Day: April 17, 2023

Trade ties between Vietnam and Uruguay have still not been commensurate with the potential of the two countries, delegates heard at the third meeting of the Vietnam – Uruguay Joint Committee for Economic, Trade and Investment Cooperation held online recently in Hanoi and Montevideo.

Co-chairing the meeting, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai and Uruguayan Deputy Foreign Minister Nicolás Albertoni emphasised that it is necessary to promote the Vietnam-Uruguay cooperation within bilateral and multilateral frameworks, diversify the structure of import and export products, and step up trade promotion activities, connect and support their business communities to understand the market and find business opportunities.

At the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on cooperation between Vietnam and Uruguay in the fields of economy, trade, investment, finance, agriculture, science, and technology, and reviewed the results they achieved since the second meeting of the joint committee held in October 2021.

They also discussed and proposed affairs to do in the coming time to promote the bilateral cooperation.

For agricultural cooperation, the two sides welcomed the establishment of direct contacts to continue exchanging views on technical issues in the licensing process for potential agricultural products into each other’s markets.

In addition, many new cooperation contents have been proposed such as cooperation in food safety, customs, science and technology, software, wood exploitation, and processing.

At the end of the meeting, the two deputy ministers agreed to continue working closely to effectively implement the contents agreed at the meeting towards the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In 2022, the total import-export turnover between the two countries reached 190.5 million USD, a sharp increase of 106.5 % compared to 2021. Vietnam’s exports to Uruguay raked in 102.9 million USD, up 76.7% while Vietnam’s imports from Uruguay hit 87.6 million USD, up 157.2%./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Consul General of Vietnam in Hong Kong and Macau (China) Pham Binh Dam has visited the Macau Special Administrative Region for the first time since it reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the trip from April 13-14, Dam held a working session with Ho Iat Seng, Chief Executive of the Macau Special Administrative Region, who appreciated cooperation between Macau and Vietnam in various fields, especially trade, labour, tourism and investment.

He stressed that many Vietnamese products are favoured by Macau people, while Vietnamese workers are skilled and hard-working, and have made positive contributions to Macau’s economy, and also actively participated in local cultural activities.

As Vietnam’s economy has maintained impressive growth over the past years despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Macau businesses have paid attention to and want to expand cooperation with Vietnam, he added.

Dam thanked the Macau administration for caring and creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese people to work and live in Macau, especially during the pandemic.

The Consul General also made a series of proposals on expanding the reception of Vietnamese workers, actively exchanging business delegations, participating in trade events organised by the two sides, and coordinating to well handle emerging issues related to labourers and the removal of visa restrictions for Vietnamese visitors.

At his working session with representatives of the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), Dam said that the potential for cooperation between Macau and Vietnam is huge and has not been fully tapped.

He encouraged Macau and Vietnamese businesses to explore cooperation opportunities through visits or participation in trade fairs in both Vietnam and Macau. The Consulate General of Vietnam in Hong Kong and Macau is always willing to help connect and support businesses of the two sides.

The Consul General also met with leading officials of the Vietnamese Association in Macau. Currently, there are about 7,000 Vietnamese people living and working in Macau, down more than a half compared to the pre-pandemic period, with an average income of 500-1,000 USD per month.

He also had meetings with leaders of Galaxy Entertainment Group and Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Involve the corporations. Jakarta (ANTARA) – The National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) encouraged all local governments to immediately provide additional food for pregnant women and children under five years old, ahead of simultaneous children’s examinations in August 2023.”Spend the budget that has been allocated to expedite the reduction of stunting soon,” Head of BKKBN Hasto Wardoyo remarked in a statement on Sunday. In a virtual roadshow for stunting reduction acceleration held in collaboration with the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture, he invited the local governments to use BKKBN’s data to improve their stunting reduction program and become more on target. lthough many provinces have smaller stunting prevalence rates than the national rate, which reaches 21.6 percent according to the Indonesian Nutritional Status Survey (SSGI) 2022, the rates in each province may increase again due to poverty. For instance, the stunting prevalence rate in Bangka Belitung Islands Province was recorded at 18.5 percent; however, 0.82 percent of its population lived in poverty, according to Statistics Indonesia’s (BPS) data in 2022. Hence, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy also emphasized that the local government should optimize the village fund for handling stunting and extreme poverty. The handling of stunting and extreme poverty greatly depends on the ability of the village heads to manage their village funds to overcome the problems as well as ensure food security, he said. The coordinating minister appealed to the local government to maintain good collaboration with civil servants, the military, police, and private companies in Bangka Belitung Island Province to run the foster parents for stunted children program. “Involve the corporations. I have not heard of any district or city governments (in Bangka Belitung Islands Province) that have involved companies in their respective regions (to run the program). The enterprises should be required to become companies that pay attention to stunting,” he remarked. cting Governor of Bangka Belitung IslandsSuganda Pandapotan Pasaribunoted a number of challenges in handling stunting, including the limited capability of program implementers as well as inadequate data quality, management, and utilization. In addition, a number of indicators and targets of ministries and agencies are not aligned with Presidential Regulation Number 72 of 2021 on Stunting Reduction Acceleration, he continued. Hence, his party continues to innovate by implementing various programs, such as Pelita (Care for Mothers, Babies, and Toddlers) Stunting Program in Pangkal Pinang City, Ambong (Assistance and Additional Food Intake for Toddlers and Pregnant Women) in Belitung District, and Hidropenting (Hydroponics for Overcoming Stunting) in Central Bangka District. baca-jugaRelated news: Meat, eggs aid to be disbursed from Apr 15: BapanasRelated news: Optimize four funding sources to tackle stunting, village heads toldRelated news: Vast waters could hinder stunting-eradication efforts: BKKBN

