Vietnam News Today (May 18): Vietnam Leaves Deep Impressions at SEA Games 32

Politburo member and permanent member of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee's Secretariat Truong Thi Mai (R) receives Chairman of the Committee for the Defence of the Revolution of Cuba (CDR) Gerardo Hernandez Nordelo (Photo: VNA)

Vietnamese Party official receives Cuban guests

Politburo member and permanent member of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee's Secretariat Truong Thi Mai hosted a reception for a high-ranking delegation from the Committee for the Defence of the Revolution of Cuba (CDR) led its Chairman Gerardo Hernandez Nordelo in Hanoi on May 17.

During the reception, Mai expressed her joy at the fruitful development of the special solidarity and friendship between the two Parties, States and peoples, saying that the relationship is a valuable common property that needs to be preserved and constantly developed.

She affirmed that the Vietnamese Party, State and people always stand side by side and wish to further tighten the special solidarity and friendship with their Cuban counterparts, towards further strengthening the bilateral relations in the time to come, cited VNA.

Mai affirmed the support of the Party and the State of Vietnam for Cuba in the process of updating the socio-economic development model, expressing the belief the Cuban people, under the leadership of the Communist Party of Cuba, will continue to make efforts to overcome difficulties and challenges, thus protecting the revolutionary achievements and realising the goal of socialism in the Latin American nation.

Mai also appreciated the traditional friendship between the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) and the CDR, suggesting the two sides work closely to effectively implement their cooperation agreement for the 2023 - 2028 period, thus contributing to tightening and deepening the friendship and cooperation between the two organizations, and the Cuba - Vietnam special friendship relationship in general.

For his part, Gerardo Hernandez Nordelo, who is also a member of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee, briefed on the current situation in Cuba and the CDR, affirming the admiration of the Cuban people at the resilient example of Vietnamese people in the past struggle for national liberation and the national development at present.

He said he believes that under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, headed by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the Vietnamese people will achieve many greater achievements, for further development in the future.

Vietnam positive on trade links with Australia

Vietnam-Australia relations have seen steady growth over recent years, with two-way trade reaching US$15.7 billion in 2022, up 26.7% on-year, thereby making Australia the nation’s seventh largest trading partner, while Vietnam represents Australia's 10th largest trading partner.

This assessment was made by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang at a reception held on May 17 in Hanoi for Nicholas Moore, special envoy for Southeast Asia of the Australian Government, who is on a working visit to Vietnam, according to VOV.

Regarding investment, Australia runs 590 projects in the nation with a total investment of nearly US$2 billion, thereby ranking 20th out of 141 countries and territories investing in the Vietnamese market, while Vietnam boasts 88 investment projects in Australia with a total capital of more than US$590 million, mainly in the fields of agriculture, forestry, wholesale and retail, processing and manufacturing.

Moore said that the Australian Government and business community highly appreciated the "quality" of the mutual relationship, affirming that the relationship with the country is a "priority" of the Australian Government.

The two sides held in-depth discussion on a range of measures aimed at more effectively exploiting the potential for more co-operation, especially in the field of trade and investment, by raising awareness among the business community and consumers of the two countries, expanding market access opportunities, whilst boosting co-operation to improve the capacity of enterprises.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang welcomes the Australian Government's Special Envoy for Southeast Asia Nicholas Moore (Photo:VGP)

Deputy PM Tran Luu Quang affirmed that the Vietnamese Government always listens to and accompanies investors in removing difficulties and building an increasingly favourable business investment environment.

He therefore requested that Australia support and share its experience with the Vietnamese side in fields such as renewable energy, digital transformation, green transformation, and climate change response, which is a common development trend taking place around the world.

Responding to the Deputy PM's request, Moore affirmed his nation’s readiness to share experience and co-operate with Vietnam in these fields because in the process of development, each country has both problems to solve and priorities to focus on.

Deputy PM Quang proposed that the Australian Government give Vietnam a worthy position in the Southeast Asian Economic Strategy to 2040, thus enabling ties between the two countries to develop better and bring practical benefits to the two peoples, for peace, stability, and prosperous development in the region and the world as a whole.

Vietnam and Australia first established diplomatic relations on February 26, 1973, before moving to upgrade their relationship to a comprehensive partnership in 2009, an enhanced comprehensive partnership in 2015, and a strategic partnership in 2018.

Vietnam leaves deep impressions at SEA Games 32

Vietnam for the first time secured the top place at a Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) held outside its territory after topping the medal tally at SEA Games 32 in Cambodia.

On May 16 - the last official competition day, Vietnamese athletes recorded a beyond-expectation gold medal haul in fencing, wrestling, judo and weightlifting, and even breakdance – a new sport at the Games.

