Day: May 6, 2023

Sixty-nine years after its liberation day, Dien Bien has achieved unprecedented economic growth, resulting in significant enhancements to the cultural and social well-being of its residents while simultaneously bolstering national defence and security.

The victory of Dien Bien Phu on May 7, 1954, marked the end of the resistance against French colonialists, though Dien Bien was heavily devastated.

To rebuild Dien Bien, it took two years to clear the battlefields. Despite such difficulties, following the heroic tradition of Dien Bien Phu, the Party Committee, administration and people of all ethnic groups in the province have made efforts to achieve results in the period of renewal, integration, and development.

One of the most notable developments is in the economy. Over the past few years, the locality’s Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) has always been high, averaging 6.55% in the 1996-2000 period, 9.3% in the 2001-05 period, 11.62% in the 2006-10 period, 9.11% in the 2011-15 period, and 6.8% per year in the 2016-20 period.

The per capita GRDP in 2020 reached over 38 million VND (1,663 USD). In 2021, the province’s total GRDP reached 6.02% (higher than the country’s average growth rate). The GRDP in 2022 continues to increase by 10.19%, ranking Dien Bien second out of the 14 provinces in the northern midland and mountainous region and 14th out of the 63 provinces and cities nationwide.

As a land with significant historical and cultural values, for the past 69 years, Dien Bien has always preserved and promoted the value of the Dien Bien Phu historical site, contributing to making it an attractive tourist destination.

According to statistics, from 2016 to 2020, Dien Bien welcomed 3 million tourists, earning total revenue of 4,8 trillion VND.

On April 18, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha signed a decree approving the general planning task of Dien Bien Phu city until 2045. The city will become a national-level cultural and historical tourism city, a centre for commerce, services, resort tourism, and logistics of the region, creating momentum for the socio-economic development of Dien Bien province and the surrounding regions.

Dien Bien has become increasingly attractive to domestic and foreign investors. As of 2022, the province had 195 projects with a total registered capital of nearly 43.2 trillion VND./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Over the past few days, many Luxembourg news channels have reported on the official visit to Vietnam by Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel from May 3-5, assessing that it will contribute to further strengthening the bilateral relationship in the coming time.

The website of the Luxembourg Government – gouvernement.lu – announced that Prime Minister Bettel’s official visit is conducted at the invitation of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations and in response to PM Chinh’s visit to Luxembourg in December 2022.

Tageblatt.lu – a daily newspaper in Luxembourg – ran an article saying that Vietnam has become an attractive trade partner globally. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Southeast Asian nation has opened up to the world under reform orientation since late 1980s and has become an important economy not only in the region but also in the world.

According to the article, in terms of foreign policy, Vietnam wants to have friendly relations with all countries, while in terms of foreign relations, Vietnam relies on independence, and supports bilateral partnerships and multilateralism. Due to geopolitical uncertainties in the world, Vietnam is increasingly sought by Western companies as a new partner, including Luxembourg. The European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has brought many new opportunities for Luxembourgish businesses that operate in the service and financial sectors. Currently, many Luxembourg enterprises are operating in Vietnam.

The article also highlights positive trade relations between Luxembourg and Vietnam in recent years including bilateral trade reaching more than 160 million euros (about 179 million USD) in 2022, up from 120 million euros in 2020.

In another article published by the newspaper, it is said that during Prime Minister Bettel’s visit to Vietnam, the two sides signed many bilateral cooperation agreements, including those on aviation cooperation, the extension of an agreement to avoid double taxation, and cooperation against climate change through green funds. Luxembourg Agency for Development Cooperation (LuxDev) will launch two projects worth 2 million euros in Vietnam. Luxembourg-based airline Cargolux will soon receive a license to fly to Ho Chi Minh City besides Hanoi.

The article quotes Prime Minister Bettel as expressing optimism about the possibility that Luxembourg tourists in the future can enter Vietnam without a visa when the National Assembly of Vietnam considers extending the visa-free policy at its meeting late this month.

