Press digest – July 4

12th Party Central Committee convenes third plenum

The 3th plenum of the 12th Party Central Committee was opened on July 4 in Ha Noi to discuss working regulations and introduction of high-ranking State personnel.

The working regulations will be for the Party Central Committee, the Political Bureau, the Secretariat, the Central Inspection Commission.

There are also discussions on regulations on enforcement of Party regulations; regulations on Party inspection, supervision, and discipline; and other important issues.

Party Central Committee scrutinizes working regulations

Draft working regulations of the Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee (CPVCC), the Politburo, the Secretariat and the CPVCC’s Inspection Commission were mulled over during group discussions on July 4 afternoon.

During the morning session of the 12th Party Central Committee’s third meeting, which opened in Hanoi the same day under the chair of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the delegates heard several reports.

They included the Politburo’s reports on building working regulations for the Inspection Commission, and those concerning the Party’s inspection, supervision and discipline work presented by Politburo member and Secretary of the Party Central Committee Tran Quoc Vuong, who is also head of the Inspection Commission.

Government to toughen IP rights enforcement

Improving enforcement of intellectual property (IP) rights is now high on the Government’s agenda as part of its efforts to uphold international IP commitments, especially those in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Earlier this year, Viet Nam became a member of the 12-nation TPP. An area of special interest in TPP is IP rights protection, with serious emphasis on enforcement.

The agreement requires extension of the copyright period to 70 years and calls for penal actions as part of enforcement efforts, setting some of the toughest norms for IP protection, according to the ministry.

VN opposes China’s military drill in East Sea

China’s plan to carry out military exercises in an area that covers Viet Nam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) in the East Sea has once again seriously violated Viet Nam’s sovereignty over the archipelago, said Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Le Hai Binh on July 4. 

He made the statement while fielding reporters’ queries over the Chinese Maritime Safety Administration’s announcement on July 3 of a drill, which is scheduled to take place between July 5 and 11, with its scale covering the Vietnamese archipelago. 

Binh said the action runs counter to common perception of senior leaders from both countries, and defies international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC).

Nearly 5,000 tariff lines to go down to zero under VN-EAEU FTA

Import tax on 4,959 types of goods from the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) countries will be reduced to zero immediately when the free trade agreement (FTA) between Viet Nam and the union takes effect this year.

The tax removal is part of the roadmap for tax reduction for 2016-2018 under the FTA.

In 2018, 144 more tariff lines will be eliminated, increasing the number of zero-tax lines to 5,103, or 54% of the total.

Export of farmed fish fetches nearly US$3.1 billion

Export of farmed fish brought home nearly US$3.1 billion in the first six months of the year, a year-on-year surge of 3.8%, according to the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

China, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the US remained the leading importers of the country’s farmed fish.

However, prices of material tra fish in the home market fluctuated at VND19,000-20,500 per kilo - its lowest level ever recorded. No new orders from the main markets like the US and the EU hints sluggish consumption for Vietnamese tra fish in the coming time.

Gold price hits two-year high

The domestic gold price skyrocketed to over VND36 million per tael (1 tael = 12 ounces) on July 4, the highest level in the last two years.

The sharp rise was attributed to the increasing global price. 

SJC gold was listed by the Saigon Jewellery Company at VND36.16 – VND36.72 million per tael (buying – selling) at 13:45 on July 4, a record high since the end of July 2014, soaring VND560,000 and VND720,000, respectively, against the early session the same day. 

Electricity comes to over 5,300 ethnic families

More than 5,300 ethnic households in the mountainous province of Son La have joined the national grid as a result of a local power project that began in September 2015.

The beneficiaries come from the Mong, Thai, Kho Mu, Xinh Mun communities residing in mountainous border villages across five communes in Mai Son and Song Ma districts. 

HN to crack down on obstetrics clinics

Ha Noi will crackdown and strictly fine those providing early gender indications of foetuses through ultrasound scans, said Nguyen Dinh Lan, deputy head of the city’s Population and Family Planning Department. 

The city authorities have also tasked district-level agencies with regularly inspecting State-owned and private obstetrical health centers and clinics to ensure no illicit gender preference is practized. 

The planned August-September crackdown is not the first effort by the city to deal with the gender imbalance in the capital./.

(Source: VGP/VOV/VNA)