Source: Antara News Agency

Malang, East Java (ANTARA) – Minister of Tourism and Creative EconomySandiaga Salahuddin Unosays that Indonesia’s Chairmanship at the 2023 ASEAN becomes an opportunity to strengthen and promote Indonesia’s tourism potential.During his working visit to Malang, East Java, on Sunday, the minister noted that Indonesia’s chairmanship is an opportunity to prove that Indonesia’s domestic tourism sector is the best in the region. “This is our opportunity to show that our domestic tourism is superior in the ASEAN region,” he emphasized. He believes that Indonesia’s tourism sector is currently considered superior when compared to other ASEAN member countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. He said that Indonesia’s tourism potential is considered very large. With the very promising potential of the tourism sector, it must become the main focus to revive the Indonesian economy which was previously hit by the pandemic, he added. “Let us focus on our tourism industry for our economic revival and provide economic solutions for the people,” he said. Specifically in the Greater Malang area, Uno said there are a number of tourist villages that have been receiving national and international awards with promising potential. One of them is the Pujon Kidul Tourism Village in Malang District, which received the 2021 Indonesian Tourism Village Award (ADWI) for the Inspirational Independent Village Category. There was also Sanankerto Village which won third place in the Tourism Attraction Village category and received appreciation from international forums for its participation in the 5th ASEAN Rural Development and Poverty Eradication Awards in 2022. “Therefore, I also encourage other tourism, not only in East Java but throughout Indonesia, to become a world-class tourism village,” he said. s an effort to improve the quality of the tourist village, Unoemphasized that the government will provide assistance to existing tourism and strengthen the promotional effort to optimize its potentials. “We will provide mentoring training and the Indonesian Tourism Village Award program will promote it. With this effort, we hope more tourists will come, both foreign and domestic,” he said. On that occasion, the minister visited the Kayutangan Heritage Village in Malang City, one of the 75 Indonesian Tourism Villages in 2023. baca-jugaRelated news: ASEAN nations intensify collaboration for economic revival: Minister Related news: Access to ASEAN air transportation drives Bali’s tourism: BPS

Source: Antara News Agency

Delegates attending the 12th Vietnam-France decentralised cooperation conference on the evening of April 15 visited two iconic sites of Hanoi – Thang Long Imperial Citadel and Temple of Literature.

At the Temple of Literature – the first national university of Vietnam, they were briefed on its history and architecture, and visited an exhibition named “The Temple of Literature in the Revival of Hanoi’s Heritage in the period of 1898-1954″.

At the Thang Long Imperial Citadel, the guests experienced a night tour with activities to explore the heritage and enjoyed a water puppet show telling the story of Thang Long – Hanoi. The beauty of the citadel at night attracted visitors.

Nguyen Thanh Quang, Director of the Thang Long – Hanoi Heritage Conservation Centre, said that the tour is expected to help foreigners better understand the formation and development of the citadel and the capital city of Thang Long – Hanoi throughout the thousand-year history.

The guests visited an exhibition entitled “From the Soil to the Museum: Journey of Objects”. Recently, a seminar on “Promoting the spatial value of the Thang Long Imperial Citadel archeological site”. Both activities formed part of the Hanoi – Toulouse cooperation project.

The 12th Vietnam-France decentralised cooperation conference took place in Hanoi from April 13-16 to discuss ways to boost sustainability and create opportunities for business and cultural exchanges among localities of the two countries./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency