Vietnamese Ambassador to China Pham Sao Mai sheds light on the significance of the coming visit to China by National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.

Vietnam attaches importance to developing close partnership with China

Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue is scheduled to pay an official visit to China from April 7 to 12 at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Zhao Leji.

Developing relations with China is Vietnam’s top priority and strategic choice in its foreign policy, while China also considers Vietnam a priority in its neighboring diplomacy, said Mai in an interview granted to the media ahead of Hue’s visit.

According to the diplomat, Hue’s visit is to concretize six major cooperation orientations, with a view to promoting political trust and consolidating firm social foundation, helping to elevate the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Vietnam and China, in the interest of the two peoples and for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world at large.

The visit will also help to deepen and improve the effectiveness of cooperation between the legislative bodies of the two countries.

In his opinion, both Vietnam and China are neighboring countries that share many similarities in terms of culture, political regime, and development path. Bilateral relations have in recent times developed positively and reaped important gains in all areas, through regular visit exchanges, including the China visit in October 2022 by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and the Vietnam visit in December 2023 by Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping.

Economic, trade and investment cooperation is a bright spot in bilateral relations. China is Vietnam’s largest trading partner and second-largest export market, while Vietnam is China’s largest trading partner in ASEAN and fifth largest partner in the world, after the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Russia, cited VOV.

Two-way trade turnover between the two countries last year hit US$171.9 billion (Vietnam statistics) and US$229.8 billion (China statistics). The first two months of 2024 saw two-way trade rise 28% to US$27.3 billion, of which Vietnamese exports inched up 7.6% to US$8 billion and its imports climbed 38.8% to US$19.3 billion.

Last year, China invested US$4.47 billion in Vietnam, up 77.5% year on year, ranking fourth among foreign investors in terms of capital value and first in terms of project number in the Southeast Asian country. In the first quarter of 2024, China also took the lead in terms of the number of investment projects, making up 27.8% of the total.

The two sides are positively working closely to address pending issues, including obstacles, for previous economic cooperation projects.

Bilateral cooperation in culture, education, tourism and people-to-people exchanges also reaps fruitful results, contributing to consolidating social foundations in the two countries. To date, nearly 60 Vietnamese localities have established friendly cooperative ties with Chinese localities.

China has already resumed commercial flights to Vietnam, with more than 200 flights flying back and forth between the two countries every week. China has also resumed granting visas to students and workers of Vietnam.

Tourism is one of the industries that receives great attention from the two countries. Vietnam welcomed more than 1.7 million Chinese arrivals last year, and nearly 890,000 arrivals in the first quarter of 2024, up 634.5% year on year.

The two sides have recorded important gains in building the Vietnam - China land border of peace, friendship and cooperation, contributing to the socio-economic development of border localities. They have also strived to maintain exchanges and control disagreements at sea, by the provisions of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The two sides have actively deployed negotiation mechanisms on maritime issues, and promoted full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), while striving to build a substantive, effective, and efficient Code of Conduct (COC), contributing to ensuring peace and stability in the East Sea and the region.

Ambassador Mai expected that through Hue’s coming visit, the relations between the two Parties, states, and legislative bodies would develop more practically, positively and substantively, helping to concretize the new connotation of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.

The two sides will increase the sharing of experience in legislation and monitor the deployment of the signed agreements between the two governments.

They will increase close coordination and mutual support at regional and global inter-parliamentary forums, and at the same time support each other in guaranteeing the deployment of international treaties to which both countries are signatories, for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

Vietnam boasts great potential for developing data centers

Data centers are expected to play a crucial role in supporting Vietnam's digital transformation, so despite the fact that the centers are in the nascent stage, many foreign investors anticipate effective investment-attraction policies soon to meet demand.

Vietnam is seen as one of the fastest-growing data center markets globally, driven by the digitalisation efforts of domestic small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), tech-savvy young population, the advent of 5G, demand for self-sufficient digital infrastructure, and data localisation.

According to the real estate consultancy firm Savills Vietnam, there are 28 data center projects nationwide with a combined capacity of 45 MW. The market sees the involvement of 44 service providers. Notably, in August 2022, Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced the launch of data centers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Meanwhile, a study by Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam reveals that compared to mature markets like Singapore, Tokyo, Sydney, Beijing, and Shanghai, Vietnam remains relatively "young". While major international cloud service providers have yet to establish a significant presence, some international telcos have entered through partnerships with domestic peers. Projects of small and medium scale undertaken by domestic firms are underway in both HCM City and Hanoi.

According to Trang Bui, CEO of Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam, the nation is experiencing rapid population growth – particularly the middle class, urbanization, high internet penetration, and active digital adoption in banking and business operations.

However, despite its advantages, Vietnam currently lacks data center infrastructure on a global scale concerning population ratio. This may pressurize domestic investors in terms of construction challenges, scarcity of experienced labor, and supply chain logistics, among challenges.

Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam's experts suggest investors continue to monitor the sector, particularly focusing on larger-scale projects rather than building numerous small facilities, according to VNA.

Trang Bui, CEO of Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam (Photo: VNA)

According to the CEO, southern localities could become favored destinations thanks to abundant land reserves, readily available electricity within industrial zones, and major national undersea cable landing stations in Quy Nhon, Da Nang, and Vung Tau. Additionally, renewable energy accounts for a quarter of the national energy mix.

