An overview of the opening ceremony of the third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on October 18.

State President Vo Van Thuong attends Belt and Road Forum 2023 in Beijing

Vietnamese State President Vo Van Thuong joined other heads of state and governments of more than 20 countries to attend the opening ceremony of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) in Beijing on October 18.

Among the distinguished guests were the Party General Secretary and President of Laos, Presidents of Russia, Indonesia, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, and Congo. The Secretary General of the United Nations, the President of the New Development Bank, and the President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) also attended the ceremony.

BRF 2023 which is getting underway in Beijing on October 18-19 has brought together more than 4,000 delegates from 140 countries and territories and 30 international organizations, cited VOV.

Themed ‘High-quality Belt and Road Cooperation: Together for Common Development and Prosperity’ the forum includes three high-level panel discussions on connectivity, green development, and digital economy, alongside six seminars. A conference of entrepreneurs is also scheduled to be held on the sidelines.

President Vo Van Thuong is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech at the gathering to affirm Vietnam’s desire to promote peace, cooperation, economic integration, and regional connectivity, and to deepen relations with other countries in the world.

China launched the multi-trillion-dollar transnational Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013. As of 2022 it had signed 206 cooperation agreements with 151 countries and territories and 32 international organizations, and undertaken approximately 3,000 projects worth nearly US$1 trillion.

In 2017, Vietnam and China signed a Government-level memorandum of understanding on promoting the connection between the ‘Two Corridors, One Belt’ framework and the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative. The two sides are discussing ways to concretize this document.

Vietnam values traditional friendship with Uzbekistan: President

President Vo Van Thuong met with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on October 17 while in Beijing, China, to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF).

At the meeting, Thuong affirmed Vietnam’s consistent policy to treasure the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation with Central Asian countries, including Uzbekistan, hoping that the Vietnam – Uzbekistan relations will develop in a more practical fashion so as to benefit the two peoples, according to VNA.

Speaking highly of the bilateral cooperation potential, he suggested both sides step up economic-trade collaboration which has shown robust signs in recent times, while deepening cooperation in the fields of education-training, cultural exchange, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges, and considering the opening of direct flights connecting localities of the two countries.

Besides, the two sides should enhance delegation exchanges at all levels to improve political trust and mutual understanding, and expand cooperation in the fields that the two nations hold complementary advantages, he stressed.

The Uzbek President, for his part, said he is impressed by Vietnam’s socio-economic development and renewal achievements over the past time.

President Vo Van Thuong (R) and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev (Photo: VNA)

He agreed with President Thuong’s recommendations to promote bilateral collaboration in economy-trade and tourism, with priority given to exchanges of business delegations and expansion of business opportunities.

He affirmed that Uzbekistan attaches importance to its relations with Vietnam, and wants to restore cooperation in traditional fields, particularly oil and gas, education training, student exchange, and cultural exchange.

At the event, both leaders reached a consensus on enhancing cooperation at multilateral forums, including the United Nations and many other international organizations.

Uzbekistan hopes that Vietnam will be a bridge to help it bolster connectivity with ASEAN, while Vietnam wants to promote cooperative relations with the Central Asian region through Uzbekistan.

The two leaders took the occasion to invite each other to visit their countries soon, and they all accepted the invitation with pleasure.

Party leader hails positive development of Vietnam – Cambodia relations

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong lauded the positive developments of Vietnam – Cambodia relations in recent times during his reception for Prak Sokhonn, chairman of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) Central Committee's Commission for External Relations in Hanoi on October 18.

Trong recalled major milestones in Vietnam – Cambodia relations, affirming that the historical tradition of solidarity and mutual assistance between the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Cambodian People’s Party and between the two states is a valuable asset, one of the most important factors and the greatest source of strength behind the past struggle for national independence as well as the current cause of construction and defense in each country, reported VOV.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (R) and chairman of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) Central Committee's Commission for External Relations Prak Sokhonn at their meeting in Hanoi on October 18.

Vietnam always supports Cambodia’s construction and development process, and believes that Cambodia will continue to reap new, greater, and more comprehensive achievements in implementing its development strategy for 2023-2028, said the Party leader.

He spoke highly of the outstanding achievements the two Parties and States have recorded over the years and proposed that the two sides materialize agreements reached at high-level meetings between the two countries’ leaders and a recent tripartite Party meeting between leaders of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. He stressed the need to promote cooperation in all areas, from politics, diplomacy, and defense-security to economy, culture, education, and science-technology, as well as people-to-people exchanges.

Trong asked his guest to convey his best wishes to Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, CPP chairman Hun Sen and other leaders.

Prak Sokhonn for his part briefed his host on the results of his October 17 talks with Le Hoai Trung, head of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations, and affirmed that Cambodia would continue to work closely with Vietnam to effectively implement agreements between senior leaders of the two Parties and States.

