Vietnam News Today (Nov. 15): Vietnamese President Arrives in San Francisco for APEC Summit 2023

President Vo Van Thuong (R) is greeted at the San Francisco airport (Photo: VNA)

Vietnamese President arrives in San Francisco for APEC summit 2023

A high-ranking Vietnamese delegation led by President Vo Van Thuong arrived at San Francisco international airport, USA, beginning a business trip to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Week at the invitation of President Joe Biden.

President Thuong and his entourage were welcomed at the airport by US Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper, and representatives of the APEC 2023 organizing committee.

Present at the welcoming ceremony were also Vietnamese Ambassador to the United States Nguyen Quoc Dung, Ambassador and Head of the Vietnamese Delegation to the United Nations Dang Hoang Giang, Vietnamese Consul General in San Francisco Hoang Anh Tuan and other officials of the Vietnamese Consulate General in San Francisco.

According to the program, President Thuong will join other leaders of the APEC economies to discuss issues of paramount importance to the region and the world, and set out cooperation directions in the fields of trade, investment, science and technology, innovation and others.

President Thuong is scheduled to attend and deliver a keynote speech at the CEO Summit 2023, and attend dialogues between the leaders of APEC economies with partners and guests, as well as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Summit.

The President will also have bilateral meetings with other leaders of APEC economies, and international organizations, and attend the APEC Leaders’ Week, cited VOV.

He will have meetings with US leaders, deliver a speech at the US Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and attend a business round table. He will also meet with leaders of some leading US corporations there.

Themed ‘Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All’, APEC leaders will review the implementation of the Aotearoa Plan of Action on the APEC Vision to 2040, with a primary focus on trade and investment; innovation; sustainable and inclusive growth.

They will continue to attach importance to APEC, affirming its role as the leading regional forum and an important mechanism in the Asia-Pacific region to promote multilateral efforts in stepping up economic recovery and preparing for sustainable, inclusive and resilient growth.

Vietnam joined APEC in 1998 and it has so far played host to APEC Summit twice, in 2006 and 2017.

Hanoi ranks third in FDI attraction in ten months

Hanoi attracted over 2.6 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first ten months of this year, which made it the third largest destination of FDI in the country during the period, Deputy Director of the city’s Department of Planning and Investment Nguyen Ngoc Tu said on November 14.

At a meeting of the municipal administration to review the city’s FDI attraction in the past months, Tu also said the city expects to attract about US$484.8 million in the two remaining months of this year.

The city will strive to get about US$3.15 billion in FDI next year and about US$2.7 billion in 2025.

Tu said that as the country is entering a period of deeper economic integration, Hanoi considers the business community in general and FDI businesses in particular a key driver of the city’s economic growth and integration, according to VNA.

Workers produce sausage at the factory of the Thailand-invested CP Vietnam Livestock JSC in Hanoi. (Photo: VNA)

Speaking at the meeting, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Manh Quyen requested departments, branches and local authorities to intensify administrative procedure reforms, promptly solve obstacles and boost investment promotion activities.

He also asked managers of industrial parks in the city to improve their infrastructure.

Investment promotion activities must be carried out economically, practically and effectively. Relevant departments and agencies should provide sufficient information and timely support to investors, he said.

Vietnam and Portugal eye US$1 billion trade turnover target

Vietnam will work alongside Portugal to raise their two-way trade turnover to US$1 billion in the coming time, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam Tran Thanh Man told Portuguese officials during their meetings on November 13 as part of his ongoing working trip to the European nation.

Meeting with Francisco Andre, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Man affirmed that Vietnam always prioritizes strengthening its partnership and comprehensive cooperation with the European Union as well as with member countries, including Portugal, reported VOV.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam Tran Thanh Man (R) and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Francisco Andre shaking hands ahead of their meeting. (Photo: daibieunhandan.vn)

He thanked Portugal for ratifying the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) in April 2023 and asked it to lobby other EU member countries to do the same. He also proposed that Portugal support and encourage the European Commission to soon remove the illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing warnings against Vietnamese seafood.

Both host and guest shared the view that the two countries should further promote cooperation in the fields of culture, education, marine economy, maritime, renewable energy, tourism, information technology, and labor.

Andre highly appreciated Vietnam’s efforts in combating illegal fishing and expressed hope the EU would have positive assessments to soon remove the warnings in the near future.

Vietnamese village honored as world's Best Tourism Village

Tan Hoa in the central province of Quang Binh was officially recognized as the world's Best Tourism Village 2023 by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) at a ceremony held in the locality on November 14.