Vietnam's data center market exceeded 1 billion USD in 2023, nearly double the figure logged in 2022. Currently, most of those participating in the local data center segment are domestic telecommunications companies such as Viettel IDC, FPT Telecom, CMC Telecom, HTC Telecom International, VNPT, and VNTT.

According to Thomas Rooney, Senior Manager of Industrial Services at Savills Hanoi (Savills Vietnam), rapid growth could emphasize risks related to data privacy, cybersecurity, sustainable resource consumption, reliability, and quality of service. These issues require legislative and land considerations from the Vietnamese Government.

Vietnam must address the challenges to embrace the opportunities presented by cloud, colocation, enterprise and edge computing, he said.

Vietnam aspires to receive further ODA from Japan

Vietnam has high hopes that Japan will continue to provide official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnamese development projects, said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang.

Hang proposed her meeting with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan Komura Masahiro in Tokyo on April 5.

She affirmed that the two countries’ relationship has continued to flourish following the upgrade of ties to that of a comprehensive strategic partnership in November 2023.

Nhat Tan bridge - a Japanese ODA-funded project.

She thanked the Japanese Government for creating favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community to live, work, and study in the Far East nation, while requesting continued support moving forward, including simplifying procedures of visa issuance.

For his part, Masahiro agreed to continue promoting cooperation between the two countries in multiple fields within the framework of the comprehensive strategic partnership along with strengthening people-to-people exchanges.

He affirmed that he will continue to make efforts to bring ODA projects to Vietnam, VOV reported.

He expressed hope that the two sides will coordinate to remove obstacles and strive to accelerate the implementation of ongoing projects.

The two sides also agreed to continue to collaborate to handle incidents involving Vietnamese people violating Japanese laws by raising the awareness among the Vietnamese community in Japan about abiding by the laws of the resident country.

International media praise Vietnam’s tourism charms

Alongside a promising growth in tourist numbers, Vietnam's destinations are also highly acclaimed by international media, helping them reach a wide range of global travelers.

According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald published an article on the importance of sustainable tourism, presenting a list of 20 experiences with positive impact on the environment, ecology, and livelihoods of local residents. Among them, trekking tours through the UNESCO-recognised Non Nuoc Cao Bang Geopark in Vietnam’s northern province of Cao Bang made it to the list.

Foreign tourists on cyclos touring the Old Quarter, Hoan Kiem Lake, downtown Hanoi. (Photo: VNA)

Previously, the Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 for the Asia-Pacific region by DestinAsian magazine named Phu Quoc at 6th place among the top 10 islands in the region. The destinations were voted based on expert and tourist evaluations, considering criteria such as appeal, experiences, local friendliness, cuisine, transport, infrastructure, convenient flight connections, and prices.

The 2024 Travelers' Choice Awards – Best of the Best Destinations by TripAdvisor honored Ha Long Bay (3rd place) and Sapa (5th) on its list of the top 25 destinations worldwide, cited VNA.

Meanwhile, the Yahoo! Finance website named Hue in the central province of Thua Thien Hue as one of the top 20 most underrated travel destinations throughout Asia.

Not only places, but some Vietnamese dishes have also been mentioned by the international media. Among them, Banh Mi (bread) topped the Top 100 sandwiches in the world) announced by the culinary website TasteAtlas last month.

Hanoi Tourism Festival to take place in late April

The festival aims to honor Hanoi's cultural and historical values and boost the capital's tourism promotion.

The Hanoi Tourism Festival 2024, themed "Thang Long - Hanoi, the Charming Capital", will be held from April 25 to 28 at Thong Nhat Park in Hai Ba Trung District.

The annual cultural activities aim to promote tourism, showcase the unique values of Hanoi's attractions and local handicraft villages, and connect tour operators and other businesses from Hanoi and other localities.

Festival organizers said that in response to the National Tourism Year 2024, this year's Hanoi Tourism Festival will focus on responsible tourism, promoting the preservation and promotion of Vietnam's cultural heritage values.

Accordingly, the festival will feature 150 booths with products from 150 local travel companies, including big names such as Vietnam Airlines, Hanoi Tourism Corporation, and Vietravel.

Provinces with attractive tourist destinations will also participate in the festival, including Quang Nam, Thua Thien Hue, Thanh Hoa, Ninh Binh, and others, Hanoi Times reported.

The venue of the Hanoi Tourism Festival 2023. Photo: Le hoi Du lich Ha Noi

The organizers hope the festival will be a good opportunity to promote the local cultural values of heritage sites and foster cooperation between Hanoi and other localities in Vietnam and abroad.

During the event, travel agencies will launch incentive programs and organize mini-game shows with attractive rewards such as vouchers for accommodation, tours, and cuisine at the festival. In addition, some typical handicrafts and tourist gifts, including Bat Trang ceramics and Van Phuc silk, will also be on display.

The festival also features a miniature landscape space designed in 2D and 3D to showcase the beauty of Hanoi's tourist attractions, such as Thang Long Imperial Citadel, Temple of Literature, Son Tay Ancient Citadel, and Hoa Lo Prison Relic Sites, among others.

The festival will host food stalls to introduce visitors to Hanoi's specialties. The opening ceremony of the Hanoi Tourism Festival will be held on the evening of April 26, with an attractive art performance open to the public.

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