Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet (C) and other Vietnamese officials at the 20th ASEAN-Russia Senior Officials’ Meeting in St. Petersburg on April 26. (Photo: MOFA)

Vietnam attends 20th ASEAN-Russia Senior Officials’ Meeting

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet, who is also head of the ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) delegation of Vietnam, attended the 20th ASEAN-Russia SOM in St. Petersburg, Russia, on April 26.

Delegates reviewed ASEAN-Russia cooperation and proposed measures to further develop their partnership in the future, alongside examining pressing global and regional issues.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrey Rudenko, head of the Russian SOM delegation, emphasized that Russia attaches great importance to the strategic partnership with ASEAN.

Russia supports ASEAN’s central role in the regional structure and commits to closely coordinating with the grouping to respond to common challenges in the region, cited VOV.

ASEAN diplomats highly appreciated Russia’s role and asked it to promote more practical and effective cooperation, commensurate with the stature of their relationship.

Both sides agreed to increase future cooperation in fields such as security, combating terrorism and transnational crime, illegal drug trafficking, economics, trade, finance, science-technology, digital transformation, information and communication technology security, smart cities, energy, education, people-to-people exchange, youth, tourism, agriculture, and disease prevention.

In the context of increasing tensions, violence and conflicts in many regions of the world, ASEAN diplomats proposed that Russia further engage in dialogue, cooperation and peace-building efforts in the region through ASEAN-led mechanisms, while jointly building open, inclusive, transparent regional structure and upholding international law, actively contributing to peace, security, stability and development in the region.

To mark 20 years of Russia’s accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC), Russia plans to hold a number of activities, reaffirming its commitment to peace, stability, and cooperation in the region.

In his speech, the Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet highlighted narrowing the development gap, sub-regional connectivity and development as priorities of ASEAN in its overall effort to build the Community. He expected that Russia, with its potential and strengths, would pay more attention and contribute more effectively to these regional priority efforts in the future.

He also proposed directions and solutions for promoting bilateral cooperation, including the effective implementation of the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) and the Master Plan on ASEAN Community (MPAC) 2025; helping less developed countries and regions tackle common challenges such as combating transnational crime, enhancing health capacity; ensuring food, energy, water security; and effectively embracing new growth drivers, especially digital transformation, green and circular economy.

Viet suggested that Russia support sub-regional development efforts in ASEAN, including the Mekong sub-region, contributing positively to the inclusive growth and equitable and sustainable development of ASEAN and the region.

The Vietnamese official expected that the relationship among major countries, which are important partners of ASEAN, would be stable and healthy, positively contributing to regional cooperation based on respecting and supporting ASEAN’s central role.

He called on Russia to support ASEAN's common stance on the East Sea issue and efforts to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), soon reach an effective and practical Code of Conduct in the waters (COC) in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Vietnam expected to become e-commerce powerhouse in Southeast Asia

Vietnam has emerged as one of the most promising shopping markets and is expected to become an e-commerce powerhouse in Southeast Asia.

TikTok Vietnam said the number of merchants and average sales on its app tripled last year, fueling its optimism in the country, the Nikkei Asia newspaper reported recently.

The platform of China's ByteDance eclipsed Lazada to become Vietnam's No. 2 online marketplace after Shopee, with vendors in the country earning about 1.3 billion USD in the past six months, analytics firm Metric said.

Goods classification at the e-commerce platform Lazada. (Photo: VNA)

According to DataReportal, TikTok Vietnam had 67 million users early this year versus 50 million a year earlier in a country of 100 million people, compared with Facebook's 73 million users and YouTube's 63 million.

A report by the E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed that the revenue of products sold through online business-to-consumer (B2C) retail models increased from 10.8 billion USD in 2018 to 20.5 billion USD last year. The figure is forecast to surge in the coming time and reach 650 trillion VND (26.31 billion USD) in 2024.

Meanwhile, according to a report on the online retail market in 2023 released by e-commerce data platform Metric, 2.2 billion items were successfully delivered through five major e-commerce platforms in Vietnam, namely Shopee, Lazada, Tiki, Sendo, and Tiktok Shop, a surge of 52.3% over 2022, according to VNA.

The e-Conomy SEA 2022 report by Google, Temasek, and Brain & Company said that Vietnam was one of the countries recording the highest e-commerce growth. The B2C revenue and sales volume in Vietnam are predicted to continue uptrend, with the five leading e-commerce platforms expecting to earn 310 trillion VND in 2024, representing a year-on-year growth of 35%.

Early summer heat grips three regions, temperatures rise above 40°C

All three regions of Vietnam are braving hot weather in early summer this year, with daytime temperatures rising above 40°C, especially in northern and central localities, reported the National Center for Hydro–Meteorological Forecasting.

The hot low-pressure area in the west is increasing in intensity, causing the heat to spread across the northern and central regions, said meteorologists.

