March 21-27: Malaysian PM pays official visit to Vietnam

Nhan Dan Online reviews the notable events that made headlines over the past week.

Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob (L) and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (Photo: VNA)
Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob (L) and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (Photo: VNA)

Malaysian PM pays official visit to Vietnam

Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob and a high-ranking delegation of the Malaysian Government paid a three-day official visit to Vietnam from March 20 to 22 at the invitation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

During the visit, the Malaysian PM held talks with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, witnessed the signing of cooperation agreements between the two countries, and attended a banquet hosted by PM Chinh.

PM Ismail Sabri paid a courtesy call on Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, and met with President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.

He received leaders of a number of Vietnamese businesses and met with the Malaysian community in Vietnam. A Vietnam-Malaysia joint press statement was also issued during the visit.

Vietnam attends ASEAN defence cooperation conferences

Major General Vu Cuong Quyet, Director of the Institute for Defence Strategy under the Ministry of National Defence. (Photo: https://www.qdnd.vn/)

A Vietnamese defence delegation attended the online opening ceremony of the 15th Annual Conference and the 7th Track II Network of ASEAN Defence and Security Institutions Retreat (NADI Retreat-7) on March 21.

Major General Vu Cuong Quyet, Director of the Institute for Defence Strategy under the Ministry of National Defence, led the delegation to attend the event from Hanoi.

During the meetings from March 21-23, delegates exchanged views on the defence and security environment in the region and the world at present, and assessing the progress and achievements of NADI in the last 15 years. They will also propose orientations for intra-bloc defence cooperation in the coming time.

Francophone delegation visit Vietnam

A Francophone delegation for trade and economic promotion is visiting Vietnam from March 21 – 30 to help French-speaking enterprises expand business overseas and promote sustainable post-pandemic recovery. Led by General Secretary of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) Louise Mushikiwabo, the visit forms part of the efforts to implement the Francophone Economic Development Strategy from 2020 – 2025.

From March 21 – 26, enterprises from 24 Francophone countries and OIF member governments met with over 420 Vietnamese firms to discuss business and investment projects, mostly in the three main areas of agriculture – food processing, sustainable energy, commodity and digital services.

The delegation cooperated with Vietnamese ministries and agencies to host a Francophone business forum in Ho Chi Minh City on March 22 – 23 and the Vietnam – Francophone high-level economic in Hanoi on March 24 to introduce Vietnam’s strategic orientation, business and investment opportunities and the local business climate. Various B2B meetings, fact-finding trips and gala dinners were held to accelerate economic and trade cooperation between the Francophone community and Vietnamese partners.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc meets with outstanding young people

At the meeting (Photo: VNA)

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on March 26 met with outstanding young people in 2021 on the occasion of the 91st founding anniversary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (HCYU). President Phuc praised the youngsters for their contributions to building a strong and prosperous Vietnam, as well as the HCYU for its support to young people, expressing his hope that the awardees will work harder to become role models of the Vietnamese youth.

The President also asked the HCYU Central Committee to further its coordination with relevant agencies to reform operations, thus promoting emulation movements. Young people should be supported to bring into full play their innovations, improve their knowledge and step up the application of scientific-technological advances, meeting requirements in the new situation, President Phuc said.

The 2021 Vietnam Outstanding Young Face Award honoured 20 young people selected from 138 candidates, including self-nominated persons, who have excellent performance in various areas.

Website launched to augment child online protection efforts

The Vietnam Network for Child Online Protection (VN-COP) recently debuted its website, aiming to popularise child online protection skills and knowledge and receive child abuse reports.

The website, vn-cop.vn, was launched by the Authority of Information Security under the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC).

VN-COP gathers 24 units, including representatives of the MIC, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, along with associations, businesses, and domestic and foreign organisations specialised in child online protection.

First Vietnamese course opens in Venezuela

The course was opened on March 25 (Photo: VNA)

A fundamental Vietnamese language course has been opened in Venezuela for 40 local trainees who are from ministries, sectors, universities and media agencies.

The course, jointly held by the Vietnamese Embassy un Venezuela and the Vietnam-Venezuela Friendship Association, is the first organised in Venezuela for beginners, according to Vietnamese Chargé d'Affaires in Venezuela Van Cong Thang.

