Vietnam News Today (April 7): Vo Thi Anh Xuan elected Vice State President of Vietnam
	Vietnam News Today (April 6): Politburo member Pham Minh Chinh sworn in as new Prime Minister of Vietnam
	Vietnam News Today (April 5): New State President, PM to be sworn in on April 5

Two new Deputy PMs nominated in new Cabinet lineup

Newly-elected Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on April 7 submitted to the National Assembly (NA) for approval a list featuring 14 nominees to key positions within the new Cabinet, including two Deputy PMs.

Le Minh Khai, 57, a Master of Accounting, and Le Van Thanh, 59, a Master of Economic Management, were both nominated to hold the posts of Deputy PMs. Both officials are members of the current 13th Party Central Committee.

Most notably, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, 59, a Master of External Relations, was named as the nation’s new Foreign Minister.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of National Defence, Sen. Lieut. Gen. Phan Van Giang is anticipated to be named as the new leader of the Ministry of National Defence.

The General currently serves as a member of the Political Bureau and Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army.

Numerous NA deputies debated the list of nominees on April 7 and are scheduled to hold a fresh vote by secret ballot ahead on April 8.

The new Cabinet lineup is expected to be unveiled shortly before the NA holds the closing session on the same day.

This comes after the legislative body voted for a resolution relieving 13 Cabinet members of their posts on April 7 following the successful completion of their duties, according to VOV.

National Assembly to relieve 13 Cabinet members of their posts

Newly-elected Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh submitted to the National Assembly (NA) a list of 13 Cabinet members on April 7 who will be relieved of their posts following the successful completion of their duties.

Featured on the list are Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung, along with 12 Ministers and heads of ministerial-level bodies.

Among them are Minister of National Defence Ngo Xuan Lich, Minister of Construction Pham Hong Ha, Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha, Minister of Finance Dinh Tien Dung, Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh, and Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh.

The current Cabinet is made up of the Prime Minister, four Deputy Prime Ministers, and 21 Ministers and heads of ministerial-level bodies.

During the course of the recent 13th national congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, nine Cabinet members were not chosen for reelection to the Party Central Committee.

NA deputies are scheduled to conduct a vote by secret ballot in the afternoon following a series of debates on the list in groups which will take place throughout the morning.

The PM is also set to submit a list of personnel who can succeed the Cabinet members in the afternoon.

PM Pham Minh Chinh was elected to his new post by the NA on April 5.

US President congratulates newly-elected President Nguyen Xuan Phuc

US President Joe Biden has sent a message of congratulation to Nguyen Xuan Phuc who was recently elected President of Vietnam at the ongoing session of the National Assembly.

President Biden together with President of Nicaragua Daniel Ortega Saavedra and Vice President Rosario Murillo congratulated Nguyen Xuan Phuc on his election as President of Vietnam., according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam.

President Phuc also received letters of congratulation from Singaporean President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Indian President Nath Kovind, and UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Maktoum and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Congratulations to the State leader also came from Mongolian President Khaltmaagiin Battulga, and Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tarik.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received congratulatory messages and letters from Singaporean PM Lee Hsien Loong, Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha; Indian PM Narendra Modi, and Premier of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Tok Hun, VOV reported.

Vietnam attends ADSOM+ Working Group meeting

Lieut. Gen Vu Chien Thang, Director of the Defence Ministry’s Foreign Relations Department, led a Vietnamese delegation to attend a meeting of the ASEAN Defence Senior Officials’ Meeting Plus Working Group (ADSOM+ WG) via videoconference on April 7.

The meeting was chaired by Deputy Permanent Secretary of Policy and Strategy at the Brunei Defence Ministry Haji Adi Ihram Bin Dato Paduka Haji Mahmud, and also attended by heads of ADSOM+ WG of other ASEAN member states and partner countries - Russia, China, the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India.

In his opening remarks, the Bruneian representative emphasised serious impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic that several countries are suffering, and highlighted the implementation of COVID-19 vaccinations which, he said, will make countries get closer to recovery in both regional and international levels.

With the main goal of continuing works of the ADSOM+ WG in February, he showed his hope that this meeting will be constructive and successful.

At the event, participants heard reports of ASEAN Defence Ministerial Meeting Plus (ADMM+) Working Groups on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, marine security, military medicine, anti-terrorism, peacekeeping, humanitarian mine action and cyber security.

They also exchanged views on a draft joint statement of the eighth ADMM+ and agreed on the dates and agendas of the ASEAN Defence Senior Officials’ Meeting Plus and the eighth ADMM+.

On this occasion, the Bruneian side also provided updates on relevant activities and events within the ADMM+ framework in 2021, as reported by VOV.

New decree expected to boost social housing development

The Government has issued a new decree aiming to promote the development of social housing.

The decree will amend Decree No 100/2015/ND-CP dated October 20, 2015, which was expected to remove bottlenecks for the development of social housing projects amid a serious shortage of affordable homes in the market.

Taking effect from the beginning of April, the new decree includes new regulations for the percentage of land in commercial housing projects, urban areas and industrial zones that must be used for social housing, as well as preferential interest rates for social housing developers and buyers.

The new decree is expected to promote the development of social housing projects to meet market demand.

(Photo: Vietnam Plus)

Per the decree, commercial housing and urban area projects with a total area of 2ha or higher in urban areas classified as special or type one or from 5ha in urban areas of type two and three must designate 20 percent of their total land with adequate technical infrastructure for social housing development.

The planning of industrial zones must designate appropriate land for social housing development with adequate technical and social infrastructure.

Social housing apartments must be sized from 25 sq.m to 70 sq.m. The number of apartments with areas of higher than 70 sq.m must be less than 10% of the total units in social housing projects.

In addition, the maximum lending duration was extended to 25 years from 15 years in the previous decree, as reported by VOV.

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