The accidental prime minister

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh meets Vietnamese in San Francisco . (Photo: VNA) San Francisco (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has lauded overseas Vietnamese ( OVs ) in general and those in the US in particular for their contributions to the homeland as well as the Vietnam-US ties. At a meeting with representatives of the Vietnamese community in San Francisco on May 17 (local time) as part of his trip to the US, Chinh noted that OVs have engaged in 376 projects in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI) with total registered capital amounting to 1.72 billion USD. Remittances to Vietnam exceed 10 billion USD each year, hitting 12.5 billion US D last year, he said, stressing that the capital has played a role in the country’s socio-economic development. The leader reiterated that the Party and the State have always regarded OVs as an integral part and an impulse for national development, which has been reflected in the institutionalisation of … [Read more...] about Prime Minister meets Vietnamese in San Francisco

The trip has contributed to promoting the relations between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the U.S., and between Vietnam and the U.N. and the U.S., while affirming Vietnam’s role and prestige in the international arena. During his week-long stay in the U.S., the PM visited the four cities of Washington D.C, Boston, New York, and San Francisco, with more than 50 activities. He attended and delivered speeches at the summit, and met with ASEAN leaders, including his counterparts from Laos, Cambodia and Singapore, and the Indonesian President. Chinh also had meetings with U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russel, President of the U.N. General Assembly Abdulla Shahid and Administrator of the U.N. Development Program (UNDP) Achim Steiner. He met President Joe Biden, and received senior officials of the U.S. government such as Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Secretary of … [Read more...] about Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh concludes U.S. trip

Tourists at Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia (Photo: khmertimeskh.com) Phnom Penh (VNA) - Tourists who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 will not be exempted from quarantine when entering Cambodia, according to the national press agency of Cambodia AKP . AKP quoted Prime Minister Hun Sen as saying at a meeting on May 17 with the Samdech Techo Young Volunteer Doctors Association (TYDA) that Cambodia welcomes all visitors, but people who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 must still be quarantined for seven days. The PM emphasised that Cambodia has overcome the epidemic waves caused by variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus such as Alpha, Delta and Omicron, but has not yet conquered COVID-19. Cambodia is devoting all of its efforts to pushing the COVID-19 vaccination programme, so unvaccinated travellers cannot enter without quarantine. Travellers who have been immunized against COVID-19 do not need to be quarantined and are not required to take rapid or … [Read more...] about Unvaccinated tourists not exempted from quarantine upon arrival in Cambodia

Vietnamese Deputy Defense Minister Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien affirmed that while delivering a speech at the ASEAN Defense Senior Officials’ Meeting Plus (ADSOM+) in Phnom Penh on May 18. The Vietnamese deputy defense minister also emphasized that the security and safety of navigation and aviation in the East Sea (or South China Sea) is extremely important for countries in the region and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Therefore, it is essential to observe the Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and accelerate the early signing of a practical and effective Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC). The head of the Vietnamese delegation expressed his wish that all countries would settle conflicts and disagreements by peaceful means, on the basis of respecting international law and the United Nations Charter as well as ASEAN's basic principles. He added that besides emerging non-traditional security challenges, there have been … [Read more...] about Vietnam affirms consistent stance of settling disputes by peaceful means at ADSOM+

President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc (right) meets Speaker of the Singaporean Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin on Thursday. VNA/VNS Photo HÀ NỘI — Speaker of the Singaporean Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin said Singapore’s Prime Minister wants to visit Việt Nam in 2023 when the two countries celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, during his meeting with Vietnamese President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc on Thursday. President Phúc said that the presence of Speaker Tan at the 31st SEA Games provides great encouragement to the host country Việt Nam and the Singapore sports delegation. The Vietnamese leader praised the good results of talks between Vietnamese NA Chairman Vương Đình Huệ and his Singaporean counterpart. Assessing that trade growth between the two countries is very positive, with more Singaporean projects investing in Việt Nam, the President said that the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park is considered a symbol of economic cooperation between the two countries. … [Read more...] about Việt Nam, Singapore to strengthen cooperation ahead 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations

