Vietnam News Today (Feb. 8): Vietnam Reaffirms Support for UN Secretary-General’s Role, Efforts

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh meets the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah on the sidelines of the ASEAN Leaders' Meeting in April 2021.

Vietnam, Brunei seek stronger comprehensive partnership

The Vietnam - Brunei comprehensive partnership has grown steadily over recent times, with this being reflected in many aspects, such as the exchange of high-level meetings, investment, trade links, security, and defence.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, his wife, and a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation will pay an official visit to Brunei Darrussalam from February 10 to February 11 at the invitation of the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah.

Both sides first established diplomatic ties on February 29, 1992, and a comprehensive partnership in March, 2019. Over the previous decades, the friendship and multifaceted linkages has enjoyed strong and substantive developments.

The two countries are both members of ASEAN. During the 30-year journey of establishing diplomatic ties, despite experiencing many ups and downs in the region and around the world, Vietnam-Brunei ties have continuously been consolidated and developed, recording plenty of achievements in the fields of economics, politics, security, defence, and education.

As part of the occasion of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties, both nations’ leaders exchanged congratulatory letters, emphasizing their determination to boost co-operation in a deeper and substantive manner as a means of contributing to building a harmonious, cohesive, highly adaptive, and effective ASEAN community to handle global challenges.

2019 marked an important development in joint ties when the leaders of the two countries agreed to upgrade the relationship to a comprehensive partnership on the occasion of the state visit to Vietnam by the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah in March, 2019.

The upgrading of relations to a comprehensive partnership in 2019 can be seen as a very important step, marking a transformation in both quantity and quality in the bilateral relationship. Indeed, it demonstrated the common determination of both countries’ senior leaders in making bilateral co-operation more practical in accordance with the new context of the global situation ,as well as the general trend of the region and the world.

Most notably, high-level meetings, as well as bilateral cooperation mechanisms, have been effectively maintained.

These include Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s meeting with the Sultan of Brunei within the framework of the ASEAN Leaders' Meeting in Jakarta in April, 2021, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue’s talks with Speaker of the Legislative Council of Brunei Abdul Rahman Taib in June, 2021, and Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son’s phone conversation with the Second Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brunei Darussalam in April, 2021. This is along with a meeting with the Second Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brunei Darussalam within the framework of the ASEAN-India Foreign Ministers' Meeting in June, 2022 and Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son’s official visit to Brunei to co-chair the second Joint Committee on Bilateral Cooperation in September, 2022.

Regarding investment and trade, the two countries have fulfilled the two-way trade target of reaching over US$500 million before the deadline by 2025.

As of October, 2022, bilateral trade turnover had reached US$638.5 million, up 141.4% on-year. Brunei ranked 26th out of 141 countries and territories investing in Vietnam with a total registered capital of US$971 million, with a specific focus on processing industry, manufacturing, construction, and real estate.

Regarding defence and security, the two countries continued to effectively implement co-operation contents on the basis of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral defence co-operation, including the exchange of delegations at all levels, training, and information exchange, along with co-ordination in search and rescue.

Creating linkages in energy, agriculture, education, maritime field, and people-to-people exchanges continues to be the focus of development, cited VOV.

The two sides have closely co-ordinated in regional and international issues of shared concern, including the East Sea issue. They have supported each other at multilateral forums, especially at the UN, ASEAN, and APEC.

As 30 years since the initial establishment of diplomatic ties has been reached, the occasion is a an opportunity for the two countries to look back on their achievements and work towards new goals in their bilateral relations moving forward.

Within the framework of this visit to Brunei, PM Chinh will hold talks with the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, visit a number of enterprises, and attend a business seminar in a bid to promote extensive ties, especially in the fields of energy, agriculture, education, and continue to exploit other potential fields.

Vietnam Airlines to fully restore flight network to China

National flag Vietnam Airlines will resume five more routes between Vietnam and China in March and April, meaning nine out of its 10 routes to the destination are back to operation after the pandemic.

In March, its flights between Hanoi and Beijing will resume with a frequency of three flights a week. Meanwhile, the carrier will increase the weekly frequency of flights linking Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam to Guangzhou and Shanghai of China to four from the current one to two flights.

Illustrative photo (Source: VNA)

From April, Vietnam Airlines will reopen four routes between Da Nang and China’s Guangzhou, Shanghai and Chengdu as well as between Hanoi and Chengdu. The routes will operate two flights a week to provide service between the two communities, according to VNA.

In addition, from September, the airline plans to operate the wide-body aircraft Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 on its routes between Hanoi and Beijing; and between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and Shanghai.

With the optimistic scenario that China continues to ease related procedures and demand recovers well, Vietnam Airlines expects the number of passengers flying between the two countries this year to reach about 80% of the 8.1 million recorded in 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vietnam reaffirms support for UN Secretary-General’s role, efforts

Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations (UN), on February 6 stressed the necessity to devote national and international resources to peace, development and human.

Attending the 77th UN General Assembly (UNGA 77)’s plenary on Secretary-General António Guterres’s priorities in 2023, the UNGA 77 Vice President also called on the international community to join efforts to implement the sustainable development goals (SDGs), the 2030 Agenda and other global commitments and priorities, through respecting the UN Charter and international law.

Ambassador Dang Hoang Giang, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations, speaks at the plenary. (Photo: VNA)

It is important to address conflicts by peaceful means, boost multilateral cooperation, strengthen financial support and reform of the international financial system, ensure resources for sustainable development, and pay more attention to climate change and justice, he emphasised.

The diplomat also reaffirmed the country’s backing for the UN Secretary-General’s role and efforts, and its commitment to maintaining close collaboration with other UN member states, reported VNA.

Guterres expressed his concerns about the complicatedly developing world situation, with multi-dimensional challenges from the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, competition among powers, conflicts in many regions, poverty, inequality, and climate change.

He emphasised that in the coming time, the international community needs to strengthen coordination of actions, make efforts to find creative solutions, on the basis of the UN Charter and international law to promote sustainable development, and prevent and resolve conflicts for the benefits of the future generations.

Ninh Binh named among world’s most welcoming places in 2023

The online hotel booking site Booking.com has listed Vietnam’s Ninh Binh as one of the world’s ten most welcoming regions in 2023 in its annual Traveller Review Awards.

The rankings are based on over 240 million verified customer reviews on the platform.

The scenic site of Trang An in Ninh Binh Province. (Photo: Thu Ha)

Ninh Binh was the former capital of Vietnam in the 10th century. The province is known for various scenic sites, including the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Trang An, the Kim Son-Con Noi Biosphere Reserve and the Ramsar site of the Van Long Wetland Nature Reserve.

Ninh Binh is likened to a miniature Vietnam with diverse natural landscapes and rich cultural heritage, cited NDO.

It is also the filming location of some famous Hollywood movies, such as Pan and Neverland, The Quiet American and Kong: Skull Island.

Other regions in the top ten are La Rioja (Spain), Epirus (Greece), Oberosterreich (Austria), County Down (the UK), Mures (Romania), Marlborough (New Zealand), Limon (Costa Rica), Newfoundland & Labrador (Canada) and North Dakota (the US).

Vietnam to compete in 2023 Asian Cup in early 2024

The Vietnamese national men’s football team are set to compete in the finals of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup which is scheduled to get underway in Qatar in January, 2024.

The regional tournament will see the participation of 24 teams, including Vietnam and those who made it to the third qualification round of the Asian zone for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Vietnamese players celebrate their goal during the 2022 World Cup second qualification Asian zone. Photo courtesy of VFF

According to Windsor John, the AFC’s general secretary, the 2023 Asian Cup will take place in January, 2024, to avoid the hot weather in Qatar.

Most recently, 2022 saw Qatar host the FIFA World Cup finals for the first time, with the event being the first World Cup held in winter to prevent the harsh weather conditions in Qatar negatively impacting the competition.

This comes following China, who had been scheduled to host the 2023 Asian Cup, changing its plans due to disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Previously, the Vietnamese team made it through to the quarter-finals of the 2019 Asian Cup, although they eventually lost 1-0 to Japan, VOV reported.

Korean coach Park Hang-seo ended contract with the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) on January 31, with French coach Philippe Troussier likely to lead the national team at the regional tournament after taking charge of his first match this February.

Frenchman will manage both Vietnam’s U23s and the senior team, with the aim of defending their gold medal in the men’s football at SEA Games 32 which will be held in Cambodia this May, as well as competing in the qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in November and the 2023 Asian Cup in January, 2024.

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