Prime ministers questions

Energy is one of the key pillars in Vietnam-Germany relations over the past decades with a series of projects and programs operated by The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) – the German Development Agency. A delegation of nearly 50 German companies led by Minister-President of the German state of Lower Saxony , Stephan Weil, has expressed their interest in renewable energy and energy efficiency , the field in which the Federal Government of Germany has cooperated with Vietnam for years. Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) and Minister-President of the German state of Lower Saxony , Stephan Weil, in Hanoi on October 1. Photo: VGP Other fields of potential cooperation that the Lower Saxony’s government and businesses want to focus on include vocational training, skilled labor migration, tourism, digitalization, and Industry 4.0. The issues were stated by Prime Minister-President Stephan Weil at … [Read more...] about Lower Saxony wants to invest in energy transition in Vietnam

Do Thanh Trung, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Although SOEs account for a small proportion of the economy, they hold significant resources for the nation’s socioeconomic development, playing a core and vital role in building and safeguarding our homeland in a new context. The significant growth of SOEs contributes to socioeconomic development and serves as an effective tool for macroeconomic regulation, price stabilisation, social security, national security, and sovereignty, especially in border and island areas. SOEs are vital in building and developing essential economic infrastructure and leading industries to drive economic growth, especially in a context where the private sector has not yet fully grown and lacks the capability to perform better. Despite the positive results achieved, the activities of SOEs, especially investment activities, still have some existing limitations. Firstly, SOEs are slow to adapt to the new era, and their roles in … [Read more...] about Defining SOE priorities vital

Lower-than-expected growth in advanced economies and China could reduce external demand for Vietnamese exports. Vietnam's economic growth for 2023 is set to hit 4.7%, primarily influenced by weak domestic and external demand . Production of aircraft components at MHI Aerospace Vietnam. Photo: Pham Hung/The Hanoi Times The World Bank released the forecast in its latest East Asia and Pacific October 2023 Economic Update. However, there's optimism for a recovery in the following years, with growth expected to reach 5.5% in 2024 and 6.0% in 2025. The main driver of this growth will be domestic demand, although at a slower pace than in previous years. In terms of inflation, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is projected to average 3.5% this year, largely due to scheduled increases in civil servant salaries. In the following years, assuming stable energy and commodity prices, inflation is expected to decline to 3.0% in both 2024 and 2025. On the fiscal side, … [Read more...] about Vietnam’s GDP growth forecast to expand by 4.7% in 2023: WB

Vientiane (VNA) - Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone has instructed relevant agencies to expedite the drafting of a strategy on rare earth and other minerals, to ensure proper management of mining operations in the country, reported Vientiane Times. economy . As rare earth is in high demand globally, it is necessary for the government to ensure that Laos fully benefits from the mining of rare earth deposits, he said. In recent months, National Assembly members have expressed concern about mining operations in Laos , saying that the mismanaged export of precious metals and other minerals has resulted in serious financial losses. Laos's rare earth reserves are estimated to be big. The country has to date signed rare earth exploration contracts with 18 companies in 18 projects./. VNA … [Read more...] about Lao Gov’t tightens management of rare earth mining

An oil rig of Petrovietnam (Photo: VietnamPlus) Hanoi (VNA) – Forty-eight years since its establishment, the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam) has become a multi-billion-dollar enterprise and made breakthrough and comprehensive development strides. Petrovietnam was set up on September 3, 1975 with the goal of helping guarantee national energy security and serving as a pillar of economic support for national development. Shortly after the date of national reunification (April 30, 1975), on September 3 the same year, the Vietnam General Department of Oil and Gas, the predecessor of Petrovietnam , was established under the Council of Government in efforts to realise late President Ho Chi Minh’s aspiration to develop an oil and gas industry of the country. Nearly half a century has passed, Petrovietnam has managed to master the most cutting-edge technologies and build a complete oil and gas industry. From 1986 to 2022, it posted more than 400 billion USD in total … [Read more...] about Petrovietnam in step with 48 years of national development