He vowed to work hard to foster the growing relationship between Cambodia and Vietnam in whatever position he would hold in future.

During the October 17 talks, the two heads of the Commissions for External Relations extensively discussed orientations for bilateral cooperation in all fields in the coming time. The two sides agreed to strengthen the exchange of information on the international situation and share experiences to well perform assigned tasks.

Vietnam speeding up industrialization

The documents of the 13th Party Congress say that Vietnam needs to continue to accelerate industrialization and modernization by focusing on science and technology, innovations, and technological achievements of the fourth industrial revolution.

Industrialization and modernization have been the Communist Party's consistent policy in the process of building and developing the country, especially since doi moi (renovation), starting in 1986.

Many important policies and guidelines with the spirit of going towards industrialization and modernization to turn Vietnam into a country with developed industry, modern technological facilities, and a reasonable economic structure.

However, Vietnam’s competitiveness and the capability of joining the regional and global value chains remain modest, while supporting industries and domestic enterprises’ capability still cannot satisfy requirements to attract advanced technology industries and effectively promote linkages.

Vietnam ranks 105th out of 137 surveyed countries in the number of domestic suppliers and 116th in quality of domestic suppliers, lagging far behind other regional countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines.

The locally made content in products remains low, just 20-25 percent on average. The localization ratios are 40-45 percent in the textile and garment and footwear industries, 7-10 percent in the automobile industry, and 15 percent in IT and electronic-telecommunication sectors, cited VNN.

Photo: VNN

A survey by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) found that the localization ratios of Japanese-owned enterprises in Vietnam were just 36.3 percent in 2018, while the figures were 68 percent for China and 57 percent for Thailand.

Except for motorbike manufacturing which has a high locally made content rate, the supply of Vietnam-made components in other important industries such as automobile, electronics, and hi-tech industries is limited.

Most domestic enterprises in supporting industries are third- or fourth-class vendors that mostly provide simple products and low-cost components and materials, such as packages and simple accessories.

It is estimated that Vietnam has only 35 domestic enterprises which are first-class vendors for Samsung and 136 second-class vendors, a very small proportion of the total number of vendors.

UNIDO's Competitive Industrial Performance Index 2020 Report (CIP 2020) showed that in 2018, the value-added index per capita of the manufacturing and processing industry at current prices in Vietnam was $394, equal to 22.8 percent of Thailand; 50.9 percent of Indonesia; 8.3 percent of Brunei; 15.9 percent of Malaysia; 57.9 percent of the Philippines and 3.6 percent of Singapore. The figure was only higher than Laos and Cambodia.

Vietnam’s added value per capita of its manufacturing and processing industry was at a relatively low position in the world’s ranking, 100th out of total of 152 countries, while Singapore ranked third, Malaysia 40th, Thailand 49th, and Indonesia 72nd.

Vietnamese language class opens in the Netherlands

A Vietnamese language class for the overseas Vietnamese community in the Netherlands has started the 2023-2024 school year, aiming to meet the community’s demand to learn the language and promote the nation's cultural identity in the European country.

Speaking at the event held at the Vietnamese Embassy in the Netherlands on October 15, Ambassador Ngo Huong Nam hailed teachers' and learners’ efforts in teaching and learning the mother tongue and shared with the class the latest policies of the Party, State, Government and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) to assist overseas Vietnamese to learn the language. Accordingly, September 8 has been designated as the day for Vietnamese language appreciation for communities abroad.

Teachers and learners at the Vietnamese language class opening ceremony in the Netherlands, October 15, 2023 (Photo: VNA)

The ambassador highlighted the significance of maintaining the teaching and learning of Vietnamese as the language is a special bond connecting overseas Vietnamese, particularly the young generation, and their roots.

Besides, the language also plays a crucial role in introducing the national cultural identity to international friends. Especially, the number of Vietnamese language foreign learners has increased as they choose the S-shaped country to live and work, he added.

However, Vietnamese language teaching and learning abroad is facing challenges due to a lack of skilled teachers and facilities. Therefore, the embassy will continue to ask the MOFA, the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese and relevant units to introduce measures to promote Vietnamese language study movement abroad, VNA reported.

The Vietnamese language class in the Netherlands was started in 2017, gathering once a week at the Embassy's building. Learners are of various age groups, from children to students and foreigners married to Vietnamese.

Vietnamese language lessons for overseas Vietnamese (OVs), especially young people, have been growing in popularity.

For more than 5.3 million overseas Vietnamese living in more than 130 countries and territories worldwide, the Vietnamese language is a means for them to preserve their traditional culture and establish themselves while integrating in the local communities. The language is also a bridge to connect OVs all over the world with their motherland.

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