Hanoi: Sharing nearly 400km land border crossing seven northern localities of Vietnam, Vietnam and China has great advantages to promote partnership in economy, especially border economy, according to Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien.

China has been the biggest trade partners of Vietnam for many years, with two-way trade accounting for one fourth of Vietnam’s total import-export turnover with the world, while Vietnam is China’s sixth largest partner of China in the world and largest among ASEAN countries, noted Dien at a recent conference on boosting trade between northern localities and China.

At the conference, representatives from seven northern localities of Vietnam, namely Cao Bang, Dien Bien, Ha Giang, Lao Cai, Lai Chau, Lang Son and Quang Ninh, highlighted achievements in trade and investment cooperation in the border areas, while pointing out shortcomings and proposing solutions to promote trade with China.

The minister underlined the need to upgrade the infrastructure system, includ
ing digital infrastructure, serving border economic development, asking localities to promptly review, adjust and completing their development masterplans, land use plan and border socio-economic investment plans.

He urged localities and sectors to speed up the regional planning, especially transport planning, with attention paid to international transportation between border provinces.

At the same time, he reminded localities nationwide, especially those along the border, to review and re-design their planning of farming areas as well as production and processing plans in alignment with the project on export via official channels.

The minister suggested that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development speed up negotiations with the Chinese side for a protocol on animal and plant quarantine for agricultural products of Vietnam’s strengths, as well as for new import codes for Vietnamese agricultural products.

The General Department of Vietnam Customs should coordinate with border localities to build
smart border gates and strengthen technology application in import-export activities to improve customs clearance capacity./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency

Paris: The Vietnam Innovation Network in Europe (VINEU) officially launched its operations in France at a ceremony held in Paris on December 10.

Introduced in November 2021, VINEU is one of the eight global networks supported by the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s National Innovation Centre (NIC). It has a mission to gather Vietnamese knowledge in Europe and collaboratively provide sustainable solutions to challenges faced by Vietnam.

At the ceremony, VINEU President Pham Huy Hoang highlighted the significance of deploying activities in France, where many experts with extensive experience are actively working at research and educational institutes or major corporations and companies.

Delegates highlighted the importance of the network in maintaining relevant parties’ exchanges, interactions, coordination, and engagement in specific projects that align with Vietnam’s needs. This approach aims to gather intellect and expertise from the Vietnamese diaspora in related fields to find suitable and cohesive
deployment solutions.

Minister Counsellor of the Vietnamese Embassy in France Pham Thi Kim Yen expressed her hope that VINEU will effectively leverage the resources of the Vietnamese intellectual community in Europe, especially France, serving the development of the motherland. She also pledged the embassy’s consistent support for meaningful activities for the homeland./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency

Hanoi: Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hosted a welcome ceremony in Hanoi on December 11 for his Cambodian counterpart Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet who is paying an official visit to Vietnam from December 11-12.

After the ceremony, the two leaders visited a photo exhibition featuring the land and people of Vietnam and Cambodia, and their good relations, jointly held by the Government Office and the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), before holding talks.

The Cambodian PM is also scheduled to hold meetings with other Vietnamese senior leaders to review cooperation results and discuss measures to promote bilateral ties in the coming time.

He will join Chinh in an exchange with Vietnamese students and a Vietnam-Cambodia business forum.

PM chairs official welcome ceremony for Cambodian counterpart hinh anh 2

The two leaders visit a photo exhibition featuring the land and people of Vietnam and Cambodia, and their good relations. (Photo: VNA)

The official visit demonstrates the resolve of leaders of both sid
es to consolidate and enhance the traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two peoples, while bringing new cooperation opportunities so as to elevate the bilateral ties to a new height./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency

Jakarta: Young generation plays an important role in the energy transition process in Indonesia as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN), Secretary General of the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Dadan Kusdiana, has said.

Speaking at the ASEAN Golden Generation Conference: Synergy for the World held recently in Bandung city, West Java province, Kusdiana said that young people are expected to help popularise the importance of direct participation in new renewable energy (EBT) development, create technological innovations in the EBT sector or maybe even participate in the development of startups by taking advantage of local energy potential.

He acknowledged that Indonesia is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. Indonesia experienced an annual temperature rise of about 0.03 degree Celsius between 1981 and 2018.

Climate change cannot be separated from human activities that emit carbon, therefore, Indonesia emphasises promoting renewable energy developm
ent and reducing energy sector emissions to reduce carbon emissions.

According to Kusdiana, Indonesia has opportunities in terms of renewable energy, but they haven’t yet been fully exploited. Thus, he called for boosting collaboration between the government and academia, including representatives from universities and research institutes to support the governments of Southeast Asian countries in general and Indonesia in particular to optimise EBT development in the region.

Organised by Kappija21, an organisation of alumni of the Japan-ASEAN Youth Friendship Programme for the 21st Century and the Training Programme For Young Leaders, the event brought together 150 students from 35 universities in Indonesia and several ASEAN countries./
Source: Vietnam News Agency