Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L) and his Cambodian counterpart Samdech Moha Bovor Thipadei Hun Manet inspect the guard of honour (Photo: VNA)

PM chairs official welcome ceremony for Cambodian counterpart

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hosted a welcome ceremony in Hanoi on December 11 for his Cambodian counterpart Samdech Moha Bovor 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, cited VNA.

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

The official visit demonstrates the resolve of leaders of both sides 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.

Broader scope of Vietnam – China comprehensive strategic cooperation

Chinese Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping is scheduled to pay a State visit to Vietnam on December 12 - 13, aiming to promote the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership that was established 15 years ago between the two countries.

During Xi’s visit it is expected that the two sides will discuss the possibility of elevating joint relations to a higher position on the back of the positive developments recorded in their comprehensive strategic cooperation partnership over the years.

China, the world’s second largest economy, is Vietnam’s largest trading partner, whilst Vietnam is China’s largest trading partner in ASEAN and the fourth largest trading partner globally after the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.

The first 10 months of the year saw the northern neighbor pour more than US$2.5 billion into 555 projects, making it the fourth largest FDI investor in the Vietnamese market. Approximately 1.3 million Chinese visitors traveled to Vietnam throughout the reviewed period, making it the second largest tourism market.

According to Nong Duc Lai, commercial counselor of the Vietnamese Embassy in China, over the past 15 years trade turnover between the two countries has increased more than eight times, hitting US$175.5 billion last year. In addition, Chinese investment into the Vietnamese market has also leapfrogged by nearly 10 places, thereby ranking sixth among more than 140 countries and territories investing in the country.

Both sides boast great potential to achieve stronger economic and trade cooperation which is highly complementary, Lai told VOV, noting that the two sides are in the process of accelerating the opening of markets for their key agricultural products.

Politically, the two countries have maintained a regular exchange of delegation visits and contacts at all levels, especially following the China visit made in late 2022 by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to outline their future collaboration plans.

During a working trip made to the Friendship International Border Gate in August 2023, the Party leader told Chinese Ambassador Xiong Bo that the Vietnamese side gives top priority to building and developing its strong relationship with China. Meanwhile, the Chinese diplomat also affirmed that ties between both sides, which were founded and cultivated by Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong and Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh and many other generations of leaders of the two countries, are unique and will live long forever, according to VOV.

Vietnamese Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Chinese Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping hold talks in Beijing during the former's visit in late 2022.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during his working visit to Hanoi in early December, also reaffirmed that developing relations with Vietnam remains a top priority in China’s neighborhood diplomacy strategy.

Local cooperation, particularly joint efforts between the two countries’ border localities, serves as a bright spot in bilateral relations. Notably, an exchange meeting between the Party Secretaries of the four Vietnamese border provinces of Quang Ninh, Lang Son, Cao Bang, and Ha Giang with the Chinese province of Guangxi’s Zhuang Autonomous Region has been held annually.

Ho Tien Thieu, head of the Lang Son provincial administration, pointed out that local cooperation between the two countries is increasingly promoting its practical effectiveness, thereby contributing to deepening the connotation of the Vietnam – China comprehensive strategic cooperation partnership. He revealed that Lang Son has submitted to the Prime Minister a project which seeks to develop smart border gates at its Friendship and Tan Thanh border gates, whilst China’s Guangxi has shown its readiness to undertake the joint project.

President Xi’s visit to Vietnam, along with General Secretary Trong’s visit to China late last year, are anticipated to take mutual relations to new heights, thereby contributing to peace, stability, and cooperation in the region and the wider world.

Vietnamese economy offers unique opportunity for investors: Website

As Vietnam's economy is rapidly expanding, outpacing their ASEAN peers, it presents a unique opportunity for investors, said an article published on the Israeli-based financial market news site seekingalpha.com.

The article said such growth is underpinned by diverse sectors, from high-tech manufacturing to natural resources, and bolstered by significant trade relationships, especially with the US and China.

“Vietnam's economic reforms have created a virtuous cycle: reforms spurred exports, which in turn drove economic growth, leading to increased domestic demand. This trajectory has positioned Vietnam as a dynamic and integral part of the global economy, with a domestic market that continues to show robust growth potential,” wrote the article.

A view of Ho Chi Minh City - Vietnam's southern economic hub (Photo: VNA)

It said Vietnam has grown into a well-diversified economy that strikes an attractive balance between export-led growth and growing domestic demand that enjoys robust exports in addition to a growing domestic consumer base.

Vietnam's public equity opportunity set is heavily weighted towards financials, real estate and consumer staples. In the MarketVector Vietnam Local Index, the top 10 holdings are skewed towards these sectors, and are also heavily dependent on domestic revenues. This also lends credence to the argument that the Vietnamese economy enjoys robust domestic demand, VNA reported.

