Press digest – March 30

Party chief: VN backs India’s connectivity with SEA

Viet Nam backs India’s Act East policy and comprehensive connectivity with Southeast Asia, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong told Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament (Lok Sabha) of India Sumitra Mahajan.

Receiving Mahajan the same day, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said the Vietnamese government urges the Indian legislature to back stronger partnerships across economics, trade, investment, tourism, science-technology, education-training, national defence-security, people-to-people exchange, and multilateral forum cooperation. 

President Sang greets parliamentary leaders

President Truong Tan Sang received parliamentary and government leaders from Indonesia, Hungary and Pakistan who are attending the 132nd Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU 132) in Ha Noi. 

Meeting with Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Semjen Zsolt and Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Latorcai Janos, the State leader suggested the two countries should augment cooperation to tap each other’s potential and that Viet Nam was ready to be a gateway for Hungary to enter the ASEAN and Asian markets.

The same day, Sang received the Speaker of Pakistan’s National Assembly Sardar Ayat and President of India’s Lower House Sumitra Mahajan.

VN shares foreign policy with foreign legislators

Deputy PM, FM Pham Binh Minh on Monday shared Viet Nam’s foreign policy with nearly 2,000 participants to the plenary session of the ongoing 132nd Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly.

Deputy PM, FM affirmed that the foreign policy aims to achieve peace, cooperation and development, thus the country expects to become a reliable friend and partner of all nations and a responsible member of the international community.

Viet Nam pledges to work with ASEAN members to further enhance relations with external partners in a bid to turn Asia-Pacific into a region of peace, cooperation and development.

Kazakhstan opens Embassy in HN

Kazakhstan officially opened its Embassy in Ha Noi on March 30, looking toward it helping promote ties between the two countries. 

The Kazakh Embassy, the first in Viet Nam since the two countries set up their diplomatic ties in 1992, is expected to push for stronger cooperation between the two countries, especially in economy and trade. 

VN, Morocco bolster economic cooperation

The Viet Nam-Morocco business forum was held in Ha Noi by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Moroccan Embassy.

Moroccan business delegates at the event represented various fields including metallurgy, chemistry, information technology, telecommunications and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Retail, service sectors post encouraging growth in Q1

The total retail sales and service revenue earned in the first quarter this year was VND790.8 trillion (US$37.13 billion).

The increase, however, is lower than the 10.7% for the first two months, but it is fairly high compared to the 5-6% growth in the final months of last year.

The average CPI growth for the first three months was minus 0.03 percent.
The CPI saw four consecutive months of reduction with minus growth from November in 2014 to February this year. It rose again by 0.15% this month. 
Retail sales accounted for three fourths of total revenue, reaching VND604.5 trillion (US$28.38 billion) in the first quarter this year, a rise of 10% compared to the same period last year.

Binh Duong enjoys US$600 million trade surplus in Q1

The southern province of Binh Duong enjoyed a trade surplus of US$591 million in the first quarter of 2015.

The province’s export and import hit US$4.219 billion and US$3.628 billion, up 15.6% and 15.5%, respectively.

In the first quarter of 2015, the province attained nearly VND50,000 billion in industrial production value, up 11.2% against the same period last year. 

Investment in HCM City surged in first 3 months

The total capital invested in export processing zones (EPZs) and industrial parks (IPs) in Ho Chi Minh City in the first three months of 2015 exceeded US$381.7 million, up 48.5% from the same period last year.

To date, EPZs and IPs in HCM City have been home to 1,342 valid projects with a total investment of US$8.7 billion, including 536 FDI projects with a total registered investment capital of US$5.22 billion. The zones reported an occupancy rate of 54%.

(Source: VNA/VOV/VGP)

By Thuy Dung