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Cuban Ambassador to Vietnam Orlando Nicolas Hernandez Guillen (left) hands over letters of congratulations from Cuban leaders to President To Lam. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam always stands side by side with Cuba in all circumstances: President

President To Lam on June 24 affirmed that Vietnam always stands side by side with Cuba in all circumstances while he received Cuban Ambassador to Vietnam Orlando Nicolas Hernandez Guillen in Hanoi.

During the reception, Lam said that the Party, State and Government of Vietnam value the special traditional relationship with Cuba as both a comrade and a brother.

Lam expressed his delight to see the two countries’ growing relations, with strong and comprehensive developments in the complex world situation.

Vietnam always believes that under the wise leadership of the Communist Party of Cuba and the solidarity, efforts and strong will of Cuban people, Cuba will continue to firmly defend the achievements of the revolution and make new achievements in all aspects on the path of building a socialist country, Lam said.

To promote the comprehensive cooperation between the two countries, the President suggested maintaining the exchange of delegations and contacts at high level, and close coordination in effectively realizing high-level agreements and existing cooperation mechanisms, cited VNA.

The two sides should work closely together in devising activities to celebrate the 65th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties next year (December 2, 1960 – 2025), the leader noted.

The President also hoped that the two sides would effectively implement agricultural development cooperation programs, promote bilateral economic-trade-investment relations, as well as expand cooperation to other areas of their strengths.

Lam expressed his belief that the ambassador will continue to make important and practical contributions during his term to enhance the friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Cuba, bilaterally and multilaterally.

For his part, the Cuban diplomat said that Cuba is always proud of Vietnam's development and the international community's recognition of the country.

In Cuba's development efforts over the past years, there has always been the companionship and support, both materially and spiritually, of the Vietnamese Party, State and people, he said, thanking Vietnam for its help in agricultural development cooperation programs, contributing to ensuring food security for Cuba.

Cuba is ready to share and cooperate with Vietnam in biotechnology, one of its strengths, he stressed.

Vietnam proposes Australia ease visa requirements to develop tourism

Vietnam has proposed that Australia consider relaxing visa application procedures in a bid to encourage more Vietnamese tourists to visit Australia moving forward, according to the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT).

At present Vietnam applies an electronic visa program for Australian tourists, helping to shorten the visa processing time to between three and five days.

At the recent Vietnam - Australia Tourism Conference in Melbourne, Nguyen Trung Khanh, director of the VNAT, emphasized that the implementation of a range of tourism promotion activities by Australian firms operating in the country has served to affirm active Vietnamese support for Australian businesses, according to VOV.

Photo: VOV

Simultaneously, Australian enterprises have also dispatched famtrip delegations to survey Vietnamese tourist destinations in an effort to promote Vietnamese tourism among Australian people, Khanh said.

He revealed that the country will arrange a scheme specifically seeking to promote Vietnamese tourism in Australia this September.

“We hope to receive support from Australia’s tourism management agencies so that the event can be successfully organized, thereby accelerating tourism development and enhancing two-way exchange of visitors,” Khanh noted.

According to industry insiders, in order for Australian visitors to stay longer and spend more whilst visiting Vietnam, apart from easing visa requirements, the local tourism industry should strive to create diverse attractive tourism products.

Furthermore, experts also underlined the need to launch more direct flights to several cities in Australia as a way of making travel among the two countries more convenient.

President Vladimir Putin hails Vietnam talks as constructive, productive

Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a letter of thanks to General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong and State President To Lam after his state visit to Vietnam on June 19-20, affirming that his talks in Vietnam were truly constructive and productive, cited VNA.

Talks between General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong and Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo: VNA)

"Our talks were truly constructive and productive. I am confident that the implementation of the achieved bilateral agreements will help to further strengthen the relations of comprehensive strategic partnership," says the translated version by TASS news agency of Putin's message posted on the Kremlin’s website.

"I expect that active joint work on key issues on the bilateral and international agenda will be continued," Putin said.

He thanked the Vietnamese leadership “for a warm welcome and unforgettable hospitality,” affirming that the trip gave him the kindest impressions.

“I wish you good health and new achievements for the benefit of the friendly Vietnamese people," Putin added.

Vietnam’s Q2 GDP growth to moderate amid higher inflation: Standard Chartered

Vietnam’s GDP growth in the second quarter of the year is forecast to moderate to still-strong 5.3% from 5.7% in the first quarter, according to the Standard Chartered Bank’s recent macroeconomic updates about Vietnam.

Standard Chartered economists noted that retail sales and export growth in June are expected to ease to 8.2% and 14.2% compared to 9.5% and 15.8% in May, respectively, while electronics exports are likely to continue their year-to-date improvement.

Meanwhile, imports and industrial production in June are likely to grow by 26.0% and 5.2% compared to 29.9% and 8.9%, respectively, recorded in May, VOV reported.

Photo: VOV

Inflation in June may rise to 4.5% from 4.4% in May, thereby marking a third straight month when it has stayed above 4%. Education, housing and construction materials, health care, and food have all contributed to driving inflation recently, and this trend is likely to continue over the coming months.

“Despite the likely slowdown in the second quarter, we think Vietnam’s recovery remains intact. However, economic challenges could persist in the third quarter amid rising price pressures, foreign exchange weakness and soft global demand,” said Tim Leelahaphan, economist for Thailand and Vietnam of Standard Chartered Bank.

The bank anticipates that the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) will move to hike the refinancing rate by 50 basis points ahead in the fourth quarter of the year in response to rising inflation. Foreign exchange weakness supports the financial institution’s call for a hike in the fourth quarter of the year, or possibly earlier. According to experts, the US Federal Reserve moves will be key to the SBV’s policy decisions.

Vietnam, Cambodia look forward to US$20 billion trade: MOIT

Trade has been a bright spot in the Vietnam-Cambodia relationship, experiencing impressive growth over the past more than a decade and expected to reach US$20 billion.

Cambodia serves as a source of many raw materials for the Vietnamese industry, particularly rubber. It is also a major consumer of Vietnamese products like iron and steel, construction materials, processed food, and consumer goods.

Data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Asia-Africa Market Department revealed a strong upward trend. Two-way trade grew by an average of 18.5 percent annually between 2010 and 2015, and 17 per cent per year between 2016 and 2020, reaching US$5.31 billion in 2020 from US$2.92 billion in 2016.

Photo: Hanoi Times

The year 2022 saw a significant jump of 11 per cent to US$10.57 billion in trade value. The positive momentum has carried into 2024, with the first five months recording a trade value of US$4.6 billion, reflecting a 13.4 percent increase.

Vietnam's exports to Cambodia during the first half of 2024 were estimated at US$2.5 billion, mainly consisting of iron and steel, apparel, and petrol and oil. However, this represented a 1.1 per cent decrease compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Vietnam's imports from Cambodia in the period surged by 38.4 per cent to an estimated US$2.9 billion, driven by cashew nuts, rubber, fruits, and vegetables, cited WVR.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Nguyen Huy Tang said in 2024 and beyond, the two countries will continue to coordinate to realize existing agreements and memoranda of understanding, including the border trade and the 2023-2024 bilateral trade promotion agreements.

Trade experts believe that fostering a favorable and stable business environment is crucial to facilitate exports. They also advocated for increasing investment in research and development to enhance the quality and competitiveness of Vietnamese goods, and pursuing free trade agreements and economic accords with Cambodia as well.

Vietnamese businesses are encouraged to focus on producing high-quality and competitively priced products and services to attract Cambodian consumers. Building a broad and stable distribution network in Cambodia is also seen as a key step toward further success.

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