Photo: VOV

Hanoi to set off fireworks at six venues on New Year’s Eve

The capital will put on firework displays at six locations to welcome in 2023, according to a plan recently issued by the municipal People’s Committee.

Each firework show is scheduled to last for 15 minutes from 0 a.m. to 0:15 a.m. on January 1, 2023, in six areas, namely Hoan Kiem Lake, Thong Nhat Park, My Dinh National Stadium, Lac Long Quan flower garden, Son Tay ancient citadel, and Van Quan Lake.

Hanoi has also assigned relevant departments and agencies to make preparations for the fireworks in order to ensure the utmost level safety and security.

The capital earlier canceled firework shows for two years due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, cited VOV.

Over the past two years, local authorities have only permitted fireworks to be set off to celebrate the Lunar New Year, known locally as Tet, at just one location.

This year workers will have three days off from January 1, 2023, to January 3, 2023. A countdown event is scheduled to take place at August Revolution Square in Hoan Kiem district on the night of December 31.

Vietnamese women's participation in UN peacekeeping operations impressive: former UNDP Resident Representative

Vietnam has recorded an impressive percentage of women in UN peacekeeping operations, said Caitlin Wiesen, former Resident Representative of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam.

Since the Women, Peace and Security Agenda – an expanded framework towards women’s participation in UN peacekeeping operations – was officially approved in 2000, Vietnam has ensured women’s engagement in peace processes, she added.

Vietnam has recorded an impressive percentage of women in UN peacekeeping operations. Photo: VNA

Together with the UN, the Vietnamese Government organised a conference on women, peace and security in 2000. The same year, the National Assembly adopted Resolution No. 130/2020/QH14 on Vietnam’s participation in UN peacekeeping operations, covering the gender issue.

The UNDP has supported Vietnam in various activities, helping the country improve the capacity of its peacekeeping forces. Notably, the UNDP and the Ministry of National Defence co-organised an international conference on women’s role and Covid-19 prevention and control in peacekeeping operations in 2020.

The two sides also jointly held another international conference on women and UN peacekeeping operations in November 2022, on the occasion of the visit to Vietnam by UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix.

The event looked into how to create a firm foundation to enhance women’s engagement and improve their leadership capacity in peacekeeping activities. It has been seen as a step towards the establishment of a peacekeeping centre of the regional level in Vietnam, according to VNA.

The 2028 target for women serving in military contingents is 15%, and 25% for military observers and staff officers, which Wiesen said is feasible for Vietnam once the country carries forwards its achievements.

The UN backs Vietnam’s commitments to playing a more active role towards global peace and security, as well as its target of establishing the centre, focusing on training and improving the capacity of peacekeeping forces, particularly female personnel.

The UN stands ready to provide technical support and mobilise resources to identify major challenges to deploying female forces, while helping the country with expertise, technologies and international capacity, creating an optimal policy environment to make progress in ensuring general equality and peacekeeping, she affirmed.

Substantial recovery for Vietnamese economy in 2022

With this year seeing Vietnam’s GDP growth rate reach a 11-year record high of 8.02%, the local economy has made an impressive recovery amid global uncertainties, according to insiders.

The latest data released by the General Statistics Office (GSO) shows the GDP growth rate during the 2011 - 2022 period reached 6.41%, 5.50%, 5.55%, 6.42%, 6.99%; 6.69%; 6.94%; 7.47%; 7.36%; 2.87%; 2.56%, and 8.02%, respectively.

Nguyen Thi Huong, general director of the GSO, attributed this strong rebound to the Government’s drastic measures, including the implementation of the socio-economic recovery and development programme, thereby leading to stable macro-economy with inflation brought under control and major balances guaranteed.

Sharing this perspective, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong emphasised the growth rate for 2022 should have been higher if there were not many difficulties in the fourth quarter of the year.

The GSO statistics showed the country’s total import-export turnover has for the first time surpassed the US$700 billion mark, bringing in US$732.5 billion this year, an increase of 9.5% over the previous year. Vietnam has also recorded a trade surplus for seven consecutive years, with the figure rising to US$11.2 billion.