Luxembourg’s online newspaper virgule.lu has just published an article about the prospect of Vietnamese electric vehicles entering the country’s market. The article said Prime Minister Bettel and Minister for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Minister for Tourism Lex Delles visited Vinfast’s facility and experienced test driving its electric vehicles.

Other Luxembourg newspapers such as Today.RTL.lu, diegrenzgaenger.lu also reported on Bettel’s visit to Vietnam./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Laos’s inflation rate in April dropped to 39.89%, a slight fall from the average rate of 40.85% in the first quarter of this year, according to the Lao Statistics Bureau.

The country recorded an inflation rate of 40.97% in March, the first drop from the previous month.

In April, the highest price rises were recorded in the food and non-alcoholic beverage category, which surged by 52.21% year-on-year, followed by the medical care and medicines category at 42.55%; communications and transport category at 32.69%; hotel and restaurant category at 37.39%; household utilities at 34.20%; and housing, water, electricity, and gas category at 26.59%.

Although the inflation rate tended to decrease compared to the first three months of the year, prices of many commodities including pork, beef, chicken, and rice continued to increase by about 1.7% in general.

Statistics showed that in April, although there was no pressure from the increase in oil prices, goods and commodities in Laos saw a spike in prices due to high demand during the Lao New Year celebration. Meanwhile, the continuing depreciation of the Lao kip is among the key factors driving inflation in Laos./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

More than 110.6 trillion VND (4.7 billion USD) of public investment was disbursed in the first four months of this year, equivalent to 14.6% of the yearly target and lower than the 18.48% in the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Finance.

Only three ministries and 19 localities recorded a disbursement rate of over 20%; while 47 ministries and centrally-run agencies, and 27 localities had disbursement rates of less than 15%, it said.

To speed up the work, the ministry suggested the Prime Minister assign the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) to issue specific guidance on conditions for allocating capital regarding medium-term and annual public investment.

Ministries, central agencies and localities were requested to submit reports on the progress of disbursement.

The MPI was asked to soon complete the dossier and report to the Government on the extension of implementation and payment of public investment capital from the 2022 State Budget to the following year for ministries, central agencies and localities./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung held a working session with Cambodian Minister of Tourism Thong Khon in Phnom Penh on May 6 to review bilateral collaboration in terms of delegation exchange and tourism promotion.

To boost the work, the two ministers agreed to prioritise the implementation of bilateral cooperation activities within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on tourism cooperation signed between the two ministries and the minutes of the 3rd Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Tourism Working Group Meeting in 2022. Enterprises and localities of the two sides are encouraged to cooperate in studying and building new and unique tours to serve the needs of tourists from both countries and from third countries, while businesses will get support to participate in tourism fairs organised by each country.

The two sides agreed to continue implementing measures to strengthen tourism links, connecting the world heritage sites of Vietnam and Cambodia, creating favourable conditions for international flights between tourist destinations of both countries, as well as those from the third countries. Localities are encouraged to cooperate in connecting seaports between the two countries.

The two ministers also committed to enhancing the sharing of best practices in tourism training and education.

Tourism investment flows between the two countries will be boosted through forums and events which aim to promote investment opportunities.

At the working session, the two ministers signed an MoU on tourism cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia which is intended to push up tourist flows between the two countries by promoting cross-border cooperation activities, facilitating cross-border tourism, and increasing the frequency of direct flights between the two countries.

Earlier on May 5, Minister Hung had a meeting with Cambodian Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Hang Chuon Naron, during which they exchanged solutions to strengthen cooperation in physical training and sports.

The two sides signed a cooperation agreement that aims to enhance exchanges and collaboration in terms of physical education and sports between localities in their border areas./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Five cars and 19 motorbikes were burned at a parking area on Tran Quoc Hoan street, Hanoi’s Cau Giay district, at 13:00 on May 6.

As soon as detecting the incident, residents and the parking area operator took measures to control the fire and reported it to authorities.

Firefighters and rescuers mobilised vehicles and personnel to the scene and extinguished the fire within 20 minutes.

According to local authorities, the 200-square-metre parking area was built and enclosed with an iron frame and roofed with corrugated iron.

Further investigations are underway to find the cause of the fire./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency