PM begins Vietnam’s 2020 ASEAN Chairmanship
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc chaired a ceremony in Hanoi on January 6 to begin Vietnam’s 2020 ASEAN Chairmanship, with about 300 distinguished guests taking part.
Speaking at the event, PM Phuc said that throughout its 25 years of ASEAN membership, Vietnam has always made active and responsible contributions to ASEAN cooperation. In 2020, Vietnam assumes major responsibilities at the regional and international levels, notably the ASEAN Chairmanship. Such a responsibility gives Vietnam an opportunity to contribute more substantively to the building and growth of a harmonious, resilient, innovative, cohesive, responsible and adaptive ASEAN Community.
Vietnamese Deputy PM chairs open debate on observance of UN Charter
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (R) and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the open debate on January 9. (Photo: MOFA)
On January 9, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh chaired an open debate of the UN Security Council that focused on adhering to the UN Charter to maintain international peace and security.
The ministerial-level debate, held at the UN’s headquarters in New York on the occasion of the UN’s 75th anniversary, was an important part of Vietnam’s presidency of the UN Security Council in January, which is also the first month of its council membership. At the debate, the UN Security Council adopted a presidential statement compiled under the chair of Vietnam.
Vietnam named most promising Asian investment destination in 2020: Japanese survey
Vietnam has been noted by Japanese firms as the most promising place in Asia to invest in 2020, with India and Southeast Asian countries dominating other top spots, as per a survey cited by Kyodo News on January 8.
In the survey, which was conducted online from November to December 2019 by NNA Japan Co., a Kyodo News group company, Vietnam received 42.1% of the 820 valid responses, based on factors such as its potential as a growing market and the large supply of skilled, low-cost labour. India was second at 12.2%, with expectations for its growing market and its potential as a doorway to the Middle East and Africa among the reasons cited.
Tet gifts reach policy beneficiaries and needy people
Politburo member Tran Quoc Vuong presents Tet gifts to needy people in Van Chan district, Yen Bai province (Photo: VNA)
Officials have joined organisations and enterprises in many localities in presenting gifts policy beneficiaries and needy people to ensure they can have a warm Lunar New Year (Tet) with their families.
Politburo member and Permanent member of the Secretariat Tran Quoc Vuong visited and present 120 gifts to the families of policy beneficiaries, poor households and schoolchildren in Suoi Giang and Nam Lanh communes in Van Chan District, Yen Bai Province, on January 11.
Donations totalling over VND115 billion were raised for people in need during a fund-raising programme entitled “Tet for the Poor - the Year of the Rat 2020” held in the central province of Ha Tinh on January 6.
2020 Ha Long International Music Festival opens in Quang Ninh
Leaders of Quang Ninh Province present flowers and souvenirs to art troops participating in the festival. (Photo: NDO/Quang Tho)
The 2020 Ha Long International Music Festival opened in Ha Long City, the northern province of Quang Ninh, on the night of January 10, gathering both domestic and international artists to treat the local audience with various attractive performances.
The event was coordinated by the People's Committee of Quang Ninh Province, its Department of Culture and Sports and the Vietnam Musicians’ Association. The festival brought together more than 150 artists and actors from famous bands in Vietnam and other countries, including China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Thailand and Ukraine.
Vietnam masters modern technology in security authentication
Vietnam’s VinCSS Cyber Security Services Co., Ltd under the Vingroup JSC has been recognised with the prestigious FIDO2 authentication standard by FIDO Alliance for its VinCSS FIDO2 Authenticator product, making it one of the 34 companies in the world capable of producing and mastering this state-of-art technology in the field of security authentication.
Globally, there are currently only 13 countries to have mastered this technology to produce FIDO2-certified authentication products, including the US, Japan, Canada, Germany and the UK. The event marks a milestone for VinCSS in the world security technology community, putting it in the ranks of tech giants with FIDO2 certification in the world like Google, Apple, Microsoft and Fujitsu.
Da Nang tops Google list of 10 trending destinations for 2020
Da Nang received 3.5 million foreign tourists in 2019, up 22.5% over 2018. (Illustrative image)
Vietnam’s Da Nang City ranks first in the list of Top 10 trending destinations for 2020 as recently announced by Google. Google’s research methodology compared the number of hotel searches with travel dates in 2020 to a similar assessment of searches from 2018 for travel dates in 2019 to form the list.
According to the list, Da Nang was followed by Sao Paolo, Brazil; Seoul, the Republic of Korea; Tokyo, Japan; Tel Aviv, Israel; Marseille, France; Vienna, Austria; Bangkok, Thailand; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and Perth, Australia. Da Nang was also named as the top trending summer vacation destination in 2019 by American Express Travel based off its US Card Member’s proprietary booking data and year-on-year growth.