The hard-won success helped Vietnam stay firm on the top of the medal tally.

Throughout their 11-day journey at the largest regional sporting event, the athletes gave fans a full gamut of emotions, from the burst of joy over the historic gold medal in the women’s basketball, to admiration, even from rivals, for runner Nguyen Thi Oanh who brought home four golds and golfer Le Khanh Hung who became a gold medalist at the age of 15.

Many other historic achievements were recorded by the Vietnamese athletes at the Games, which have won admiration and pride from fans. Notably, head coach Mai Duc Chung and his players won the fourth consecutive SEA Games gold in women’s football after sailing through a host of challenges.

Regrettable failures were also seen in athletics, swimming, tennis, fencing and even the men's U22 football team, sometimes shaking fans’ confidence in the likelihood of beating the gold medal target.

However, thanks to breakthroughs in martial arts, wrestling, diving and aerobics on the last four days, the Vietnamese delegation created a perfect sprint to top the medal tally with 136 gold, 104 silver and 114 bronze medals at SEA Games 32, overfulfilling the target of 89-120 golds and a top-three finish.

Earlier, Vietnam had topped SEA Games in 2003 and 2022, both of which, however, were held in home ground, reported VNA.

The Vietnamese delegation top the medal tally with 136 gold, 104 silver and 114 bronze medals at SEA Games 32. (Photo: VNA)

This is also the first time Vietnam has successfully defended its top position in two consecutive Games. It can be said that this year’s success has served as a source of encouragement for the athletes to weather greater challenges in the time ahead, firstly the 19th Asian Games (ASIAD) in Hangzhou, China, in late September, and competitions for tickets to Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

However, various professional issues still remain, requiring sports managers to review and analyse them as the SEA Games 32 success is unlikely to ensure that Vietnam will well perform in larger tournaments, especially in the context that many sports and events at SEA Games 32 are not included in ASIAD and Olympic, and not many achievements close to medal competitions in continental and global tournaments were made in the Games in Cambodia.

Vietnam sent a 1,003-strong sports delegation to the SEA Games 32, about 700 of them athletes, who competed in 31 sports events.

The Games is held in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Preah Sihanouk, Kampot, and Kep and will be officially wrapped up on May 17.

Vietnamese goods promoted at African Investment and Commerce Forum

Numerous Vietnamese products such as coffee, tea, rice, pepper, cashew nuts, milk, canned products, and handicrafts were introduced at the ninth African Investment and Commerce Forum 2023 (AFIC9) which got underway from May 16 to May 17 in the Algerian capital of Algiers.

The event, organised by the Arab-African Center for Investment and Development (CAAID), aims to connect more than 650 investors, leaders of regional and international organisations, experts, and representatives of commerce chambers from 37 countries.

Taking place on the sidelines of the forum were also exhibitions on exports, trade, agriculture, the food industry, tourism, services, technology, electronics, digital transformation, energy, construction, justice, health care, the pharmaceutical industry, investment, finance, transportation, free trade area, and the environment.

Aside from participating in seminars focusing on trade and investment in Algeria and Africa, the Trade Office and Embassy of Vietnam introduced a number of Vietnamese commodities such as coffee, tea, rice, peppercorn, cashew nut, milk, canned products, and handicrafts. Lists of reputable exporters and catalogues have also been distributed to participants.

Furthermore, the Trade Office met with Algerian and African businesses in order to learn about their demand and explore opportunities further business and investment partnerships with Vietnamese firms.

In general, visitors highly appreciate the overall quality of Vietnamese goods, stating that there remains a lot of potential for exporting Vietnamese products to Africa.

The occasion saw Vietnam Trade Office representatives hold meetings with Algerian and African businesses attending the forum in order to find out their needs, whilst connecting business and investment opportunities for Vietnamese businesses, cited VOV.

Many Vietnamese products are displayed at the event (Photo: VNA)

According to Hoang Duc Nhuan, Vietnamese trade counsellor in Algeria, Vietnam and African countries boast huge potential for trade and investment co-operation, noting that bilateral trade and investment have been growing steadily over recent years.

Trade between Vietnam and Africa hit US$5.4 billion last year, including US$2.8 billion from Vietnamese exports. Major African trade partners of the country include Egypt, South Africa, the Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Algeria, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

Regarding investment ties with the continent, Vietnam attracted around US$2.7 billion in investment from Africa last year with major investors such as the Seychelles, Mauritius, and Angola. Meanwhile, it had invested US$2.4 billion in 17 African countries as of February, 2022, with the biggest recipients being Algeria, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Burundi.