On April 27, the first day of the five-day holiday period, most weather stations in northern Son La and Hoa Binh provinces, and central Thanh Hoa and Phu Yen provinces recorded high temperatures of 38-40°C at around 13:00.

Several localities even saw noon temperatures rise above the 40°C mark, such as Dong Ha in central Quang Tri province – 42.1°C, Yen Chau in northern Son la province – 41.5°C, and Hue city in central Thua Thien-Hue province – 41.4°C.

Meanwhile, Hanoi capital and some southern localities documented daytime temperatures ranging between 37-39°C, or 2-3°C more than a day ago, VOV reported.

Outdoor temperatures in Hanoi at noon on April 27 may rise to 43-45 degrees Celsius, several degrees more than the temperatures recorded at weather stations.

Meteorologists said outdoor temperatures may vary by 2-4°C, or even higher, depending on surface conditions such as concrete and asphalt.

As searing heat reaches its peak between 11:00 and 16:00, meteorologists recommend that people take protective measures to avoid direct impacts from the sun when they venture out. Prolonged exposure to high heat can also cause dehydration and heat stroke.

In addition, prolonged heat accompanied by low humidity also causes the risk of explosions and fires in residential areas due to increased demand for electricity, as well as the risk of forest fires.

The hot weather is forecast to last till April 30 before a weak cold spell hits northern localities to cause temperatures to drop by several degrees.

Da Nang city promotes cooperation with Brazil

Leaders of Da Nang on April 27 received Brazilian Ambassador Marco Farani and visiting football legends, who are in the central beach city for the ongoing Brazil-Vietnam Football Festival 2024.

At the meeting, Vice Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Tran Chi Cuong lauded the bridging role of the Brazilian Embassy in promoting, and implementing bilateral cooperation programs, for growing relations between the two countries in general, as well as between Da Nang and Brazil in particular, VNA reported.

At the meeting between Da Nang leaders and Brazilian Ambassador Marco Farani and visiting football legends on April 27. (Photo: VNA)

To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the two nations’ diplomatic relations and the 16th anniversary of their comprehensive partnership, the football festival is held in the city on April 27 and 28, featuring various exchange activities. As part of the event, a center called the Brazil Football Academy will be officially launched in Da Nang to collaborate, transfer, and support youth football training.

Cuong said Da Nang welcomes the embassy's organization of cultural and sports exchange events this year and beyond. He also expressed his hope that the football legends will be ambassadors promoting Da Nang's tourism and culture to the Brazilian people.

In response, Farani highlighted the sound growth of the diplomatic relations between the countries and wished that following the festival, there would be many opportunities for young players from the city to visit Brazil for exchanges and training.

Da Nang's exports to Brazil were estimated at 21 million USD last year, with key earners including finished rubber and handicrafts. Its import turnover from the Latin American nation remains insignificant, with the city yet to house any projects from Brazilian investors.

Investment in Vietnamese startups in 2023 ranks third in Southeast Asia

Vietnam maintains the third position in the number of investment capital and deals of startups in Southeast Asia.

In 2023, Vietnamese startups received a total investment capital of US$529 million.

Singapore led in both the number of deals and total investment capital for startups, followed by Indonesia.

That is notable information in the 2024 Technology and Innovation Investment Report released at the Vietnam Innovation Forum 2024.

This forum was organized in HCM City on April 26 by the National Innovation Center (NIC) and Do Ventures Investment Fund under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

This report also said that in 2023, Vietnamese startups' total investment capital of US$529 million dropped by 17 percent compared to the previous year.

Meanwhile, Vietnam's number of deals involving startups slightly decreased by 9 percent to 122 deals.

This decline shows that the technology investment landscape in Vietnam continues to be affected by changes in the global economy, cited VNS.

However, this reduction rate was slighter than the decrease of 35 percent to US$345 billion in total global venture capital investment, showing that the Vietnam market is still an attractive destination in the capital market.

In 2023, nearly 100 funds poured capital into Vietnamese startups, of which the most active investors came from Singapore, followed by Vietnamese investors.

Of which, the healthcare sector received the highest investment, skyrocketing 391 percent over the previous year. The education sector also received a high amount of capital, up 107 percent year on year.

Speaking at the forum, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Duy Dong said that as a pioneer country in the field of innovation, Vietnam commits to upgrading the national innovation ecosystem and attracting investment and talent.

With preferential policy mechanisms and simplified regulations, Vietnam will accompany startups, corporations, organizations, and experts to develop science and technology, promote innovation, and contribute to the country's economic growth.

Vietnam has moved up two places in the Global Innovation Index (GII) in 2023, ranking 46th out of 132 countries and territories, according to a GII report released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Vietnam is one of seven middle-income countries having made the most progress in innovation over the past decade.

These positive results are owing to the continuous efforts of organizations, individuals and businesses in the work of innovation, Dong said.

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