Local Vietnamese stocks, meanwhile, have outperformed broad emerging markets benchmarks since 2018. The article assessed that given Vietnam's economic and market-structure progress over the past decade, investors should look closely at this emerging opportunity.

Vietnam warns about human avian flu risk after Cambodia outbreak

The recent announcement by Cambodia of two additional human cases of H5N1 avian influenza has raised concerns about the spread of the disease in Vietnam, the Ministry of Health has said.

According to the Cambodian Ministry of Health, two more cases of human infections of H5N1 have been recorded in Kampot province, bringing the total number of human infections to six. Of the cases, three deaths have been confirmed.

The Vietnamese Health Ministry has sent dispatches to localities in a bid to strengthen the prevention and control of avian influenza by the year-end, cited VOV.

Vietnam raises concerns about the spread of the human avian flu risk after Cambodia outbreak (Photo: promegaconnections)

The localities were asked to closely monitor people entering the country and to detect suspected cases, especially traders who deal in live poultry and poultry products and who have a history of coming from an epidemic area.

Localities were required to take samples for testing and attempt to prevent the disease from spreading among the community, while strengthening inspections on acute respiratory infections, severe viral pneumonia, and influenza syndrome cases in a bid to promptly detect cases of influenza A (H5N1).

The Ministry also requested that hospitals stand ready to isolate and treat infected patients and promptly notify the Centers for Disease Control for timely epidemic prevention and control measures. They must therefore ensure enough medicine, medical supplies, and chemicals are available to handle any potential outbreak.

Apple to move key iPad engineering resources to Vietnam: Nikkei Asia

Apple is for the first time allocating product development resources for the iPad to Vietnam, said Nikkei Asia in a recent article.

According to Nikkei Asia, Apple is working with China's BYD, a key iPad assembler, to move new product introduction (NPI) resources to Vietnam. NPI involves a tech company like Apple collaborating with suppliers on the design and development of new products to make sure the blueprints are doable. This is the first time Apple has shifted NPI resources to Vietnam for such a core device.

Engineering verification for test production of an iPad model will start around mid-February next year, sources told Nikkei Asia. The model will be available in the second half of next year.

This shift of NPI engineering resources is focused on entry-level models rather than the premium iPad Pro.

NPI demands substantial resources both from the tech company and its suppliers, such as engineers and investment in lab equipment for testing new features and functions.

Photo: VNN

Apple is the world's biggest tablet maker, with a market share of 36.6 percent in the first three quarters of 2023, IDC data showed. According to Counterpoint Research, only about 10 percent of all iPads were built in Vietnam this year.

Vietnam has emerged as the most important tech manufacturing hub for Apple outside of China. The Cupertino-based tech giant has asked suppliers to build new capacity for nearly all of its products except the iPhone-from AirPods and MacBooks to Apple Watches and iPads-in the Southeast Asian country.

Vietnam consistently plays a crucial and strategic role in manufacturing, acting as a hub and potentially becoming one of the next global manufacturing centers, said Ivan Lam, a tech analyst at Counterpoint Research, VGP reported.

Apple's recent supply chain mapping has demonstrated the capability of its production site in Vietnam to manufacture the iPad and scale up production, he added.

Bryan Ma, Vice President of client devices research with IDC, said Vietnam is one of the beneficiaries of the device industry's diversification efforts, including not just tablets but also personal computers, which are even more complicated to manufacture.

"Having the entire ecosystem moving with the assemblers is important, particularly for notebooks, where there are more discrete parts," he said.

"After these years of shift, we really find places in India and Vietnam emerge as two very important manufacturing ecosystems," said Vincent Chen, President of CTBC Securities Investment Service and a veteran tech analyst.

A number of giant multinationals have also been present in Vietnam, including Apple, Nike, Morgan Stanley, Intel, and Google, among others.

The Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment reported that total foreign investment inflows to Vietnam reached nearly US$28.85 billion over the last 11 months of this year, up 14.8 percent on year.

Vietnam News Today (Dec. 9): Vietnam, Belarus Exempt Visas For Ordinary Passport Holders Vietnam News Today (Dec. 9): Vietnam, Belarus exempt visas for ordinary passport holders; NA Chairman receives leaders of Thai Chamber of Commerce, leading Thai firms; ...

Vietnam News Today (Dec. 10): President Xi Jinping's Visit to Open Up New Chapter in Vietnam-China Ties Vietnam News Today (Dec. 10): President Xi Jinping's visit to open up new chapter in Vietnam-China ties; Domestic enterprises advised to meet EU’s green, sustainable ...

Vietnam News Today (Dec. 11): Economic And Trade Links - Fresh Impetus For Vietnam-Cambodia Relations Vietnam News Today (Dec. 11): Vietnam shows strong political commitment to maximizing green energy transition; Economic and trade links-fresh impetus for Vietnam-Cambodia relations; Vietnamese doctors ...