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Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son welcomes his New Zealand counterpart Winston Peters in Hanoi on June 5. (Photo: MOFA)

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters visits Vietnam

New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters arrived in Hanoi on June 5 for a two-day visit to Vietnam to outline new directions for cooperation between the two countries.

Vietnam is the first stopover during his Southeast Asian tour that demonstrates New Zealand’s policy of prioritizing cooperation with a dynamically developing region.

The visit shows New Zealand attaches importance to ​​strengthening relations with Vietnam due to its rising role and position in the region, which can bring new growth momentum to the New Zealand economy through cooperation, said Vietnamese Ambassador to New Zealand Nguyen Van Trung.

The two sides will discuss measures to successfully implement the action plan for the 2021-2024 period, identify priorities and new directions for another action plan in the coming years, especially in 2025 when they celebrate 50 years of diplomatic ties and five years of their strategic partnership, cited VOV.

Activities will aim to strengthen strategic trust and political trust; increase cooperation in traditional fields such as education, culture, human resource training, high-tech agriculture, and people-to-people exchanges; and expand economic, trade, security and defense cooperation, said the ambassador.

According to the diplomat, Vietnam and New Zealand have the potential to make breakthroughs in cooperation in fields such as green economy, digital economy, environmentally friendly technology transfer, greenhouse gas emission reduction, energy conversion, and digital transformation.

The two sides are also recommended to ramp up cooperation in employment, vocational training, marine economy, research and protection of the marine and ocean environment.

During a visit to New Zealand by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in March 2024, the two countries’ Prime Ministers expressed their desire to lift Vietnam – New Zealand relations to new heights, and the effective deployment of the new cooperation directions would support the goal, said the ambassador.

Vietnam, Switzerland strengthen economic, trade collaboration

The Vietnamese Embassy in Switzerland and the Swiss-Viet Economic Forum (SVEF) jointly organized the 2024 Vietnam-Switzerland Economic Forum themed "Strengthening Ties, Building Futures" on June 4.

The hybrid forum, supported by the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) and the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant ministries, drew the participation of over 200 delegates.

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Phung The Long stressed that the event was an opportunity for agencies, localities, associations and businesses of the two countries to share information, exchange policies, and seek opportunities for cooperation in trade, investment, finance and innovation, research and training to promote the potential and strengths of each country, and contribute to promoting friendship and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries in the coming time.

The forum highlighted four strategic topics, including economic policies supporting trade, investment, and development in key sectors; Vietnam-Switzerland cooperation; opportunities for bilateral cooperation in the financial sector; and potential for bilateral collaboration in start-up investment.

In the first discussion session, chaired by Dr. Philipp Rösler, former Managing Director of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and SVEF President, delegates exchanged views on policies to support and promote trade and investment relations between Vietnam and Switzerland; and shared the potential, strengths and needs for cooperation, investment attraction policies of Vietnamese provinces and cities, as well as potential benefits from signing a free trade agreement between Vietnam and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries.

During the second session, participants discussed and shared policies and cooperation needs in key areas of investment, innovation and renewable energy for sustainable development, and provided consultations on legal regulations in cooperation between businesses of the two countries, according to VNA.

Duong Xuan Huyen, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Lang Son provincial People's Committee, delivering a speech on startup investment (Photo: VNA)

Meanwhile, the third session focused on investment potential and opportunities in finance and financial technologies, economic trends affecting cooperation in this field, and several Government policies to improve the legal framework and financial investment environment in Vietnam.

In the last one, representatives of businesses and startups introduced their innovative products, services and business models, growth potential, and market expansion capabilities.

For more than half a century, the bilateral relationship between Vietnam and Switzerland has developed comprehensively across all fields including politics, diplomacy, trade, investment, culture, education, and training. Among these, trade and investment cooperation are two crucial pillars in the relationship between the two countries, with substantial room for further development. Some areas in Vietnam that Swiss investment funds assess as having great potential are exports, tourism and information technology services.

Fukuoka’s tech companies keen to cooperate with Vietnam

As many as 17 enterprises and startups of Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture expressed a keen interest in expanding investment cooperation with Vietnamese businesses, especially IT firms, at a workshop in Hanoi on June 5.

Addressing the event, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Phan Tam emphasized that Vietnamese digital technology firms are entering a new stage of development, bringing Made-in-Vietnam digital products and services to the world.

This year he said the Ministry of Information and Communications continues to focus on supporting Vietnamese digital technology enterprises as they expand their markets and fully tap into investment opportunities in countries around the world.

