Business Green credit – an important financial source of economy Permanent Vice Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Dao Minh Tu has stated that green credit is an important financial source of the economy. Business Infographic Seafood export expected to top 8.7 billion USD in 2021 Shipments of seafood products are expected to bring home more than 8.7 billion USD in 2021, according to the General Statistics Office and the Ministry of Industry and TradeBusiness Vietnam to resume nine regular international air routes Regular international flights from/to Vietnam will be resumed in two phases, with air travel with nine foreign destinations to be available again in the first phase and fifteen in the second phase, according to the latest scenario developed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam. Business Vietnam, India look to boost farm produce trade A seminar on Vietnam – India trade in farm produce and food processing was held in Hanoi on December 17.

Meeting with Indian Vice President and Chairman of the Council of States Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi, Chairman Hue stressed that Vietnam always attaches importance to its comprehensive strategic partnership with India. For his part, Vice President Naidu thanked the Vietnamese National Assembly, Government, and people for their timely assistance to the South Asian country in the most trying times of the COVID-19 fight. ==On the same day, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue received AK Gupta, Managing Director and CEO of ONGC Videsh, an international petroleum company of India and an overseas arm of India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. ==Receiving Prashant Ruia, Chairman of Essar Group, Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue welcomed the group's wish to invest in the petrochemical industry in Vietnam. The leader of Essar said the group will set up a working team to study investment opportunities in Vietnam right after the meeting.

People join traffic in Vientiane, Laos (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)Vientiane (VNA) – The Lao economy is projected to grow by 4.2 percent in 2022, driven by commercial production for exports and opportunities and benefits arising from the China-Laos Railway, reported Vientiane Times on December 17. The rail link, which became operational recently, will enable Lao products, notably agricultural goods, to have better access to the Chinese market, according to the latest report from the Lao National Economic Research Institute. The Lao government aims to make the country a regional hub and offer transit services. In 2021, the Lao economy is projected to grow at a rate of 3 percent, lower than the goal of 4 percent approved by the National Assembly. The report forecast that the Lao economy will slightly recover in the medium term, but growth will be lower than the pre-pandemic level./.

India is now one of the top 10 trading partners of Vietnam while Vietnam is the 15th biggest trading partner of India and the fourth largest in ASEAN. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, two-way trade is likely to surpass 15 billion USD next year. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Department of Asian Market, India is the most important market of Vietnam in South Asia, with two-way trade accounting for around 80 percent of Vietnam’s total trade with South Asian nations. From 5.5 billion USD in 2016, trade between the two countries surged to 11.2 billion USD in 2020 and is expected to surpass 13 billion USD next year, a record figure. Vietnamese Commercial Counsellor Bui Trung Thuong said during the NA Chairman’s visit, the Vietnam Trade Office under the Vietnamese Embassy in India will work closely with ministries and agencies, and the Federation of Industries of India to hold 15 trade promotion programmes in various areas.

Business New milestones in Vietnam – India trade Two-way trade between Vietnam and India has grown annually by an average of over 20 percent, higher than trade growth between Vietnam and other nations, since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties in 1972, bilateral strategic partnership in 2007 and comprehensive strategic partnership in 2016.Business Reference exchange rate up 7 VND The State Bank of Vietnam set the daily reference exchange rate at 23,222 VND/USD on December 16, up 7 VND from the previous day. Business Vietnamese, German firms join hands in developing wind power projects The Construction Joint Stock Company 47, Vu Phong Energy Group and Steag Energy Services GmbH of Germany signed in Hanoi on December 15 a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on jointly providing consultancy services for the implementation of wind power projects nationwide. Business Vietnam Airlines strikes fleet restructuring deal with ALC Vietnam Airlines has signed a comprehensive fleet restructuring agreement with the US-based Air Lease Corporation (ALC) in efforts to help the national flag carrier surmount difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)- With its efforts taken over the past years, Vietnam has gained many achievements in gender equality, making it recognised by the world as one of the 10 countries best implementing the United Nations ’ goal No.5 on promoting gender equality and empowering all women and girls.After 10 years of implementation, the National Strategy on Gender Equality for the 2011-2020 period has obtained many encouraging results, contributing to narrowing the gender gap in all fields, and fostering the nation’s socio-economic development.The Human Development Report 2020 of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) shows that Vietnam’s human development index (HDI) for 2019 is 0.704, putting the country in the high human development category and positioning it at 117 out of 189 countries and territories.Gender equality results are also reflected in the reduction of gender gap in the fields of economy, labour and employment. The recent Population and Housing Census of the General Statistics Office shows that women make up 47.3 percent of the country’s main labour force. There are over 285,600 enterprises headed by female entrepreneurs, accounting for 24 percent of the total number of enterprises in the country. The literacy rate among women aged 15-60 reaches 97.33 percent.Especially in the past 10 years, gender equality has been added or integrated into many important legal documents of Vietnam.In the context of severe impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government has implemented many policies and solutions to support people and businesses, with gender equality-related issues mainstreamed to ensure the rights and needs of each gender.Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Ha said that the May general elections showed that 30.26 percent of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and nearly 30 percent deputies of the People's Councils at all levels for 2021-2026 are women, which is a clear demonstration of efforts in realising gender equality in Vietnam.Elisa Fernandez Saenz, Country Representative of UN Women in Vietnam, an agency that has provided technical support in building the 2021-2030 strategy, suggested seriously integrating the strategy’s goals into sectoral and local plans and national target programmes to ensure financial resources for gender equality.Vietnam also needs targeted investment in changing social norms towards promoting gender equality, which is also the first objective of the 2021-2030 strategy, she added.In the national strategy, Vietnam expects to see women holding key leadership positions in 60 percent of state management agencies and local administrations at all levels by 2025 and 75 percent by 2030.In addition, the number of paid women employees in Vietnam will increase to 50 percent by 2025 and around 60 percent by 2030.The country also aims to reduce the average time women spend on doing the unpaid housework to 1.7 times by 2025 and 1.4 times by 2030 as compared to that of men.By 2025, 80 percent of women suffering from domestic and gender-based violence will be given access to at least one of basic support services, and the figure is expected to reach 90 percent by 2030./.

