Vietnam News Today (April 28): NA Standing Committee convenes 55th session

	Vietnam News Today (April 27): Party leader welcomes Chinese Defence Minister
	Vietnam News Today (April 25): Vietnam, China hold border defence friendship exchange

NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue speaking at the meeting. (Photo: NDO)

NA Standing Committee convenes 55th session

National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue chaired the 55th session of the 14th NA’s Standing Committee in Hanoi on April 27.

In his remarks, the NA leader said that the session aims to review outcomes of the 11th meeting of the 14th NA, and give initial opinions on preparations for the 15th legislature’s first session.

Participants discussed and made decisions on issues related to establishing and adjusting administrative boundaries in Hanoi capital city, and Thanh Hoa, Dong Nai and Tuyen Quang provinces; the boundary adjustment to expand Hue city of Thua Thien-Hue province and arrangement of wards in Hue city.

They also debated on plans to use the remaining savings and budget sources of the central budget in 2020, and the supplementary funding for purchasing vaccines, antiseptic chemicals and national crop seeds.

During that session, under the chair of NA Vice Chairman Nguyen Khac Dinh, the NA Standing Committee considered, discussed and approved resolutions on adjusting administrative boundaries and establishing administrative units of Thanh Hoa, Dong Nai, Tuyen Quang provinces and Hanoi; and the administrative boundary adjustment, rearrangement and establishment of wards in Hue city, as reported by NDO.

Deputy PM sends message to 77th Session of UNESCAP

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh on April 27 sent a video message to the 77th Session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission of Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) at the invitation of A.S.Alisjahbana, UN Under-Secretary General and UNESCAP Executive Secretary, according to NDO.

In his remarks, Deputy PM Minh affirmed that for the past year, thanks to national efforts and the valuable cooperation and support of the international community, Vietnam has fundamentally put the pandemic under control, ensuring social protection and security and economic growth recovery, attaining our “dual goals” of pandemic prevention and social-economic growth and recovery.

Deputy PM Pham Binh Minh sent a video message to the 77th Session of the UNESCAP (Photo: NDO)

As the Chair of ASEAN in 2020, Vietnam pursued important initiatives within ASEAN to further efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic, towards the recovery of regional supply chains and ASEAN connectivity in coherence with sustainable development. It has also actively participated in the strengthening of the Mekong cooperation frameworks and the adoption of APEC Vision to 2040.

According to the Vietnamese official, the United Nations needs to continue to play its central role in policy cooperation and coordination to effectively implement a comprehensive strategy to tackle the pandemic, including having vaccines as the common good of the international community, ensuring fair, equitable and timely access to vaccination, to diagnosis and treatment of the COVID-19.

In addition, countries need to enhance international cooperation at all levels in practical experience and knowledge sharing in order to implement post-pandemic recovery strategies and policies, which are suitable for each country’s context, conditions and priorities, he noted.

Gov't Warns of "Very High" Risk of COVID-19 Resurgence

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has warned of a “very high” risk of COVID-19 resurgence.

Dam, who is head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, stressed the point during the committee’s meeting on Tuesday.

Globally, there have been more than 148 million infection cases, including 3.1 million fatalities. Noticeably, more than 18 new cases were confirmed over the last week, accounting for 12.4% of the world’s patient tally.

In India, the pandemic remains complicated and the healthcare system is at its peak due to surge of new infections.

Many other countries have reported resurgence of COVID-19 after relaxing preventive measures while some regional countries like Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia have recorded huge jump in COVID-19 cases.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam chairs a meeting of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, Ha Noi, April 27, 2021. Photo: VGP

Domestically, the pandemic has been controlled well as Viet Nam has gone 33 days without a single community infection case, thus many people began to relax on COVID-19 prevention measures, particularly mask wearing.

Meanwhile, illegal immigration still occurs and quarantine facilities, if not managed well, could be a source of transmissions.

Against the backdrop, Deputy PM Vu ordered subordinate levels to continue implementation of preventive measures, strictly control border areas, and encourage people to report illegal entrants to competent authorities.

Vu called on Vietnamese people living and working abroad to try to refrain from travels, stay on in the host countries, and abide by the host countries’ COVID-19 prevention measures.

The National Steering Committee asked the Ministry of Health to update the world’s new COVID-19 test technologies and quickly import those proved to be effective in order to meet requirements for future pandemic prevention and control work, according to VGP.

ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting Reflects Bloc’s Determination to Handle Emerging Vital Issues

The ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting, held in Jakarta, Indonesia on April 24, indicates the bloc’s determination to handle emerging vital issues in the region, said Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung.

Nguyen said the meeting took place amid complicated evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic in several regional member States.

Building on the newly-established position in 2020 when Viet Nam assumed the ASEAN Chair, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s participation in the meeting demonstrated Viet Nam’s constant wish to make proactive and responsible contributions to the bloc.

Pham suggested the ASEAN countries should pay greater attention to narrow development gap between sub-regions within ASEAN in order to ensure no one left behind.

To sustain ASEAN centrality in the current changing strategic environment, Pham, who took office on April 5, 2021, emphasized that trust and goodwill should be translated into concrete actions not aimed at intensifying tensions or complicating the situation.

Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung (Photo: VGP)

Pham underlined that ASEAN must stick to its principled positions on the East Sea issue, including those pertaining to maintenance of peace, stability, security, and safety of navigation and aviation and observation of international law and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Regarding PM Pham’s bilateral meetings with ASEAN leaders, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen said these meetings offered Pham opportunities to reaffirm Viet Nam’s foreign policy adopted at the 13th National Party Congress and establish working relations with the regional counterparts.

During these meetings, the leaders discussed and shaped major cooperation orientations as well as specific measures to boost cooperation with each of the regional countries, VGP said.

Japan attaches importance to strengthening ties with Vietnam

Japan attaches great importance to and wishes to promote its extensive strategic partnership with Vietnam, Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu said during phone talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son on April 27.

Minister Toshimitsu highly appreciated Vietnam’s rising position regionally and globally, affirming that Japan will continue to cooperate with and support Vietnam in its development process.

For his part, Minister Son expressed his delight at the strong, comprehensive development of the Vietnam - Japan relations over the years and affirmed that Vietnam always considers Japan as a long-term, leading strategic partner.

Vietnam wishes to continue actively promoting cooperation with Japan bilaterally as well as in international forums to address issues of mutual concern, Son stressed.

Both sides agreed to further increase the exchange of reciprocal visits at all levels, strengthen cooperation between the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs, improve the efficiency of dialogue mechanisms, and closely coordinate in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. They also agreed to boost bilateral cooperation in official development assistance, trade and investment, as well as in training Vietnamese interns.

Minister Toshimitsu highly valued contributions by Vietnamese trainees working in Japan, and said Japan would continue to support the Vietnamese community in the country. He requested the two sides to discuss an early resumption of commercial flight routes between the two countries, in an effort to promote bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation.

Both ministers exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest, including the East Sea issue and the situation in Myanmar, VOV reported.

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