Hanoi: The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency.
– Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Hanoi on January 24, during which the PM expressed his belief that the German leader’s ongoing visit will create a new motivation for the expansion of the Vietnam-Germany strategic partnership in the future.
He thanked Germany for providing a large number of COVID-19 vaccines to Vietnam, helping the country control the pandemic and promote its socio-economic recovery. Read full story
– The Committee for External Relations of Saint Petersburg city on January 23 organised an annual conference in celebration of the 74th anniversary of the Vietnam-Russia diplomatic relations (January 30, 1950-2024).
The event drew the participation of some 70 people, including Vietnamese Ambassador Dang Minh Khoi, Russian Ambassador to Vietnam Gennady Bezdetko, and many officials, scholars and businesses of the two countries. Read full story
– Cana
da’s strategy for the Indo-Pacific can help boost its educational cooperation with Vietnam and fortify connections between the two business communities, Chief Executive Officer of Cooperation Canada Kate Higgins has assessed.
Higgins told a Vietnam News Agency’s reporter in Canada that the strategy can also propel forward collaboration for peace and security among countries in the region. Read full story
– As many as 161 merchants had been granted certificates of eligibility for exporting rice as of January 22, decreasing from mid-2023, reported the Agency of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).
Ho Chi Minh City has the largest number, 36, one fewer than the list released last October. It is followed by Can Tho city with 34, Long An province 22, Dong Thap province 15, and An Giang 14. Read full story
– The recent signing of a protocol regarding the export of Vietnamese watermelon to China via official channels will help deter trade risks, boost the standard of the farm produce, a
nd ease congestion at border gates, Director of the Plant Protection Department Huynh Tan Dat has said.
Under the protocol signed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and General Administration of Customs China (GACC), fresh watermelon permitted to enter the Chinese market must come from the cultivation and processing establishments approved by both agencies. All plantations involved must cultivate the plants following the Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). Read full story
– The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health reported on January 24 that the city’s infectious disease surveillance system has detected the emergence of sub-variant JN.1 of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in hospitalised patients in December last year in the locality.
JN.1 is a sub-variant from the BA.2.86 variant of Omicron classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a “variant of Interest’ (VOI), which is the cause of the increasing number of cases and deaths in some countries. Read full story
– ‘Xuan Que Huo
ng’ (Homeland Spring), the biggest cultural event for overseas Vietnamese (OVs) on the occasion of the Lunar New Year (Tet), will take place from February 1-2 (the 22nd and 23rd days of the last month in the Year of the Cat) in Ho Chi Minh City with various activities, according to the organising board.
The annual programme will include a ceremony to offer incense and flowers to Hung Kings, a trip in Metro Line No.1 Suoi Tien-Ben Thanh and exchanges with localities. Read full story./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency