Vietnamese Party leader hosts Australian Prime Minister

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong received leader of the Australian Labour Party and Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese in Hanoi on June 4.

Welcoming Albanese on his official visit to Vietnam when the two countries are marking the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic ties, Trong affirmed the importance Vietnam attaches to the relations with Australia and highly valued the strong, substantive, and comprehensive development of bilateral cooperation over the past years.

He stressed that both countries, located in the Asia-Pacific and sharing many similarities, have enjoyed thriving relations over the last 50 years which have been expanded and become substantive in terms of politics, economy, science, technology, education – training and defence – security. In particular, people-to-people links are close with more than 300,000 Vietnamese people, including tens of thousands of students, in Australia.

Based on those conditions and the huge cooperation potential, there are bright prospect for relations between the two countries to grow further in the coming time, he opined.

General Secretary Trong highly valued the outcomes of Albanese’s visit, especially the talks and meetings with Vietnamese leaders and the important agreements reached during the trip. He described the successes of this visit and the recent trip of Vietnam by Australian Governor-General David Hurley as milestones in bilateral relations.

The Vietnamese Party leader voiced his support for the orientations for developing the countries’ ties, including lifting their relations to a new level, cooperating more fruitfully, and promoting the implementation effectiveness of agreements for the sake of the two peoples as well as for peace, cooperation, and development in the region and the world at large.

For his part, PM Albanese stated his country respects Vietnam’s role and stature along with bilateral connections, expressing his delight at the impressive achievements of their relations, which are currently a strategic partnership.

He also informed his host about the outcomes of his talks with PM Pham Minh Chinh and other Vietnamese leaders, and the agreements reached between the two sides.

He noted that he believes in the development prospects of bilateral relations and hopes to elevate those ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

The PM affirmed Australia’s viewpoint on the importance of consolidating a peaceful and stable environment in the region; respecting international law, independence and sovereignty of countries, and equal relations; supporting ASEAN’s centrality, as well as the Australian Government’s policy and the Australian Labour Party’s policy of promoting relations with Southeast Asian nations.

At the meeting, PM Albanese invited General Secretary Trong to pay an official visit to Australia as a guest of his country’s Government. The Party leader of Vietnam thanked and accepted the invitation with pleasure./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Top legislator offers sympathy to India over rail accident

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue on June 4 sent a message of sympathy to Vice President of India and Chairman of the Council of States (upper house of the Indian parliament) Jagdeep Dhankhar, and Speaker of the House of the People (lower house) Om Birla over the loss of lives in the railway accident in Odisha on June 2./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

President receives Australian Prime Minister

President Vo Van Thuong on June 4 received Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is on a two-day official visit to Vietnam starting June 3.

The state leader appreciated Australia’s provision of stable official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam and its support in the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic through timely grant of vaccines in large quantities.

For his part, Albanese affirmed that Vietnam has always been Australia’s top priority partner in the region and wished to constantly develop cooperative relations with the Southeast Asian nation.

Vietnam will have a priority position in a Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040 that the Australian Government is developing, he noted.

The leaders expressed their delight at the outstanding achievements of the bilateral ties across various fields, especially politics-foreign affairs, security-defence, economy-trade-investment, education-training, culture, tourism, sports, labour, science-technology, and people-to-people and locality-to-locality exchanges.

They agreed to further strengthen political trust, considering it an important basis for the elevation of the bilateral relations to new heights in the time to come.

Albanese informed his host on Australia’s decision to grant 105 million AUD (69.51 million USD) for Vietnam serving cooperation in climate change response and energy transition; the RMIT University’s increase of investment in Vietnam to 250 million AUD; and the Western Sydney University’s granting of scholarships for Vietnamese and regional students.

The Australian PM said he welcomes the opening of more direct routes to major Australian cities by Vietnamese carriers Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet, which he said contributes to promoting economic and tourism cooperation, and exchange activities between the two peoples.

President Thuong, in turn, proposed Australia create favourable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Australia to preserve the language, traditions, and culture of their home country, and for Vietnamese students to complete visa procedures and study.

He also suggested Australia establish more branches of its major universities in Vietnam; and soon implement the revised memorandum of understanding on the Australian Agriculture Visa programme.