PM Pham Minh Chinh addresses the ASEAN - US Special Summit in Washington D.C. on May 13. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s recent working visit to the US is a step to strongly implement Vietnam’s foreign policy , help elevate multilateral diplomacy , and intensify relations with the US - one of the leading partners of Vietnam, an official has said. The high-ranking delegation of Vietnam led by the PM attended the ASEAN - US Special Summit and paid working visits to the US and the UN from May 11 to 17. Talking to the media, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ha Kim Ngoc said the trip with more than 60 bilateral and multilateral activities at different levels helped carry out the foreign policy of independence, self-reliance for peace, friendship, cooperation and development, multilateralisation and diversification of external relations, and comprehensive and extensive international integration. At the special summit marking the 45th … [Read more...] about PM’s working trip to US a demonstration of Vietnam’s foreign policy

At the conference (Photo: SGGP) The Center for linking production, processing, and consumption of agricultural products in Can Tho City was established with the expectation that by 2050, it will become the central transport node in large metropolitan areas with smart technology. The center will be the focal point of the chain of smart production, processing, and consumption centers in the region. In this link chain, about 50 percent - 70 percent of the production processes are done automatically and intelligently. Speaking at the conference, Chairman of the Can City People's Committee Tran Viet Truong said this is an important conference to get opinions from ministries, sectors, and localities in the region, step by step perfecting the project in the most feasible direction before submitting it to the Government. The Center aims to contribute to the construction of Can Tho City into the central city of the Mekong Delta region, contributing to the development of the region’s … [Read more...] about Center hoped to help link, consume agricultural products in Mekong Delta

EVN workers examine electricity facilities (Photo: VNA) The Vietnamese government’s permission for private companies to invest in and build power plants and transmission systems became a big step forward, bringing competition in the energy sector to a manageable level. The first 500kV super-high voltage power transmission line invested by Trungnam Construction and Investment JSC has been operating stably for more than a year. Trungnam’s project includes a 500kV substation and transmission lines combined with a 450MW solar power plant, promoting its advantages when participating in the power grid of Ninh Thuan province and the south-central coastal region. Pham Nhu Anh, member of the Executive Board of Military Bank, which arranged capital for Trungnam to invest in transmission infrastructure, pointed out that capital is still a bottleneck in Vietnam’s electrical infrastructure development. According to Anh, the fact that Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) still holds a monopoly on … [Read more...] about Transmission boost to remove major power bottlenecks

Well-known groups are continuing to pour money into Vietnam specifically for research and development, Photo: Le Toan LEGO Group COO Carsten Rasmussen last week arrived in Vietnam to speed up the preparation of a $1 billion complex in the southern province of Binh Duong. At last week’s meeting with the Danish toymaker, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh said, “This is the largest capital from a Danish group investing in Vietnam, confirming the faith and optimism of Lego, as well as the interest of other Danish investors in this country.” Fresh updates recently revealed by the Ministry of Planning and Investment that the total newly-registered foreign direct investment (FDI) into Vietnam last year amounted to $38.85 billion, up 25.2 per cent on-year, thanks to two billion-dollar projects registered at $7.7 billion and both licensed on the last day of 2021. An annual report on FDI in Vietnam released last week by the Vietnam Association of Foreign-Invested Enteprises … [Read more...] about FDI quality in need of fresh policy boost

HÀ NỘI — The tourism sector must apply digital transformation to secure sustainable development, according to dozens of participants at a forum on the topic held in Hà Nội on May 18. Titled "Green Light for Tourism to Take Off Part 2: Digital Transformation: Diving Force for Sustainable Development", the forum gathered dozens of experts from State management agencies, tourism authorities, localities, and IT. The first part of the forum held in March focused on opening doors to international tourists. Hoàng Quang Phòng, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce Industry, said at the end of 2018, the Prime Minister issued Decision No 1671/QĐ-TTg approving the “Master plan on applying informatics technology in the tourism field for 2018-2020, with orientation to 2025.” “Informatics technology has been applied in various tourism companies, especially hotels, resorts and big travel agencies,” Phòng said. A visitor uses a remote guide app on her mobile at the National … [Read more...] about Forum held on digital transformation for sustainable tourism