Weekly press digest – November 17-23

Party chief starts official visits to Russia, Belarus

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on November 22 left Ha Noi for official visits to Russia and Belarus from November 23-28. 

The visits, made at the invitations of Russian President V. Putin and Belarusian President A. Lukashenko, aim to bolster the bilateral traditional friendship and cooperation. 

PM Dung: VN – promising land for cooperation, success

PM Nguyen Tan Dung expressed his belief that Viet Nam would be a promising land for cooperation and success when addressing the opening ceremony of the 14th Asia-Pacific Conference of German Business (APK14) in Ho Chi Minh City on November 21.

PM Dung suggested German busunesses investment in infrastructure, which is their strength, in the public-private partnership model.

PM Dung answers NA deputies’ questions

PM Nguyen Tan Dung on November 19 clarified several issues raised during the question and answer session of the 13th National Assembly.

The PM highlighted the combination of cooperation and struggling in orientations for the relationship between Viet Nam and China. 

The Government will launch synchronously necessary and long-term measures to improve the labor capacity in the future.

The PM proposed seven main solutions in response to the report of the International Labor Organization and the Asian Development Bank, which showed Viet Nam’s labor capacity has been improved but sill lower than other nations in ASEAN.

Ministers joins Q&A session

Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang joined the first National Assembly’s Q&A session on November 17, answering public concerns over smuggling and counterfeits and the management of essential commodities.

Minister of Home Affairs Nguyen Thai Binh deal with a series of questions on administrative reform, administrative procedure streamlining in accordance with the improvement of public service quality and labor capacity, salary reform and evaluation of staff groups 

Meanwhile, Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang responded to questions about the overall picture of infrastructure and the responsibility of the ministry and local authorities for ensuring traffic safety.

Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Thi Hai Chuyen answered NA deputies’ questions about the situation and solutions to businesses’ violations of the Labor Code, the management of foreign workers, unemployment, job creation, the quality of Vietnamese workers and social subsidies.

National Assembly adopts laws

The National Assembly (NA) passed the laws on the NA organisation (revised) and on social insurance (revised) on November 20.

With 81.29% of votes, the National Assembly on November 21 passed the Law on Viet Nam Civil Aviation (revised). 

New decree on health insurance issued

The Government has recently issued a new decree which gives detailed guidance for implementing a number of regulations in the revised Law on Health Insurance.

Since January 1, 2015, workers with unlimited and short-term labor contracts; staffs, civil servants will pay 4.5% of their minimum salaries on insurance. 

Gov’t releases policy on reducing public employees

The Government has issued a new decree on reducing the number of public employees in a bid to streamline and improve the efficiency of the State apparatus.

Accordingly, employees will be subjected to reduction if they become redundant after the competent agencies issue decisions on organizational structure and manpower of the employees’ organizations or public non-business units shift to ones that have the right to autonomy, and self-responsibility for task performance, finance and organizational structure.

New land price framework issued

A recently issued decree on land price framework has regulated the maximum price of VND 162 million (US$ 7,800) per square metre in urban areas in the Red River Delta and the South Eastern Region.

The new decree categorizes land as agricultural land and non-agricultural land.

The minimal rate for fifth-tier urban land in the Central Coast Region will be VND 40,000 per square meter.

PM ratifies international passenger ship terminal plan for Phu Quoc

PM Nguyen Tan Dung has approved the construction of an international passenger ship port in Phu Quoc Island in the southern province of Kien Giang.

Anti-dumping tariff on Vietnamese pangasius unfair: spokesperson

The United States International Trade Commission’s application of anti-dumping duties on frozen pangasius fillets imported from Viet Nam is unfair, Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Le Hai Binh declared.

The move goes against the spirit of free trade as well as the growing bilateral economic and trade relations and the comprehensive partnership between the two countries, Binh said at a regular press conference in Ha Noi on November 20.

VN, Panama hold first deputy-ministerial consultation

Deputy Foreign Minister Ha Kim Ngoc have agreed on a proposal to facilitate visits at all levels and establish effective cooperation mechanisms with Panama in a recent political consultation with his Panamanian counterpart Luis Miguel Hincapie.

Both sides were committed to strengthening interactions between ministries, agencies and business communities, and fine-tuning legal regulations to pave way for the signing of wide-ranging agreements on finance, investment and education.

VN, EU sign Partnership Cooperation Agreement protocol

A Protocol to the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation (PCA) between Viet Nam and the European Union and its member states was signed in Brussels on November 19.

The protocol was inked by Vietnamese Ambassador to Belgium and head of the Viet Nam delegation to the EU Pham Sanh Chau and Ambassador Stefano Sannion, head of the Italy Delegation to the EU. The document then will need to be approved/ratified by all signatories.

Int’l conference on cooperation for regional security in East Sea organized

The 6th International Conference on the East Sea themed “East Sea: Cooperation for regional security and development” is being held in the central city of Da Nang

The November 17-18 event, attracting the attendance of more than 200 domestic and foreign professionals and scholars, is aimed at strengthening exchanges and viewpoints on the East Sea issue.

Biggest cities see CPI decline

In November, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) declined slightly by 0.3% and 0.36% in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City, respectively.

Fuel prices hit new record low

The Ministry of Industry and Trade cut fuel prices for the tenth time this year, and the second within a fortnight, with the latest cut taking effect 11:00 am today, November 22.

RON 92 gasoline lost VND1,140 a liter to go from VND21,390 to VND20,250 a liter, the lowest since 2011.

Vi-Giam folk singing nominated as UNESCO intangible heritage

The Nghe Tinh Vi-Giam folk singing of Vietnam is amongst 46 nominations for UNESCO’s recognition as the world intangible cultural heritages of humanity at the UN body’s upcoming session.

During its 9th session on November 24-28, the UNESCO’s Inter-governmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage will examine eight others seeking the status as the cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding, Nhan dan newspaper reported, citing sources from an UNESCO press conference in Paris on November 18.

(Source: VGP/VNA/VOV/Nhandan)