Weekly digest – August 24-30

Diplomatic sector receives noblest order for 70-year dedication

The diplomatic sector received the Golden Star Order—the noblest order of Viet Nam— for the second time at a ceremony marking its 70th founding anniversary (August 28, 1945) inHaNoi.

At the event, State President Truong Tan Sang said the distinction illustrated the Party, State and people’s recognition of the great contributions of the sector.

The President asked the diplomatic staff to consistently bear in mind that national interests are the top priority while thoroughly grasping Party guidelines and policies and flexibly applying Ho Chi Minh’s ideology of diplomacy.

Over 18,000 prisoners get amnesty on National Day

The State President inked a decision to grant amnesty to 18,298 inmates to mark the 70th anniversary of the National Day.

Out of the total number, 1,449 inmates were sentenced for drug-related crimes, 2,188 for murders, 1,365 for sexual violation, 2,651 for robbery, and 325 for corruption-related offences.

The decision will be announced at all prisons in the morning of August 31.

VN eyes US$300 billion export turnover by 2020

Viet Nam aims to raise its export turnover to US$300 billion; post an average export growth rate of 11-12%; and attain a trade balance by 2020.

These are major goals which are stipulated in the newly-approved Project on the development of regional markets in the 2015-2020 period with a vision towards 2030.

The project targets to consolidate and expand market shares of Vietnamese products in traditional markets like the Southeast Asian region, the Northeast Asian region (Japan, the Republic of Korea), China, Australia, the U.S., the EU, Russia, Eastern European countries, and India.

PM agrees capital allocation to sea dyke upgrade projects

The Prime Minister has approved the continued allocation of development investment from the State budget from 2016-2020 to a program to reinforce, protect and upgrade sea dykes from the northern province of Quang Ninh to the central province ofQuang Nam.

The PM asked the localities to review the approved projects and propose priorities for investment while actively planning for middle-term investments from 2016-2020.

The program to reinforce, preserve and upgrade sea dyke systems has been implemented since 2006 with the aim to actively prevent and respond to floods, storms and rising sea levels; minimize impacts; serve socio-economic development; and ensure security and defense in coastal localities.

Government Office marks 70th founding anniversary

The Office of the Government on August 28 celebrated the 70th anniversary of Traditional Day (August 28, 1945 – August 28, 2015) and received the First-Class Independence Medal.

The Office of the Government is speeding up the administrative reform, IT application, e-Government building, along with improving personnel quality.

On behalf of the Government, Deputy PM Vu Van Ninh called on the Office to continue assisting the Government and the PM in all fields amidst the period of national industrialization and modernization.

VN hopes for EP’s continued support to FTA with EU

NA Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung had a meeting with Chairman of the European Parliament (EP)’s International Trade Committee Bernd Lange in Ha Noi, asking for the agency’s continued support to the signing of the Viet Nam-EU free trade agreement.

He highly valued effective contributions that Lange has made to the growth of the relationship between the EP and Viet Nam’s legislative body, as well as the progress of the Viet Nam-EU FTA negotiations that have been officially concluded.

He also expressed his hope that Lange and the EP will continue their assistance for the early signing of the deal.

VN, China discuss cooperation at sea

The 5th round of working group-level negotiations on cooperation for mutual development at sea between Viet Nam and China was organized in Liaoning province, China, from August 25-27.

Both sides agreed to continue following related common perceptions of their leaders and the “Agreement on basis principles guiding the settlement of sea-related issues between Viet Nam and China” signed in 2011 to discuss cooperation for mutual development at sea in accordance with international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

VN leads top 10 destinations for autumn 2015

Viet Nam, India, Polynesia (France), Spain, Argentina, Canada, US Virgin Islands, Peru, Costa Rica and the Netherlands have been selected as the top 10 destinations for autumn 2015.

The information has been announced at the recent 27th annual Virtuoso Travel Week conference held in the US.

The organizers had sent to the smokeless industry Viet Nam a sight that wealthy American and Canadian people have selected Viet Nam as a tourism destination in this autumn.

The registration number of the luxury travel to Viet Nam increased 270%, ranking the Top 10 destinations for autumn this year.

More VN-Singapore Industrial Park to be built

Authorities in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh have agreed with their Binh Duong counterparts on building a Viet Nam-Singapore Industrial Park, with three of its kind already formed in the country.

A spokesman of the Tra Vinh People's Committee said the park will seek to develop Tra Vinh into a centre for processing farm and forestry produce and aquaculture and one that consume these materials produced by the delta's 13 provinces.

The VSIP model, which has been embraced by many localities across the country, has helped attract investments, he said.

Foreign visitors to VN rise

Up to 664,985 foreigners visited Viet Nam in August, up 12% against July and a year-on-year increase of 7.5%. In August, the number of travelers by air accounted for 91.8%, reaching 610,159, a year-on-year increase of 17.4%. The number of foreign visitors coming by sea and road achieved 1,360 and 53,466, down 9.3% and 45.2%, respectively.

The tourism sector also serviced 45.8 million domestic visitors, including 21.5 million who spent several days for their vacations. The total revenue from tourism was estimated at VND235,586 billion, up 2.7%.

Agro-fishery-forestry export falls in 8 months

Agro- fishery and forestry export turnover in the first 8 months of this year decreased by 4.8% over the same period last year to US$19.31 billion.

The turnover was estimated at US$2.38 billion in August alone.

In the 8-month, seafood export fetched US$4.13 billion, down 17.5% year-on-year, while principal forestry products saw an 8.2% increase to US$4.52 billion.

VN lures over US$13.3 billion in FDI in 8 months

Viet Nam attracted US$13.33 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first eight months of this year, an annual increase of 30.4%.

As of August 20, the country had granted investment licenses to 1,219 newly-registered projects worth US$7.87 billion, up 8.7% in value.

Some US$5.46 billion was added to 389 existing projects, up 82.8% in value.

During the period, a total US$8.5 billion of FDI was disbursed, a year-on-year rise of 7.6%.

(Source: VNA/VGP)

By Thuy Dung