Speaking at the event, Chairman of the Tan Hoa commune People's Committee Truong Thanh Duan revealed the locality’s plans to preserve the title and strive to achieve more high criteria so that Tan Hoa will become an ideal tourist destination.

Tan Hoa is the only village in Vietnam selected in the list of 260 tourism villages in 60 countries. The UNWTO announced the list of Best Tourism Villages 2023 at a meeting held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on October 19.

The Vietnam National Authority of Tourism under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Tan Hoa was recognized for its diverse and outstanding cultural and natural resources, as well as its commitments and actions to comply with the sustainable tourism principles.

Tan Hoa, a mountainous commune in Minh Hoa district, is blessed with breathtaking natural landscapes and special cultural identities. In the past, it used to be frequently hit by floods due to its location, cited VNA.

Tan Hoa in the central province of Quang Binh is officially recognized as the world's Best Tourism Village 2023 by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). (Photo: VNA)

Over the past years, local residents have engaged in tourism activities to help sustainably reduce poverty. With support from businesses, Tan Hoa has become a weather-adaptive tourism village with many unique and typical tourism products.

Launched in 2021, the Best Tourism Villages by UNWTO initiative is part of the UNWTO Tourism for Rural Development Program. The program works to foster development and inclusion in rural areas, combat depopulation, advance innovation and value chain integration through tourism, and encourage sustainable practices.

The villages are evaluated under nine key areas, namely cultural and natural resources; promotion and conservation of cultural resources; economic sustainability; social sustainability; environmental sustainability; tourism development and value chain integration; governance and prioritisation of tourism; infrastructure and connectivity; and health, safety, and security.

On this occasion, leaders of Quang Binh province presented certificates of merit to organizations and individuals who have made contributions to building and developing Tan Hoa into the best tourist village in the world in 2023.

Vietnam aims big on renewable energy

From 2023 to 2050, the share of renewable energy in the energy mix is expected to increase from 26 to 62 per cent.

Vietnam aims to increase the share of renewable energy in the primary energy supply to around 20 per cent in 2030 and around 85 per cent in 2050.

That was the message from Tran Hong Thai, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology, at yesterday's 1st Asia Meeting on Environment and Electrical Engineering.

Thái said Vietnam was pressing ahead with the phase-in of renewable energy and had launched many programs, including the national "Researching and Developing Energy Technologies Program" which is aimed at facilitating investment in green energy and smart grids.

He also said the ministry had recently submitted a legal draft to the Prime Minister for approval, which involves the decommissioning of low-efficiency equipment. The draft was green in that it had a provision for low-efficiency gas- and coal-powered generators.

Guido Hildner, German Ambassador to Vietnam, said Germany was providing more than 1 billion euros for cooperation projects in Vietnam, most of which focused on green energy transition, cited VNS.

"We are supporting Vietnam to read existing job profiles and develop new ones with green skills. Each year, 35,000 trainees are benefiting directly from our cooperation", said the ambassador.

He added that in the next two years, Germany would provide another 61 million euros for projects in three areas - forestry, energy, and vocational training.

Dang Bang Viet, Deputy Director of Science, Technology & Energy Department, Vietnam Electricity, said the National Power Development Plan VIII (PDP VIII) had set the targets for energy transition in Vietnam in the next decades.

From 2023 to 2050, under the plan, the share of renewable energy in the energy mix is expected to increase from 26 to 62 per cent. Hydropower would move in the opposite direction, from 28 to 6 per cent. The same goes for coal-derived power, which would be phased out during the period.

Meanwhile, gas-derived power is projected to increase from 11 per cent in 2023 to 25 per cent in 2030, then decrease gradually to 8 per cent by 2050.

Khanh Duc Hoang, a representative from the Institute of Energy, said coal-derived power would be completely phased out by 2050. Gas-derived power, meanwhile, was expected to become the core part of the energy mix by 2030 but would be gradually superseded by hydrogen by 2050.

Solar power is projected to hit 189 GW by the date under PDP VIII whereas wind power would contribute 30 GW in 2030 and 170 GW in 2050 to the national power output.

Nguyen Quang Minh, Director of Power Market Development Research and Training Center, said renewable energy would become mainstream in Vietnam in the long term but it would not be the case in the short- and medium-term because traditional energy still takes a large share of the pie.

Of the 271.1 TWh of electricity generated in 2022, 38 percent came from coal, 30 percent from hydropower, 11 percent from gas & oil, 10 percent from solar farms, 3.3 percent from wind farms, 6.7 per cent from small hydro, and 1.2 per cent from imports.

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