Therefore, he added that the workshop is anticipated to help Vietnamese firms wishing to invest in Fukuoka Prefecture to set up partnerships and design cooperation programs and projects with Japanese partners, reported VOV.

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Phan Tam speaks at the workshop.

The event also provides an opportunity for both sides to introduce their capabilities, strengths, and demands for collaboration, providing the basis for developing a substantive and effective partnership moving forward.

For his part, Mayor of Fukuoka Prefecture Takashima Soichiro stressed that the locality has received great attention from many foreign investors, including Vietnamese firms such as FPT Corporation and Rikkei.

He revealed that 17 Japanese enterprises and startups were interested in cooperating with the Vietnamese side and have since expanded investment with local IT enterprises.

At the workshop, representatives of the Vietnam Software and IT Services Association (VINASA) and Vietnamese and Fukuoka’s IT enterprises introduced investment and market opportunities on both sides. A number of memorandums of understanding were also signed at the event.

Vietnam attends St.Petersburg int’l economic forum

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang is leading a Vietnamese delegation to the forum and will deliver a speech on the opening day on June 6.

The State Audit of Vietnam, led by Deputy Governor Doan Anh Tho, will attend a special discussion on audit as a tool to realize national development priorities, cited VNA.

The 27th St.Petersburg International Economic Forum is underway in Russia. (Photo: qdnd.vn)

The four-day event is held under the theme of “The Formation of New Centres of Growth as the Cornerstone of a Multipolar World”, with its business program divided into four thematic areas, namely “The Transition to a Multipolar World Economy”, “Goals and Objectives of Russia’s New Economic Cycle”, “A Healthy Society, Traditional Values and Social Development: The Priority of the State”, and “Technologies for Leadership”.

It also features more than 10 business dialogues between the Eurasian Economic Union and the Association of Southeast Asian nations, Russia and Africa, Russia and Latin America, Russia and China, Russia and South Africa, and many bilateral meetings.

As many as 1,000 documents are expected to be signed at the forum.

Along with the main business program, a youth economic forum, a small and medium-sized enterprise forum, BRICS innovative business forum and a drug security forum are scheduled on the sidelines of the event.

SPIEF has been held annually since 1997, and under the auspices of the Russian President since 2005.

12 cities, provinces to develop night-time tourism

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) will work with local authorities to apply night-time tourism models in 12 key localities.

MCST Minister Nguyen Van Hung has submitted a report to the National Assembly, giving answers to inquiries raised at the seventh session. Development of night-time tourism on a trial basis is one of the issues mentioned in the report.

Hung cited several night-time tourism products attracting domestic and foreign tourists, such as Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature) night tour called ‘Tinh hoa dao hoc’ (the quintessence of Eastern study), ‘Dem Hanoi – Diem cham cua nhung xuc cam’ (Hanoi Night - Touching Point of Emotions) and real-life show ‘Tinh hoa Bac bo’ (the essence of the North) in Hanoi; ‘Pho dem du thuyen Ha Long’ (Ha Long Cruise Night Street) in Quang Ninh; night tour on Hoa Lu ancient street in Ninh Binh; and ‘Quan 1 – Sac mau dem’ (District 1- the colors of the night) in HCM City.

In addition, cultural activities, performances of arts and street music, sketching, calligraphy, zumba and modern dance have been organized. The stalls displaying and introducing OCOP (one commune one product), street food are popular with domestic and foreign travelers.

However, Hung said Vietnam still lacks policies to encourage night-time tourism and attract investors. Night-time tours remain similar, mostly on walking streets, shopping areas, night food courses, and night markets, and include some street art performances.

Meanwhile, the space reserved for night-time tourism and the awareness of night-time tourism remain limited. Localities don’t have strategies and plans for a night-time economy. There is no regime for shopping and entertainment services at night.

The real-life show ‘Tinh hoa Bac bo’ (Photo: Pham Hai)

Hung said that his ministry is going to cooperate with cities and provinces to deploy the night-time tourism model in 12 major localities.

Agencies will define the areas subject to night-time tourism development and build models that have potential, VNN reported.

In addition, technical issues, such as security, the time for services, policies for laborers working at night, and employment of security guards are needed.

Regarding the management of tourism activities at night, MCST develops night-time tourism under the form of walking streets, night-time markets, flexible night-time tourism spaces and entertainment complexes.

Hung said advertisement and tourism promotion campaigns will mostly target travelers who stay in Vietnam for many days, have a high spending level, and use high-quality products.

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