Participants in the online workshop (Photo: VNA)Ottawa (VNA) – Vietnam is among prioritised markets of Canada in educational cooperation, heard a workshop held by the Canada-Vietnam Trade Council on December 14. Skandha Sunderasen, Associate Director, Global Engagement and Strategic Initiatives at Canada’s York University, said the Canada-Vietnam educational cooperation is forecast to be promising in the future. Vietnam is currently the largest trade partner of Canada in ASEAN. During a fact-finding trip to Vietnam held virtually last month, leaders of Canadian and Vietnamese universities discussed cooperation in overseas research and study, post-graduate study and start-ups. Vietnam has the largest number of students in Canada among Southeast Asian nations and ranks fifth worldwide, with about 21,000./.

Doctors from the Central Pediatrics Hospital give examination to a three-month-old girl from Vinh Phuc province. (Photo: VNA)– The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Vietnam on December 15 handed over medical supplies and personal protective equipment worth 450,000 USD to 21 Vietnamese localities, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, to aid them in the COVID-19 combat.The beneficiaries include health workers, volunteers and other forces in the fight, who are working to protect pregnant women, the elderly and girls against domestic violence.Naomi Kitahara, UNFPA Representative in Vietnam, said the pandemic has become a disaster for women and children who are also facing violence and discrimination.She cited a study conducted by the UNFPA in 2019 as showing that nearly two-thirds (62.9 percent) of women in Vietnam experienced at least one or more types of violence in their lifetime by their husband.In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the situation has become even worse as the number of calls reporting domestic violence cases to the UNFPA-supported hotline has doubled, she said.Kitahara stressed that the UNFPA’s aid demonstrates its commitment to accompanying the Vietnam ese Government and providing services vital to reproductive health, sexual health and social support, as well as preventing and responding to gender-based violence.According to Dinh Anh Tuan, deputy head of the Health Ministry’s Department of Maternal and Child Health, this is the fifth donation by the UNFPA to support Vietnam in maternal and child health, with total donations worth nearly 1 million USD./.

– A proactive diplomacy that pursues peace is the key helping Vietnam obtain achievements during its integration into the world over the past years and raise its stature in the international arena, a Cuban expert has said.In a recent interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency, Dr Ruvislei González Sáez, Vice Chairman of the Cuba - Vietnam Friendship Association , spoke highly of the comprehensiveness and consistency in the principle of building an international environment of peace, stability, and mutual respect in Vietnam’s foreign policy under the Party’s leadership.He held that although some areas or economic indexes of Vietnam have yet to reach the level of a middle power, its diplomacy has achieved this level in comparison with other countries. This could be seen in 2010 and 2020, when the country held the rotational chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).Efforts to persuade other countries’ recognition of Vietnam as a market economy are an example of the Vietnamese diplomacy’s direct contributions to the realisation of national development targets, he noted.The popularisation of values and practices has substantially helped the country increase foreign direct investment, create more jobs, and boost chances to access advanced technologies, which has evidenced the harmony between diplomatic activities and socio-economic interests, according to González.He expressed his belief that in the time ahead, Vietnam will also record great strides in cultural diplomacy to contribute to overall diplomatic achievements and help international friends have better understanding of its identity like what some neighbouring Asian nations have done.Regarding the Vietnam - Cuba relations, the expert said people-to-people exchange has the key role to play in further enhancing the special bilateral ties, adding that the strong mutual trust, the Party and State leaders’ resolve, and the special sentiment between the two peoples have been making the countries’ relations a role model of the era./.

NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue speaks at the event (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnamese National Assembly delegation attended the second session of the 29th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF-29) via video conference on December 14. Participants focused their discussions on the theme of parliaments’ role in promoting the digital economy in the region. In the above fields, parliaments have played an important role in promoting recovery measures on a large scale, as demonstrated via their functions of law building, supervision and adoption of important national policies. In such a spirit, Hue agreed with the APPF-29’s economic and trade agenda, saying that they show member parliaments’ determination to foster cooperation and accelerate sustainable economic recovery following the pandemic. According to him, Vietnam considers digital economy and e-commerce as one of the driving forces and priorities in its growth recovery and COVID-19 adaptation policies, in parallel with green, circular, sustainable and eco-friendly growth.

The delegation of Hanoi students ranked second at the 6th International Olympiad of Metropolises that took place in Moscow from December 6-13. (Photo: VNA)The delegation of Hanoi students ranked second at the 6th International Olympiad of Metropolises that took place in Moscow from December 6-13.The municipal Department of Education and Training said the students brought home one gold and six silver medals. This is the third time Vietnam has sent a team to the Olympiad.The eight students, from the Hanoi– Amsterdam High School, competed in the subjects of mathematics, physics, chemistry and informatics.The Olympiad of Metropolises is an international team competition, which is held in Moscow every year at the initiative of the Mayor of Russia’s capital city. Its participants are 14-18 year old students, who live in the biggest metropolises of the world.The first Olympiad took place in 2016, drawing the participation of 173 students from 22 cities./.

Jean Pierre Archambault, General Secretary of the France-Vietnam Friendship Association (AAFV) (Photo: VNA)Vietnam ese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang (Photo: VNA)- Vietnam has successfully integrated into the international community, stressed Jean Pierre Archambault, General Secretary of the France-Vietnam Friendship Association (AAFV).Commenting on Vietnam's efforts in international integration and people-to-people diplomacy development, Archambault said Vietnam won two wars, making a hallmark in the world history of the 20th century - the Dien Bien Phu victory that ended the struggle against the French colonialists in 1954 and the victory in the resistance war against US imperialism in 1975.These victories showed Vietnam’s success in struggling and mobilising international support and solidarity, and its integration into the anti-oppression movement of peoples around the world, he said.After 1975, Vietnam helped Cambodia to overthrow the Pol Pot genocidal regime and struggled for the lifting of the trade embargo of the US and Western countries that lasted until 1994.Archambault affirmed that all of these have forged Vietnam's strong political will to fully integrate into the international community.The most convincing evidence of this success is that at the 73rd United Nations General Assembly (UN), Vietnam was elected as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 term with 192 out of 193 votes, he noted.Regarding people-to-people diplomacy , Vietnam has also received great support from friendship and solidarity associations around the world, including AAFV.Established in 1961, AAFV has continuously developed cooperative relations with friendship associations with Vietnam to carry out solidarity activities with the Vietnamese people, such as providing material and spiritual support for Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange/dioxin, and support of AAFV’s chapters for disadvantaged Vietnamese people.AAFV has also organised seminars and published the Perspective magazine to help the French people understand more about Vietnam, contributing to developing dynamic and effective cooperation models between the two countries.According to Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang, along with the Party and State's policies on diplomacy, people-to-people diplomacy plays a role as a guideline for the embassy's activities.The patriotic movement of overseas Vietnamese in France founded by President Ho Chi Minh over 100 years ago, has been supported by the embassy, contributing significantly to the national defence and construction in the homeland, he said.In the coming time, the embassy will gather resources to support friendship and solidarity associations with Vietnam in France, considering this one of the leading and core factors for maintaining the friendship and partnership with the European country, thus mobilising more resources to support socio-economic development and perform diplomatic goals of the country, the ambassador said./.

The vaccine donation has been made through the COVAX Facility in close co-ordination with both UNICEF and WHO Vietnam. Following the latest delivery of vaccines donated by the German Government, Vietnam has now received a total of 45,197,910 of COVID-19 vaccine doses through the COVAX international vaccine platform. Accoring to VNAT, a theme video of the communication campaign “Live fully in Vietnam” was also introduced on the page. The launch of the "Live fully in Vietnam" page and the introduction of the video are the efforts of VNAT to vigorously implement the "Live Fully in Vietnam" campaign in connection with introducing the new slogan for Vietnamese tourism “Vietnam - Timeless Charm”. Israeli Ambassador to Vietnam Nadav Eshcar said the present is intended to help local residents raise their livelihood and contribute to a greener environment in Vietnam.