Most notably, all three key economic sectors have enjoyed strong recovery, with agro - forestry – fishery expanding 3.36%, industry and construction 7.78%, and services 9.99%, VOV reported.

Despite securing a spectacular economic recovery, think tanks predict Vietnam will endure numerous challenges over the course of next year.

Deputy Minister Phuong pointed out that there will be a number of difficulties occurring in export markets, particularly as the country’s major foreign economic partners face the risk of recession. Meanwhile, local businesses must also deal with hurdles related to the capital and real estate markets, and cash flow.

Photo: vneconomy.vn

The Deputy Minister also revealed that the country’s export turnover has decreased in recent months, with November and December recording declines of 8.4% and 14%, respectively.

Businesses operating in the garment, footwear, agriculture, fisheries, and furniture sectors anticipate that export orders will fall sharply in the opening months of 2023, even until the end of the second quarter of next year, he said.

Phuong expressed his concern as Vietnam’s Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) in November fell to 47.4 points, indicating that local businesses face many difficulties in signing new orders.

In the fourth quarter of the year, the Industrial Production Index (IIP) only increased by 3% over the same period from last year, while December’s IIP is estimated to decline by 1% compared to the previous month and only increase by 0.2% year on year.

Major financial institutions such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank (WB), and the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation have warned about challenges facing the country’s export next year, saying the Vietnamese economy is required to rely on public investment and domestic consumption.

More than VND700,000 billion of public investment is set to be pumped into the economy in 2023 that will continue to fuel economic recovery and support exports, helping the economy to fulfill its 6.5% growth target.

Deputy Minister Phuong expressed his belief that China moving to relax anti-pandemic measures would facilitate Vietnamese exports to the northern neighbour moving forward.

Vietnam stand a chance to enter AFF Cup semifinals early

If Vietnamese players defeat Singapore at the game on December 30 evening, they will gain a berth in the semifinals of the 2022 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Championship before their last qualifying match takes place.

Vietnam now has a great advantage as it tops Group B of the tournament, named AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2022, after beating Laos 6 - 0 and Malaysia 3 - 0.

The Vietnamese team are hoped to defeat Singapore to enter the AFF Cup 2022 semifinals early. Photo: VietnamPlus

Meanwhile, Singapore is third in Group B with two wins but worse performance in terms of sub-criteria than Malaysia and Vietnam, cited VNA.

The Vietnam-Singapore match will kick off at Jalan Besar Stadium of the city state at 7:30pm (Vietnam time).

The AFF Cup 2022 runs until January 16. Vietnam are in Group B together with Malaysia, Laos, Myanmar, and Singapore. Group A consists of Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Brunei.

Number of newly-registered, reoperating firms up over 30% in 2022: GSO

There are 208,300 enterprises entering the Vietnamese market or resuming their operation in 2022, up 30.3% year-on-year, according to Head of the General Statistics Office (GSO) Nguyen Thi Huong.

Specifically, this year, 148,500 registered to be set up, with a combined capital of 1.59 quadrillion VND (67.4 billion USD) and 981,300 labourers, up 27.1% in the number of firms, and 14.9% in the number of workers, and down 1.3% in capital year-on-year.

Meanwhile, 59,800 enterprises re-operated, up 38.8% year-on-year.

Illustrative image. Photo: VNA

Also in this year, 73,800 firms suspended their operation, up 34.3% year-on-year; while nearly 50,800 ones stopped operating and waited for dissolution procedures, up 5.5%; and 18,600 completed dissolution procedures, up 11.2%.

A survey on business results of processing and manufacturing firms in the fourth quarter shows that 32.6% of the respondents said they saw better performances compared to the third quarter, while 33.7% saw their production and business stable, and the same proportion said they faced difficulties.

To support businesses, Huong proposed ministries and sectors ensure the supply of materials and energy to meet requirements of production and business recovery and socio-economic development; help solve difficulties facing important industrial projects; and provide maximum support for factories to maintain and restore production.

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