Nhuan stated that Algeria and Africa’s promotion of integration, especially via the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), is offering plenty of chances for Vietnamese enterprises.

Vietnamese companies can therefore directly invest in some countries that boast big populations, political stability, and an abundant material supply in order to capitalise on the AfCFTA to export goods to other African countries, he went on to say.

Despite certain difficulties related to geographical distance and trade rules, if Vietnamese enterprises thoroughly learn about African markets, then they will be able to successfully enter these markets since most African firms have demand for imports to serve their growing population amid demand for consumer goods in the continent, with great potential for Vietnamese exports, he added.

The nation has so far established diplomatic relations with 54 out of 55 African countries, as well as setting up trade relations with almost all countries throughout the region, VNA reported.

Along with trade and investment, ties in the agricultural sector are also relatively developed, with the support of developed countries and international organizations, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and the African Union (AU).

“With FAO, we have carried out many models of bilateral and multilateral agricultural cooperation in Africa, especially in Senegal, Mozambique, Sudan, Guinea, and have been quite successful. As a result, productivity in the fields of crop and livestock production has been greatly improved,” said Nhuan.

The AFIC is an annual event that helps the continent's businesses increase trade with the rest of the world, as well as offering other businesses globally the opportunity to learn new policies on investment in African countries.

This can be seen as a highly potential market for key Vietnamese export products.

Vietnamese broken rice, banh tet among world's most delicious rice dishes

Rice, one of the most popular foods in the world, can be processed into many different delicious dishes. The Taste Atlas website has listed 100 of the world's most delicious dishes from rice, including four from Vietnam.

The website, dubbed the "world culinary map”, has announced the list of 100 most delicious dishes made from rice in 2023. Vietnam has four on the list: com tam (broken rice), banh tet (sticky rice cakes with mung bean or pork), banh beo (Vietnamese steamed savory rice cake) and Vietnamese xoi (sticky rice).

The list also has other cuisines such as Samgak Gimbap (Korea), Sushi (Japan), Paella (Spain), Risotto (Italy), Biryani (Iran), Arroz-rojo (Mexico), Rainbow Roll (USA), Nasi Pecel (Indonesia) and Khao Phat (Thailand).

According to Taste Atlas, com tam is a traditional Vietnamese dish that's typically sold as street food. It consists of broken and imperfect rice grains that were traditionally chucked away after the milling process, but is now a signature dish of Ho Chi Minh City.

Broken rice has a texture that's similar to normal rice, just smaller. When served, com tam is accompanied by numerous toppings such as fried eggs, shredded pork skin, grilled pork chops or deep-fried fish patties. The usual garnishes include lime wedges, chopped spring onions, and mint, while accompaniments served on the side include sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, pickled vegetables, or dipping sauces.

Broken rice is a famous dish loved by both Vietnamese and foreign tourists. Photo: Diadiemanuong

Banh tet is a South Vietnamese specialty, a sticky rice cake that can be either savory or sweet. It is made from glutinous rice stuffed with a mung bean or pork filling and wrapped in a banana leaf. The whole concoction is then boiled or steamed, the banana leaf is removed, and the log-shaped cake is sliced into cylindrical pieces.

Banana leaves are used because they impart a unique aroma and flavor to the rice, reminiscent of tea. The cake is often wrapped in plastic with a red or gold ribbon tied around it in order to make Banh tet look more festive, because it is traditionally prepared and served for the Vietnamese Lunar New Year celebration.

Banh beo is a popular Vietnamese steamed cake consisting of key ingredients such as rice flour, fish sauce with green chili peppers, and either shrimp or pork.

Additionally, noodles, roasted peanuts or fried onions can be added to the cake in order to improve its flavor. Apart from savory cakes, there are also sweet versions which are almost exclusively available in Hoi An.

Banh beo is traditionally served in a porcelain bowl with a bamboo spoon for consumption. Some people refer to it as the Vietnamese version of tapas, and it is believed that the most important characteristic of a good Banh beo is an indentation in its center which is used for holding the flavorful, savory stuffings.

Banh beo is a popular Vietnamese steamed cake consisting of key ingredients such as rice flour, fish sauce with green chili peppers, and either shrimp or pork.

Additionally, noodles, roasted peanuts or fried onions can be added to the cake in order to improve its flavor. Apart from savory cakes, there are also sweet versions which are almost exclusively available in Hoi An.

Banh beo is traditionally served in a porcelain bowl with a bamboo spoon for consumption. Some people refer to it as the Vietnamese version of tapas, and it is believed that the most important characteristic of a good Banh beo is an indentation in its center which is used for holding the flavorful, savory stuffings.

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