Top leaders of Vietnam and China agree to step up result-oriented cooperation
Vietnamese Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping consented to stepping up result-oriented cooperation between the two countries during their phone talk on September 29.
The Vietnamese leader emphasised that 2020 is an important milestone in bilateral diplomatic ties, and affirmed that over the past seven decades, friendship and cooperation has always been the focus of the relationship between Vietnam and China although it has experienced many ups and downs.
General Secretary Trong suggested the two countries increase all-level and people-to-people exchanges, and consolidate mutual trust and understanding in order to create a firm social foundation for the bilateral ties.
For his part, the Chinese leader stressed that the Chinese Party and State attach great importance to the traditional friendly neighbourliness with Vietnam, pledging that China will continue to support Vietnam to successfully complete its role as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2020-2021, and ASEAN Chair in 2020.
NA Chairwoman sends message to UNGA High-level Meeting
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National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan. (Photo: VNA)
National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan on October 1 (New York time) sent an important message to the UNGA High-level Meeting to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women.
In her message, the Vietnamese top legislator stressed that gender equality and the empowerment of women are top priorities at international and regional parliamentary forums, adding that promotion of gender equality and women's rights is a consistent policy of Vietnam as this is enshrined in our Constitution and guaranteed in practice.
The National Assembly of Vietnam has adopted wide-ranging legal documents to advance women’s empowerment and encourage their participation across economic, political and social domains. It also supervises the enforcement of legislation and implementation of Government policies in these matters.
This year, in its capacity as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, the ASEAN Chair and the President of the 41st ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, Vietnam has been championing initiatives on women and girls at these critical institutions. We will continue working with all partners towards a truly equal society and a world of sustainable peace and development.
Asia Times: Vietnam an outlier during COVID-19 pandemic
Asia Times has run an article saying that the Vietnamese economy will soon recover after COVID-19 pandemic and become one of the best performers in the world.
It cited the data as showing that Vietnam’s GDP growth in the second quarter of 2020 was about 0.4% year-on-year. Although this was the economy’s worst performance in 35 years, it was exceptional compared with its neighbours, some suffering from negative growth due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The World Bank forecasts that Vietnam’s GDP growth could reach 2.8% in 2020 and will recover to 6.7% next year, while S&P Global Ratings expects that Vietnam will be the second-best performer among Asian economies this year.
The article noted all this indicates that the country is well able to bounce back soon from the crisis. Thus Vietnam should re-emerge quickly in the post-pandemic period, making it one of the best performers in the global economy, as it has been over the past decade.
Digital platform launched to facilitate humanitarian activities in Vietnam
Officials and participants make officially launch the "Connecting Millions of Hearts" programme, (Photo: VNA)
A new phase of the iNhandao digital platform was officially launched at a ceremony held by the Ministry of Science and Technology in Hanoi on October 1, aiming to facilitate humanitarian activities in Vietnam.
The platform was built under the framework of the Government’s project on "Developing the digital Vietnamese knowledge system.
The system builds humanitarian data in order to provide organisations, individuals and businesses with complete and accurate information about those who need support as well as humanitarian campaigns, ensuring the support comes to the right people in a convenient and transparent manner.
It also promotes application development for connecting and coordinating humanitarian work on both web and mobile platforms. Donors can track their sponsorship activities and results on the system easily and in detail.
Vietnam enters 33rd day without COVID-19 community infection as of October 5
Vietnam has gone through 33 straight days without a single COVID-19 community infection as no new cases were reported on the morning of October 5.
The national count stands still at 1,096, including 691 locally transmitted cases, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.
A total of 1,020 patients were given the all-clear as of the morning of October 5. The total for fatalities remains unchanged at 35.
Some 16,360 people who had close contacts with COVID-19 patients or came from pandemic-hit areas are under health monitoring nationwide.
Google Doodle honours Vietnam’s ‘cai luong’ art
Google Doodle honours Vietnam’s ‘cai luong’ art
Google, the world’s most popular search engine, has honoured Vietnam’s ‘cai luong’ (reformed theatre) art by posting a doodle on its homepage on September 28.
In an introduction honouring the ‘cai luong’ art on the observance of Vietnam Stage Day, Google wrote " A blend of traditional and contemporary influences, cai luong combines opera with spoken drama to create a vibrant expression of Vietnamese culture and identity.".
According to Google, ‘cai luong’ evolved from a traditional Vietnamese opera called ‘hat boi’ in the Mekong Delta of southern Vietnam at the turn of the 20th century.
Accompanied by an orchestra containing traditional Vietnamese instruments like the ‘dan tranh’ (Vietnamese 16-string zither), ‘cai luong’ brings to life a wide range of stories, from ancient legends of monarchs and warriors to explorations of modern Vietnamese social themes. While the subject material may vary, a common element is the signature melancholic song structure called ‘vong co’, which translates to “nostalgia for the past.”
Singapore lifts travel restrictions on visitors from Vietnam
Singapore will lift border restrictions for visitors from Vietnam and Australia, excluding Victoria state, from October 8.
Short-time visitors from the two countries can apply for flying to Singapore from October 1 and arrive in the Southeast Asian country from September 8.
The two countries have successfully controlled the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the risk of importation is low, said the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), noting that Vietnam had zero local COVID-19 cases over the last 28 days, while Australia (excluding Victoria state) has a local virus incidence rate of 0.02 per 100,000.
Singapore citizens, permanent residents and long-term pass holders returning from Australia (excluding Victoria State) and Vietnamese will similarly undergo COVID-19 testing upon arrival, in lieu of a seven-day stay-home notice with a COVID-19 test administered before the end of the notice period.
Forum promotes digital transformation in tourism industry amid COVID-19
Delegates at the event (Photo: NDO/Trang Linh)
The Vietnam Tourism Association (VITA) in conjunction with the Vietnam E-Commerce Association (VECOM) on September 30 organised an online forum on digital transformation to promote Vietnam's tourism development in the context of global COVID-19 outbreak.
The event was an important solution to help restore and promote the country's tourism development sustainably since digital transformation is an inevitable development trend of tourism and it needs to be accelerated after heavy impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Through digital transformation, travel agencies can reach more travellers, provide better care to customers, reduce costs and increase business efficiency. Digital transformation is an inevitable trend which helps businesses improve their competitiveness.
Participants in the event were updated on demand, trends and digital transformation capability. In the framework of the forum, a showroom of technological products was arranged for a number of technology businesses to introduce their products.
