestone in Vietnam’s tourism development process, towards the target ofbecoming a leading tourist destination in the region and a spearhead economicindustry of the country.-VNA
VNA