The Ho Chi Minh City transport authority will inspect the compliance of Thanh Buoi Bus Company with regulations on providing transport services using passenger buses on Thursday this week, just a few days after a fatal crash between a Thanh Buoi sleeper bus and a 16-seater car killed five people and injured four. Aside from Thanh Buoi, two other passenger transport businesses, namely Thien Y and Hoa Hao, will undergo the inspection, the municipal Department of Transport said on Monday. The department earlier formed an inspection team on September 12 to check the three businesses’ compliance with the said regulations, as they were found to have flouted the law multiple times. The inspection, initially slated to take place from October 15 to November 15, was rescheduled to Thursday this week as required by the prime minister following the deadly crash involving a Thanh Buoi sleeper bus. The fatal collision occurred on the National Highway 20 section passing through Dong Nai … [Read more...] about Vietnamese long-haul bus company to face inspection following deadly crash

Petrol prices were forecast to continue to increase towards the end of the year due to moves to tighten the supply by major world producers. — VNA/VNS Photo Trần Việt The Ministry of Industry and Trade believes that the appropriate use of the stabilisation fund would be important to restrain increases in petroleum prices and reduce the impacts of these increases on the country’s socio-economic development. From the beginning of this year, petrol prices have been raised 16 times with a total increase of VNĐ3,500 per litre. The latest increase was on September 21, which brought the petrol price to nearly VNĐ26,000 per litre. Petrol prices are forecast to continue to increase towards the end of the year due to moves by major world producers to tighten supply. According to the Mercantile Exchange of Việt Nam (MXV), Russia, the world's third-largest oil producer with a market share of 13 per cent globally, after the US' 16 per cent and Saudi Arabia's 13.5 per cent, has put a … [Read more...] about Appropriate use of stabilisation fund important to restrain petroleum prices increases

Ngoc Linh ginseng (Photo: VNA) Kon Tum (VNA) – Kon Tum - Ngoc Linh Ginseng Festival will be held in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum biennially from 2024, according to a decision recently approved by the provincial People's Committee. The event will feature a variety of activities, including domestic and international seminars on the value of Ngoc Linh ginseng, an exhibition showcasing Ngoc Linh ginseng plants and other medicinal herbs related to tourism development and lives of local ethnic communities. Ngoc Linh ginseng (Panax vietnamensis, or Vietnamese ginseng), a rare medical root containing 52 saponin compounds helpful to health, was found on Ngoc Linh Mountain on the boundary between Kon Tum and Quang Nam provinces in the late 1960s. One of the world’s most precious, ginseng was approved as a national product under the Prime Minister’s Decision 787/QD-TTg dated June 5, 2017. By 2030, Kon Tum is expected to become one of the three provinces with the … [Read more...] about Kon Tum – Ngoc Linh Ginseng Festival to be held biennially

Employees working under labour contracts are directly affected by increase of minimum regional wage. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) has proposed delaying a salary negotiation meeting until the fourth quarter of 2023 because there is not enough scientific and practical basis to propose a time to adjust the regional minimum wage . Accordingly, MOLISA has sent an official dispatch to the Government Office to delay the submission of the decree stipulating the minimum wage for employees working under labour contracts. The ministry was assigned to develop the decree and submit it to the Government in October 2023. MOLISA said that the economy in the second quarter and the first months of the third quarter this year has shown signs of improvement. However, the global and regional socio-economic and security situation continues to have complex and unpredictable fluctuations affecting Vietnam’s economy. … [Read more...] about Labour ministry proposes delay of 2024 regional minimum wage increase

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong speaks at the plenum. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The eighth plenum of the 13th Party Central Committee opened in Hanoi on October 2 under the chair of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Participants at the plenum held a minute of silence for Party Central Committee member and Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh and victims who died in natural disasters and fires. During the plenum, the committee will discuss the national socio-economic and state budget situation in 2023 and plans for 2024; the State budget and financial plan for three years 2024 - 2026 and a roadmap for implementing the new salary regime. resolution on national protection strategy in the new situation which was adopted by the eighth plenum of the 11th Party Central Committee; and personnel planning for the Party Central Committee in the 14th tenure, and other important issues. The plenum will last until October 8./. VNA … [Read more...] about Eighth plenum of 13th Party Central Committee opens