Soldiers of the infantry battalion (Regiment 741, the Military Command of Dien Bien province) help clean up an inter-village road (Photo: VNA)As many as 100 heresies have been operating in the Northwest, Central Highlands and Southwest regions. - Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)- Respecting and creating favourable conditions for citizens to exercise the right to freedom of belief and religion as well as ensuring equality among religions is the consistent policy of the Party and State.This policy is widely recognised by the international community, creating a vibrant and progressive belief and religion practicing atmosphere in Vietnam.However, besides religions operating in accordance with legal regulations and provisions, a number of organisations disguised as new religions have entered Vietnam to conduct political activities.Thoroughly taking advantage of the backwardness of people, especially ethnic minorities in mountainous and border areas, these organisations incite them to break the law and conflict with traditional religions.As many as 100 heresies have been operating in the Northwest, Central Highlands and Southwest regions, which are the most important areas in terms of national defence and security. Along with deceptive activities, these heretical organisations have stirred up narrow-minded nationalism to divide the great national unity bloc.Using the guise of religion, nationality and human rights, they have carried out activities against the Party and State, and aroused the ideology of "separatism and self-ruling", and undermined the territorial integrity of Vietnam.They intend to blow up the so-called "autonomy" of the ethnic groups, demanding the establishment of an "own kingdom" of the Mong people in the Northwest, the Cham people in the Central Highlands and the Khmer Krom people in the Southwest region.All these actions and plots are directed towards the ultimate goal of overthrowing socialism in Vietnam.In the past six years, amid the strong development of heresies in the northern mountainous province of Dien Bien, especially in the Mong ethnic area in Muong Nhe district, the local authorities, relevant forces and people have focused on fighting reactionary organisations disguised as new religions.The provincial police have taken measures to prevent and stop liaison, sponsorship and direction activities at home and abroad.Communications campaigns have been carried out to raise public awareness and call on believers not to believe in and follow enticements of heresies.In the Central Highlands, the local authorities and people have worked hard to fight the heretical religion "Ha Mon" - a disguised religious organisation set up by the FULRO reactionary force in 2007, contributing to basically erasing the impact and influence of this heresy in key areas.The Evangelical Church of Christ of Vietnam was also set up by exiled FULRO reactionaries in 2017 to conceal their plot against Vietnam. This organisation propagated narrow-minded nationalism and autonomous separatism to cause disorders, demonstrations, and riots, aiming to establish a separate state.In the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, the local authorities have carried a series of measures to clarify relevant law-breaking activities./.

It joined ASEAN in 1995, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in 1998 and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2007.Vietnam has successfully integrated into the global economy, by signing a series of free trade agreements, which brought prosperity to the country, he said.According to the scholar, Vietnam took a rightful decision to join ASEAN in 1995.This action of Vietnam's diplomacy provided the international respect and trust for Vietnam, he said, adding that "it was the first stepping stone to climb the ladder to further heights. "He said since its joining in ASEAN, Vietnam has always made active and responsible contributions to ASEAN cooperation, and the regional peace and prosperity.The country followed and applied all the ASEAN policies, and Vietnam's admission into ASEAN was a success story of the country.Vietnam is striving to be a friend, a reliable partner, and an active and responsible member of the international community, he said, quoting National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue as saying that "Vietnam is upholding the consistent foreign policy of independence, self- reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation, development, and multilateralization and diversification of its relations. "He stressed that Vietnam, once isolated and sanctioned by several countries, was elected to the United Nations Security Council as a non-permanent member in 2019 with highest number of votes, 192 out of 193 votes for the period 2020-2021. "It is indeed a success story of Vietnam's foreign policy,” Anjaiah said.Along with foreign policy achievements, the Indonesian researcher is also impressed by Vietnam's economic development achievements.He said that the country’s economic reforms, deregulization and integration with global economies have put Vietnam on the trajectory of prosperity.The poverty rate was reduced to just 4.8 percent in 2020, a sharp drop from 70 percent in mid 1980s. The per capita income of Vietnam increased to 3,842 USD today from only 483 USD in 1986.From a food importer, after only a few years, Vietnam has become the world's leading rice exporter, surpassing many countries in the region, he noted.Anjaiah said in the context of the current complicated international and regional situation, Vietnam must stick to its present foreign policy, which has proved that it can bring peace and prosperity, adding that globalization, free trade, peace, friendship, rules-based order and cooperation must be the main ingredients of Vietnam 's foreign policy./.