Vietnam is ready to provide skilled workers in the industrial, agricultural and service sectors for Australia, and welcomes Australian citizens to participate in the Vietnamese work and holiday programme, he stated.

Discussing regional and international issues, the two sides concurred to continue to support each other and work closely at regional and international forums, especially the UN, APEC, ASEAN and other ASEAN-led mechanisms. Albanese reaffirmed Australia’s stance of respecting the rule of law in the region and settling disputes in the East Sea by peaceful means in conformity with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

ASEAN Para Games 12: Rain of gold for Vietnamese weightlifters on June 4

Female weightlifter Dang Thi Linh Phuong performed outstandingly in the women’s under-50kg and seized two gold medals on June 4 morning at the 12th ASEAN Para Games now going on in Cambodia.

In the afternoon the same day, Vietnamese weightlifters gained six more medals (four gold and two silver).

Le Van Cong bagged two gold in the men’s 49-kg, while Nguyen Binh An got two gold and Huynh Ngoc Phung two silver in the men’s 54-kg.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Thi Hai got the first gold medal in track-and-field for Vietnam, in the women’s shot put F57 event. Hai is one of the most successful athletes with F57 disabilities of Vietnam. In the 11th ASEAN Para Games in Indonesia last year, she brought home three gold medals./.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Solon wants opening of school year back to June

An Ilocos Sur legislator urged his colleagues to bring back the opening of classes in all schools to June. House Bill No. 8508, filed by Ilocos Sur 1st District Rep. Ronald Singson, pushes for a modified start of the school year, which will cover all basic institutions in the country, including international schools. The bill also seeks to establish the first Monday of June of every year as the start of the academic year, thereby harmonizing the opening of the academic year, according to a news release on Sunday. ‘More than overhauling, revising, and redesigning the existing curriculum, other issues on education, such as setting a school calendar that is most beneficial to learners, should also be considered,’ said Singson. The change in the academic calendar was the result of the two-year lockdown triggered by the Covid-2019 pandemic. According to Singson, the lifting of pandemic restrictions and the full implementation of face-to-face classes should prompt the Department of Education to gradually change the school calendar due to several pressing factors. ‘The extreme heat experienced by teachers and students during the dry season, which is deemed not conducive to learning, and the students being unable to enjoy the school break because of the rainy season are the main reasons why we should change the opening of schools,’ he said. He also added that while it is difficult to predict the weather due to climate change, the former school calendar is what suits the country best. Calls are mounting to bring back the April-May school summer break after more than 100 students in Cabuyao, Laguna were taken to a hospital recently due to hunger and dehydration because the heat index hovered between 39 to 42 degrees Celsius.

Source: Philippines News Agency

BOI foreign investment approvals surge Jan-May to over P400-B

Approved investments from foreign sources at the Board of Investments (BOI) posted a significant increase in the first five months of the year. Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary and BOI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo told trade reporters in a Viber message over the weekend that foreign investment approvals surged in January to May this year by 7,076 percent to PHP403.86 billion from PHP5.63 billion in the same period in 2022. Investment pledges from foreign sources now have the largest share in BOI approvals at 76 percent. The BOI approved PHP532.27 billion in investment pledges from January to May, more than double the project registrations last year at PHP205.73 billion. The pledges came from 106 projects registered with the investment promotion agency, which are expected to create 18,883 direct jobs. Big ticket projects approved by the BOI in the early parts of the year were renewable energy, especially offshore wind projects. Trade Secretary and BOI chair Alfredo Pascual earlier said BOI approved three offshore wind projects worth PHP390 billion in the first quarter of 2023 alone. Last year, the DTI chief’s letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) prompted the latter to issue an opinion that natural resources, including renewable energy, were not covered by the constitutional limitations on foreign ownership. The DOJ opinion allowed the amendments to the Renewable Energy Act, particularly allowing foreign investors’ 100 percent ownership on renewable energy projects. On Friday, Madrid-based BlueFloat Energy announced that it has chosen the Philippines as the location of its biggest offshore wind projects with 7.6 gigawatts of planned capacity. BlueFloat executives said the company has yet to register the projects with the BOI despite securing the service contracts from the Department of Energy. Rodolfo said the BOI has PHP1 trillion investment pledges in the pipeline for the year. BOI targets to hit PHP1.5 trillion in investment approvals by the end of 2023.

Source: Philippines News Agency