Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - The Logistics Forum Vietnam 2021 will take place on December 14, focusing on logistics human resources development. As an annual event hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, it aims to promote the development of logistics services, create a link between logistics and manufacturing and import-export industries, and serve as a venue for discussing and updating information on urgent issues related to logistics services in Vietnam and the world. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic during the past two years have caused severe impacts on businesses in general, and logistics service suppliers in particular. The ministry has been working with ministries, sectors and localities to focus on removing difficulties, restoring supply chains, and promoting exports. Human resources development in the logistics industry is an urgent issue of concern by the Government, ministries, sectors, localities and businesses, with the aim to help improve the competitiveness of enterprises in the context of deep international integration, and prepare for post-pandemic growth recovery./.

The Lao Ministry of Health announced on December 12 that a total of 1,274 new COVID-19 cases, all community infections , have been recorded in 18 provinces and cities across the country over the past 24 hours.The number of new COVID-19 cases saw a decrease of 624 infections as compared to the previous day.The capital city of Vientiane logged the highest number of infections, at 809, according to the ministry.Meanwhile, 11 fatalities have been reported over the past 24 hours, the highest figure in a single day since the pandemic broke out.Laos has to date logged 89,320 COVID-19 cases, including 247 deaths./.

At the conference (Photo: VNA)Representatives of the Border Guard Command under the Ministry of Defence of Vietnam and the Border Guard Department of the General Staff of the Lao People's Army held a conference to review three years of implementing their cooperation agreement on December 11 in Huong Hoa district, the central province of Quang Tri.Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien of Vietnam and Lao Deputy Minister of Defence Lieut. Gen. Vongkham Phommakone attended the conference.Addressing the event, Deputy Minister Sen. Lieut. Gen. Hoang Xuan Chien highly valued results of the agreement’s implementation over the past three years, thus contributing to maintaining peace, stability and development of each country’s border areas, boosting the socio-economic development of Vietnam and Laos, and consolidating the special friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, States and armies.Over the past three years, the two sides maintained the regular exchange of information and close cooperation in joint patrols and experience sharing in border protection and management, anti-crime, while strengthening the COVID-19 prevention and control work. They also coordinated to carry out drills to ensure order and security in the border areas, organise border friendship exchange programmes in order to promote the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two armies.At the conference, both sides agreed that the two countries’ border guards will continue coordinating to implement contents of the Cooperation Protocol for the 2020-2025 period and the cooperation plan for 2022 between the two defence ministries, particularly in fighting crime, illegal immigration and the COCID-19 pandemic./.

A staff member of Postmart (Vietnam Post) - a completely Make-in-Vietnam e-commerce platform (Photo courtesy of Vietnam Post)In 2021, Vietnam recorded 5,600 newly-established digital technology businesses , stemming from the need to work, sell and communicate online in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.Nguyen Thanh Tuyen, Deputy Director of Information Technology Department under the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), said statistics from the ministry showed that Vietnam currently had about 64,000 digital technology enterprises with more than one million employees. The working environment and non-contact economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic had made digital transformation faster and stronger as well as promoted the digital business community. "The number of Make-in-Vietnam businesses has increased sharply,” Tuyen said.The department said in 2020, there were more than 34 platforms announced by the MIC as Make-in-Vietnam products. Digital technology enterprises such as VNPT, Viettel, CMC and FPT had potential and made great contributions to the development of digital government and digital economy with the construction of national digital platforms.In 2021, with the ministry’s leadership, Vietnamese businesses have researched new technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), and Big Data. "The spirit of Make-in-Vietnam has solved the problem of Vietnam and achieved many successes," he added./.

Experts said Vietnam has prioritized infrastructure expansion but the annual growth of travel demand is always higher than the growth of transport infrastructure. The ratio of public transport does not increase and is even decreasing in both Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi (from about 12 percent in 2014 to 10 percent and 8 percent in 2015 and 2016, respectively). Ho Chi Minh City has nearly 10 million motorbikes and personal cars and the figure in Hanoi is nearly 7 million. Many newly-constructed wide roads are still congested at rush hours. They emphasized the need to invest in developing a modern bus system in order to meet 75 percent of the daily travel need./.

A photo exhibition themed “Vietnamese lawyers and homeland’s sea and islands” was launched by the Vietnam Lawyers’ Association (VLA) in Hanoi on December 10.In his opening remarks, VLA Chairman Nguyen Van Quyen said the association has accompanied Vietnamese authorities in safeguarding the country’s sea and island sovereignty. It has also worked with organisations to host various international conferences, issue statements and promote the Party and State’s stance and policies on the national sovereignty over sea and islands, he said.The VLA expects the exhibition will provide lawyers and visitors a better understanding of the issue through a wide range of historic documents affirming Vietnam’s sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands, he said.Running through December 15, the event introduces some 90 photos capturing the VLA’s activities to protect the country’s sovereignty on the East Sea./.

According to the spokesperson, Vietnam has so far recognized the vaccination certificate/vaccine passport form of 78 countries and territories introduced to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Morocco plays an important role in fostering trade between Vietnam, the European Union and Africa, especially in the agro-fishery sector in Vietnam and the renewable energy, mining-geology and finance-banking sectors in Morocco. Vietnam needs to provide accurate, timely and transparent information for the public and international community about its fight against the pandemic. Currently, nine chapters of the Khmer –Vietnam Association do not have their own headquarters or community houses. A joint effort between the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry’s Department of Cultural Diplomacy and UNESCO Affairs and the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum, the event was part of the Vietnam Days Abroad 2021 – a national popularisation programme annually held by the ministry.

Vietnam and many countries in the world have faced a triple burden of nutrition, overweight children, and micronutrient deficiencies. Vietnam, China share poverty reduction experienceA webinar discussing Vietnam and China’s poverty reduction experience was held on December 8. The event was co-hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and some localities of Vietnam, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam and authorities of China's Yunnan province. The artists, who are from the Vietnam Circus Federation, Vietnam National Music Song and Dance Theatre, Bac Ninh folk song and Central Highlands Gong troupes will perform at Vietnam’s brocade fashion show entitled The Eternal Flow at the expo scheduled to take place on December 30.Miss Vietnam Universe 2017 H’Hen Nie has been selected as the icon of The Eternal Flow show. The show aims to feature the overall picture of a colourful Vietnam featuring the cultural characteristics of the country’s 54 ethnic groups.

At the event (Photo: VNA)– Vietnam hopes to further increase trade and investment with Latin American countries, with a focus on energy, telecommunications, hi-tech agriculture, and industries with high added value, an official has said.Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai made the remark at the Vietnam - Latin America trade forum held both in person and via videoconference on December 9.He noted bilateral economic and trade relations have continually thriving in recent years. As a dynamic economy, Latin America is becoming an attractive market for the whole world, including Vietnam, while the Southeast Asian nation is also grasping attention of worldwide businesses, including those from Latin America.Vietnam currently has trade ties with all the 33 Latin American countries. Bilateral trade rose by over 63-fold from 245 million USD in 2000 to 15.6 billion USD in 2020, including 8.3 billion USD in Vietnam’s exports.Meanwhile, Vietnam has had several investment projects worth hundreds of millions of USD in this region. Twenty-seven countries and territories from Latin America have invested in 297 projects in Vietnam, registering total capital of some 9.3 billion USD.Hai noted Vietnam has signed agreements with several regional countries, especially the free trade deal with Chile that was inked in November 2011 and took effect in 2014, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which includes the three Latin American countries of Mexico, Chile, and Peru.Those agreements are considered important turning points creating new momentum for Vietnam’s trade and investment links with Latin American countries , he said, adding that the governments of Vietnam and Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, which are members of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), are also considering a preferential trade deal so as to facilitate their goods’ entry into each other’s markets.Vietnam looks to raise bilateral trade with Latin American countries to about 20 billion USD by 2025 and attracts 12 - 13 billion USD in investment from the region, according to the deputy minister.Tatiana Clouthier, Secretary of Economy of Mexico which is holding the rotational chairmanship of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), said the CPTPP has created a favourable framework for the two countries’ trade cooperation.Mexico is interested in connecting production centres so that the two sides form part of the global value chains in North America and Southeast Asia, she said, encouraging Vietnamese suppliers to take part in her country’s value chains.Ta Hoang Linh, Director of the Europe - American Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said the Vietnamese Government, the ministry, and the country’s trade offices in Latin American countries will make efforts to provide Vietnamese localities and businesses with market information, connect them with foreign partners, and help them address difficulties in accessing and operating in the Latin American region./.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Minister Bui Thanh Son expressed his belief that with rich and extensive content, the freshly-inked Action Program will further promote the Strategic Partnership between the two countries in all fields in the coming time. Son expressed his delight that the two sides have maintained flexible and regularly cooperation mechanisms in all fields despite complicated developments of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. For her part, Minister Nanaia emphasized that New Zealand attaches great importance to the strategic partnership with Vietnam. The Minister said her country wished to further strengthen cooperation with Vietnam in trade, investment, education, digital economy and climate change, accordingly the two sides will strive to reach a trade turnover of 2 billion by 2024./.

Many poor households in Huoi Leng commune, Muong Cha district, northern Dien Bien province, are supported with cow breeds for economic development. Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – A webinar discussing Vietnam and China’s poverty reduction experience was held on December 8. The event was co-hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and some localities of Vietnam, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam and authorities of China's Yunnan province. Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo said China wishes and stays ready to cooperate with Vietnam in poverty reduction via non-refundable aid, with a focus on health care, education and welfare improvement projects. At the event, both sides shared the view that poverty reduction should be one of the key, basic and long-term tasks of every action programme, especially amid the complicated and prolonged developments of the pandemic.