The teaching and learning of Vietnamese language in Venezuela are expected to contribute to promoting the culture of Vietnam in the host country, while reinforcing the cooperation and friendship between people of both sides.

German language and culture space in Hue put into use

The Hue University and the Goethe-Institut held a ceremony to inaugurate and put into use the German language and culture space in the Hue - German room at address No1. Dien Bien Phu, Hue City, on March 21.

This is one of the meaningful works, results and important cooperation activities during the visit and working session between the International Faculty - Hue University and the Goethe-Institut, highlighting the cooperation relationship between two sides.

The German language and culture space in Hue is the first model for the development and promotion of the German language at universities in Vietnam. This initiative is being implemented on the basis of the good cooperation relationship between Hue University and the Goethe-Institut.

Vietnam responds to World Water Day, World Meteorological Day, and Earth Hour 2022

Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Tran Hong Ha speaks at the meeting.

A national meeting was held by Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, in Hanoi on March 23, in response to World Water Day, World Meteorological Day, and Earth Hour 2022.

Themes of World Water Day (March 22), World Meteorological Day (March 23) and Earth Hour 2022 are closely connected with each other as they all call for public attention and urge people to act immediately, he said, noting that over the past years, Vietnam has actively participated in international integration negotiations in order to build cooperation mechanisms to harmoniously manage water resources among nations.

At the meeting, the organising board called on sectors at all levels to commit to build policies ensuring water security towards sustainable social development. Authorities at all levels were also urged to reinvent their mindsets in policy-making, with the development of the green economy and the circular economy taken into account, and urged people throughout the country to act together for a sustainable future.

Vietnamese boxer secures WBA Asia title

Le Huu Toan has become the second Vietnamese athlete to win a World Boxing Association Asia belt after his victory at the Vietnamese Dream event held in Ho Chi Minh Chi City recently.

Toan beat Kitidech Hirunsuk of Thailand by unanimous decision after 12 rounds to secure the minimum weight title.

The belt is also the third Asian title of Vietnam with Tran Van Thao securing the World Boxing Council (WBC) Asia in the super flyweight in 2017.

Toan will next focus on the National Boxing Club Cup held in Tien Giang in the next few days.

2022 National Tourism Year officially kicks off

The opening ceremony of the 2022 National Tourism Year is one of the important events marking Vietnam's reopening of tourism and the highlight of the 2022 National Tourism Year programme.

The remark was made by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the opening ceremony of the 2022 National Tourism Year, with the theme "Quang Nam Province - Green tourism destination”, which took place in the ancient town of Hoi An - a World Cultural Heritage, on the evening of March 26.

Previously, in Hoi An City (Quang Nam), the People's Committee of Quang Nam Province coordinated with Nha Dau Tu (Investor) Magazine to organise a seminar titled "Quang Nam develops green tourism - Preservation of indigenous values" as well as a ceremony to announce "Quang Nam Green Tourism Criteria", one of 10 events in the series of activities to welcome the National Tourism Year - Quang Nam 2022.

Hanoi to host hot air balloon festival

The Hanoi Department of Tourism coordinated with relevant units to organise the programme "Hanoi Tourism 2022" from March 25 to 27, with many attractive activities, including the "Colourful Hanoi" hot air balloon festival.

At 8 pm on March 25, the programme "Hanoi Tourism 2022" opened at the Ly Thai To flower garden area, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi. This is a combination of music, lights and visual images of Hanoi's destinations; along with the screening of the short film "Colourful Hanoi", music and visual art "Charming Hanoi", visual art Love Hanoi, musical performances and Performance Art "Get on Hanoi 2022".

In particular, "Hanoi Tourism 2022 - Get on Hanoi 2022" also introduces low-hanging hot air balloons on Dinh Tien Hoang Street, with ten level-one hot air balloons (10m high) and one level-seven hot air balloon (22m high). At the Long Bien longan garden, at the foot of Vinh Tuy bridge (Long Bien district, Hanoi), the "Colorful Hanoi" hot air balloon festival took place from 8 am to 9 pm on March 25, 26 and 27.