Vietnam News Today (May 27): National symposium marks 110 years since Uncle Ho left the country to find a way to save the nation

	Vietnam News Today (May 26): Congratulations extended to Argentina on 211th anniversary of May Revolution
	Vietnam News Today (May 25): State President pushes for stronger Vietnam-China relations
	Vietnam News Today (May 24): NA General Secretary: Elections have gone smoothly so far

(Photo: Doan TNCS HCM)

National symposium marks 110 years since Uncle Ho left the country to find a way to save the nation

A virtual national symposium entitled “Ho Chi Minh on a journey to realise his aspiration for national independence and socialism” was held on May 26.

The symposium was jointly organised by the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Communications and Education and the Party Committees of Ho Chi Minh City and the northern mountainous province of Cao Bang.

The event was held as part of activities to celebrate 110 years since President Ho Chi Minh left the country to find a way to save the nation (June 5, 1911-2021) and 80 years since he returned home to lead the Vietnamese revolution (January 1, 1941-2021).

Speeches delivered at the symposium focused on analysing the aspiration for national independence and socialism in Ho Chi Minh thought and the realisation of that aspiration by the Vietnamese people through leading the Vietnamese revolution.

As reported by NDO, many presentations also focused on analysing how the Communist Party of Vietnam applied, supplemented and developed Ho Chi Minh thought, whose core was the ideology of national independence and socialism, and the successful implementation of Doi Moi (Renewal) for the goal of wealthy people, a strong country, and a democratic, equal and civilised society.

Vietnam urges countries to protect civilians in armed conflicts

Deputy head of Vietnam’s Mission to the United Nations Ambassador Pham Hai Anh has reiterated the message of commitment to promote the compliance with international humanitarian law and protecting civilians in conflicted areas.

Addressing the UN Security Council (UNSC)’s annual open debate held online on May 25, Anh expressed his concern over civilian casualties in armed conflicts, including hundreds of people killed in the Israel-Palestine conflict in the past weeks.

The diplomat stressed that parties in the conflicts need to fully abide by international humanitarian law and ensure unobstructed humanitarian access. He expressed support for the sharing of experience in incorporating international legal obligations into domestic legal regulations and laws.

Having affirmed that countries hold the top responsibility for protecting civilians, he emphasised that the most effective and long-term solution is preventing and ending conflicts, maintaining sustainable peace, improving people's livelihoods and resilience to challenges caused by climate change and epidemics.

Participants said the UNSC and international community need to make further efforts and take practical actions to reduce civilian casualties, address challenges like starvation caused by conflicts, attacks on medical services, sex and gender-based violence and environmental degradation.

They called for complying with humanitarian law and fully implementing the UNSC’s resolutions, including the Resolution 2573 adopted by the UNSC during Vietnam’s presidency, VOV reported.

Vietnam, Italy to increase high-level reciprocal visits

Vietnam and Italy have agreed to increase high-level visit exchanges between the two countries to effectively implement bilateral cooperation mechanisms, as reported by VOV.

The agreement was reached during the Vietnam-Italy political consultation at the Deputy Foreign Ministerial level held on May 26.

Manlio Di Stefano, Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Italy, congratulated Vietnam on its recent outstanding achievements in foreign affairs, especially its role of ASEAN Chair in 2020 and a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and affirmed Italy’s desires to promote cooperation with Vietnam.

Trade and investment cooperation continues to be one of the pillars in the Vietnam - Italy strategic partnership, he stressed, adding despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral trade turnover in the first four months of 2021 reached US$1.8 billion, up 28% over the same period in 2020.

For his part, Deputy Foreign Minister of Vietnam To Anh Dzung reiterated Vietnam’s consistent policy of strengthening its relations with important partners, especially strategic partners like Italy.

He suggested that both sides take advantage of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) to raise their two-way trade turnover to US$5 billion this year and beyond.

He proposed that Italy soon ratify the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) to facilitate economic cooperation between Vietnam and the EU as well as with Italy.

The two sides also agreed to strengthen the exchange of high-level visits and regular contacts between the two countries, develop joint programmes in the lead up to 50 years of the Vietnam-Italy diplomacy and 10 years of their strategic partnership in 2023.

On the multilateral level, the two sides agreed to continue close coordination, share information, and exchange views on international and regional issues of mutual concern, VOV said.

Vietnam attends opening ceremony of 142nd IPU Assembly

A delegation of the National Assembly (NA) led by Standing Vice Chairman Tran Thanh Man attended the opening of the 142nd Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly via videoconference on May 26.

In his opening speech at the event running the overall theme of “Overcoming the pandemic today and building a better tomorrow: the role of parliaments”, Duarte Pacheco, IPU president emphasized that the opening of the 142 nd IPU Assembly is a time when parliamentarians from around the world gather together, sharing a common goal and commitment to inter-parliamentary dialogue and cooperation.

The IPU President mentioned the major calamities and challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 3 million deaths, along with natural disasters and economic recession that have reversed great progress in human development.

To cope with the negative impact of the pandemic, it is very necessary for countries to build a new and breakthrough way of working at this time, he stressed.

Addressing the event, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam Tran Thanh Man said right from the first days of the pandemic, Vietnam has taken drastic, synchronous and timely actions, with the participation of the whole political system in the fight against COVID-19.

The nation has also carried out the dual goal of effectively combating the pandemic to protect people's health, and ensuring socio-economic development and social security in the new normal.

Man also underlined the need to continue promoting the partnership between the Inter-Parliamentary Union and regional and international parliamentary organizations in the region in preventing and dealing with crises or emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Vietnamese National Assembly delegation also proposed that the World Health Organization and other countries promote partnerships and cooperation in technology transfer for vaccine production and training to improve COVID-19 response capacity, according to VOV.

National COVID-19 patient tally surpasses 6,000

The Ministry of Health confirmed 115 new community infection cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday evening, raising the national patient tally 6,086.

The latest cases were recorded in Bac Giang (39), Bac Ninh (64), Ha Noi (nine), Hai Duong (two), Thai Nguyen (one).

The same day, 59 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery, taking the total recoveries to 2,853, according to VGP.

The number of daily new COVID-19 cases from May 1 to 6:32 pm on May 26 (Photo: VGP)

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