A health worker administers the Sinopharm vaccine to a resident in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on August 1, 2021 (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)Phnom Penh (VNA) – A Cambodian company has signed an agreement with China’s Sinopharm on production of vaccine against COVID-19 in 2022 in the Southeast Asian country, according to a senior official from the Cambodian Ministry of Health. Hun Sen said that he had asked the Chinese side to produce vaccines in Cambodia, and affirmed that the Chinese government has supported this, and companies of the two sides have already signed an agreement. This plan will help Cambodia ensure vaccine supplies, he said. The official, who did not name the Cambodian company, said the Health Ministry is working out details such as the location of the new facility to produce the Sinopharm vaccine and when operations can start. Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wengtian also confirmed this information on December 6, saying that Sinopharm is cooperating closely with Cambodia’s Ministry of Health to produce the COVID-19 vaccine in Cambodia./.

Delegates mark the opening of the Virtual Vietnam Foodexpo 2021 on December 7 (Photo: VNA)– The Virtual Vietnam Foodexpo 2021 kicked off on December 7, expected to help enterprises boost displaying, business matching, and cooperation activities on the digital platform.The event through December 10, held on the website https://e.foodexpo.vn , is part of this year’s national trade promotion programme organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), aiming to assist enterprises in the food industry to maintain business cooperation and expand the market.Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said the booths at this exhibition are created by using 2D and 3D/VR360 technologies and can interact with visitors via different forms like video call or chatbox.Particularly, the “virtual assistant” of the Foodexpo is also helpful for exhibitors to introduce their products and seek potential customers.The Virtual Vietnam Foodexpo 2021 features 300 booths of businesses from more than 20 provinces and cities nationwide. It also attracts a large number of importers from various countries and territories, including the Republic of Korea, Japan, the EU, Canada, Russia, India, the US, and China, according to the MoIT’s Trade Promotion Agency.As part of the event, the MoT held the Vietnam Food Forum 2021, a dialogue between businesses and policymakers, organisations, and experts in the food industry of Vietnam and the world./.

Lorry carrying 39 Vietnamese migrants (Photo: AFP)“One Year on: The Essex Lorry Tragedy ” documentary (Photo: Vietnam News)– “One Year on: The Essex Lorry Tragedy” featuring the first anniversary of the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants who were found in the back of a lorry container in Essex , the UK, will be screened at an annual movie event in Pennsylvania , the US.The 2021 Erie International Film Festival will take place over nine days from December 10. It will feature around 60 independent movies, documentaries, animation productions and music videos.The documentary was written and produced by the multimedia team at Viet Nam News of the Vietnam News Agency in 2020.The documentary, which was screened on VNews TV to mark the anniversary of the tragedy, was first selected to be screened at the Pune Short Film Festival in India.It was then chosen to be shown at festivals in Goa, Kerela, Shantiniketan and the Alibag Short Film Festival in Maharashtra, India.Next, it was screened the Druk International Film Festival in Bhutan, the Virgin Spring Cinefest in India and the World Film Carnival in Singapore, where all chose the documentary as an award winning production in the Short Documentary category.Further top prizes followed, the documentary also won accolades at the Gangtok International Film Festival, Luis Bunuel Memorial Awards, Calcutta International Cult Film Festival, West Bengal’s Royal Society of Television & Motion Picture Awards, Krimson Horyzon International Film Festival, Dreamz Catcher International Film Festival, and the Black Swan International Film Festival.“One Year on: The Essex Lorry Tragedy” is available to watch exclusively in Vietnam via Galaxy Play https://galaxyplay.vn/title/one-year-on-the-essex-lorry-tragedy./.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in the talks. (Photo: VNA)– Vietnam always values its friendship and comprehensive cooperation with the Netherlands in politics-diplomacy, trade-investment, security-defence, culture, education, farming, and climate change adaptation, affirmed Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh during phone talks with his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte on December 6.Hoping the Netherlands to support Vietnam in connecting its ports and industrial zones with Europe, PM Chinh urged the Dutch parliament to soon ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).Rutte, for his part, praised Vietnam’s achievements over the past time, particularly in COVID-19 prevention and control. He said the two nations should work closely together in promoting trade and investment for recovery and growth.The leaders agreed that cooperation programmes in the time to come will include a master planning of the Vietnam ese Mekong Delta region for sustainable development in response to climate change toward 2030 with a vision to 2050; and a programme on sustainable agricultural transformation in the delta. They also agreed to promote the development of a circular economy and renewable energy to serve the goals of sustainable growth in each country.They consented to maintain regular exchange mechanisms and cooperation orientations regarding seaports, education, and tourism.Chinh proposed the Netherlands grant scholarships for Vietnamese students and create favourable conditions for Vietnamese expatriate communities there.The two PMs discussed measures to promote collaboration between the nations within the framework of their strategic partnership and agreed to boost the bilateral public private cooperation, focusing on sectors of the Netherlands ’ strength and Vietnam’s demand.Exchanging views on increasing the countries’ join work at regional and multilateral forums, particularly concerning the East Sea issue, they underscored the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight in the waters; tackling disputes based on international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); fully and effectively implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC); and building a practical and effective Code of Conduct in the waters.On the occasion, PM Chinh invited his Dutch counterpart to visit Vietnam again and the invitation was accepted with delight. Rutte said he hoped to soon welcome Chinh in the Netherlands for an official visit in the near future./.