Weekly digest – December 5-11

Top legislator holds talks with Indian Speaker of 16th Lok Sabha

National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan on December 9 held talks with Indian Speaker of the 16th Lok Sabha Sumitra Mahajan on the occasion of her official visit to India.

Viet Nam regards India as a traditional and trusted friend and highly values crucial developments in their multi-faced relationship over the recent years, said Ms. Ngan, adding that Viet Nam’s legislature expects to strengthen bilateral cooperation as well as coordination at international and regional forums with the Indian Parliament.

After the talks, the two leaders inked a cooperative agreement between the Vietnamese NA and the 16th LokSabha Sumitra, witnessing the signing ceremony of an agreement on cooperation in using atomic energy for peaceful purposes, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on nuclear energy partnership and a MoU on opening direct air route between the two countries.

Viet Nam Development Forum launched

Viet Nam Development Forum (VDF 2016) took place in Ha Noi under the moto “Facilitating and Action Oriented Government – New Driving Force for Development.”

Adressing the event, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc hailed constructive and responsible comments on Viet Nam’s economy.

The Government chief admitted shortcomings and weaknesses in the economy while asserting the determination towards fast and sustainable growth. “No one will be left behind as an average growth pace of GDP per capita will be at 6.5-7% in the 2016-2020 period,” he said.

PM Phuc reiterated his determination to build an effective administrative system, a facilitating and action oriented Government, regarding this as his top priority in the 2016-2020 tenure.

PM asks for drastic measures to accelerate social housing

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc on December 7 chaired a videoconference on social housing and houses for workers.

The PM hailed the social housing package with 300,000 apartments at reasonable prices, asking the local authorities nationwide to propose suitable mechanisms for all organizations to pour more investment into social housing.

The videoconference was held to discuss policies for functional agencies to build more social houses to meet the demands of the people, especially the poor and disadvantaged ones, said the PM.

APEC Year 2017 – focus of VN’s external activities: Deputy FM

APEC Year 2017 is among focuses of Viet Nam’s external activities in the context of intensive and extensive international integration, stated Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son on December 9 while chairing the first press conference of Viet Nam on the event.

The hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum Year 2017 also affirms Viet Nam’s wish to make more contributions to the building and shaping multilateral cooperation mechanisms, including the APEC, he said.

Stressing benefits the APEC Year 2017’s activities will bring to localities, enterprises and locals, the Deputy FM said that as the host of the event, Viet Nam expects to welcome tens of thousands of delegates to 200 activities across the country, opening up great chances for localities to attract visitors and advertise their products to APEC partners and world leading businesses.

Hospital waste management project gets longer

The PM has approved to extend the Hospital Waste Management Support Project, which is sponsored by the World Bank (WB) till August 30, 2019.

The PM has assigned the State Bank of Viet Nam to carry out procedures with the WB to adjust the project.

The development objective of the project is to reduce environmental degradation and potential risks for human health through the improved management of health care waste in Viet Nam's hospitals.

PM asks for investigation into money change rumors

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc has tasked the Ministry of Public Security to investigate the recent money change rumors to find out culprits.

The Government chief affirmed that the rumors were “false and ill-intentional” that may do harms on the country’s business environment and macro-economy.

He called on the whole society to strongly condemn the rumors spread on social media in recent days with the intention of inciting people to hoard gold and foreign currencies, causing chaos and anxiety among the public.

VN, Estonia hold political consultation

Viet Nam and Estonia held a first round of political consultations on December 6 in Ha Noi, discussing the complex of bilateral relations including the interaction within the UN and other international organizations such as UNESCO, the UN Human Rights Council, and ASEM.

The Undersecretary for External Economic Policy and Development Cooperation Affairs Väino Reinart headed the delegation of Estonia while Bui Thanh Son led the Viet Nam delegation.

Both sides discussed current state and perspective directions of developing cooperation in political, trade-economic, investment, cultural-humanitarian and other spheres.

By Thuy Dung