Vice Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Vo Van Hoan speaks at the forum. (Photo: VNA)

Ample room remains for Vietnam - Belarus trade cooperation

Vietnam and Belarus have complementary economic advantages and great potential to promote their trade ties, according to participants at the Belarus - Vietnam Business Forum held in Ho Chi Minh City on September 23. ​

The forum was organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Investment and Trade Promotion Center (ITPC), the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Friendship Organizations, the Consulate General of Belarus in Ho Chi Minh City, and the Belarusian National Agency for Marketing and Price Study.

Speaking at the event, Vice Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Vo Van Hoan said that since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1992, their bilateral relations have witnessed positive developments, with increased trust and regular delegation exchanges at all levels.

In particular, the official visit to Vietnam by Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko in December 2023 opened up a new direction for stronger cooperation between the two sides, cited VNA.

In 2023, the total trade turnover between Vietnam and Belarus reached 65.3 million USD. As of the first quarter of 2024, Belarus had invested 32.25 million USD in three projects in Vietnam.

As Vietnam has implemented the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), of which Belarus is a member, Ho Chi Minh City believes that this will be a driving force to promote bilateral cooperation in the future, Hoan said.

Belarusian Ambassador to Vietnam Uladzimir Baravikou said Vietnam and Belarus are both members of the EAEU, which is a favorable condition for the two countries to lift their cooperation to a new level.

Deputy Director General of the Belarusian National Agency for Marketing and Price Study Evgeny Russak said that Vietnam has strengths in agricultural and food production while Belarus has advantages in agricultural machinery and fertilizer production.

The two countries can also cooperate in supplying and manufacturing automobiles, electric passenger vehicles, and construction machinery, he said, adding that Belarus is also ready to cooperate and share with Vietnam experiences in developing the medical sector.

Vice director of the ITPC Ho Thi Quyen said that Ho Chi Minh City wishes to boost cooperation with Belarus, particularly Minsk city in areas including manufacturing, medical, food production, fashion and logistic services.

At the forum, over 60 Vietnamese and Belarusian enterprises engaged in meetings and exchanged information to seek cooperation opportunities in the coming time.

Top leader To Lam meets leading US businesses in New York

Party General Secretary and President To Lam of Vietnam attended a roundtable discussion with leading US businesses in New York on September 23 (local time) as part of his ongoing trip to the United States for the High-Level Week of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

US businesses highly appreciated Vietnam’s economic development priorities, particularly its commitment to removing institutional obstacles and barriers that help businesses overcome difficulties and enhance production and operations. They also shared cooperation opportunities across various fields where Vietnam has significant potential, and expressed hope for prompt investments to support Vietnam in maintaining and ensuring commitments to sustainable development.

They praised the dynamic development of the Vietnamese economy in recent years, highlighting several encouraging results. They also shared their vision regarding the Vietnamese government’s strategic orientations toward a new era.

To Lam for his part thanked US businesses for their goodwill towards enhancing investment cooperation with Vietnam in the near future. He expressed hope that they would continue to strive to become the largest investors in Vietnam, leveraging advantages and seizing opportunities based on mutual respect, equality, and shared benefits, in line with the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, according to VOV.

Party General Secretary and President To Lam witnesses the exchange of a memorandum of understanding in the fields of AI, semiconductors, and data center construction in Vietnam between Sovico Group and SuperMicro.

To achieve the goal, he urged relevant ministries, sectors, and agencies of both countries to continue specifying the major policies and orientations of the comprehensive bilateral strategic partnership; to promptly support and address difficulties and obstacles faced by investors; and to put in place solutions to improve the investment and business environment to make it more open and transparent.

He hoped that the US government would encourage its firms to increase their investments in Vietnam while facilitating and continuing to support Vietnamese investors in expanding their effective business operations, particularly in the fields of science-technology and innovation.

“I urge the United States to recognize Vietnam as a market economy. We have made significant progress toward this goal, and we hope you will continue to accompany us. We have also received very positive support from you on this issue” said the leader.

He proposed that the US government remove Vietnam from the commerce control list to facilitate its firms in exporting and importing high-tech goods, including chips. He also encouraged US business associations to serve as an important bridge connecting the business communities and relevant agencies of both sides in promoting economic investment cooperation between Vietnam and the US.

To Lam affirmed that the Vietnamese Party and State always consider the foreign investment sector a vital part of the socialist-oriented market economy, contributing to the fundamental transformation of the economy, positively impacting reforms, improving the investment and business environment, and enhancing Vietnam's reputation and position in the international arena.

He expressed hope that US businesses would explore and expand investments in sectors such as science -technology, innovation, research and development; green economy, digital economy, circular economy, knowledge economy, while developing the chip, semiconductor, artificial intelligence (AI), and Internet of Things (IoT) industries; new energy, renewable energy; finance and financial centers; biotechnology, and health care.

On this occasion, General Secretary and President To Lam witnessed the signing of several cooperation agreements between Vietnamese and US businesses.

Vietnam-U.S. relations: rare process and model in international relations

General Secretary and President To Lam attended a ceremony held in New York, the U.S. on September 22 to mark the first anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-U.S. comprehensive partnership.

Participants to the event include former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, senator Dan Sullivan among others.

In his remarks, General Secretary and President To Lam recalled the history of the Vietnam-U.S. relationship, describing it as a rare process and model in international relations in post-war healing and relations building.

Although the two countries had their first exchanges more than two decades ago, they had to go through challenges, ups and downs, from former enemies in the ward, to become friends and develop their ties to a comprehensive partnership in 2013.

After a decade of comprehensive partnership, both sides achieved significant progress in consolidating trust and enhancing mutual understanding, thus creating a solid foundation for the two sides to upgrade their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership for peace, cooperation and sustainable development in 2023, as President Ho Chi Minh once wished.

General Secretary and President To Lam underlined that this result came as a result of tireless efforts to heal and build trust over three decades by many generations of leaders, governments, parliaments and people of the two countries.

He welcomed encouraging outcomes obtained by both sides after one year of upgrading ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, saying with the comprehensive and concrete contents of the new partnership framework, there remains vast room for the two sides to further deepen and promote the bilateral in an increasingly stable and practical fashion, bringing more benefits to the people of the two countries and contributing to peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world.

More importantly, this helps both sides to build trust, an important foundation for the two countries to work together to build a bright vision for the two countries' future relations, so that the two peoples and our descendants will always be good friends and partners as stated by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong during his historic visit to the U.S. in 2015, VGP reported.

General Secretary and President To Lam addresses a ceremony held in New York, the U.S. on September 22 to mark the first anniversary of the establishment of Viet Nam-U.S. comprehensive partnership.

Looking forward to the 30th anniversary of the Vietnam-U.S. diplomatic ties in 2025, General Secretary and President To Lam suggested both sides should continue close coordination in effectively implementing the Vietnam-U.S. Joint Statement in 2023, especially stepping up contacts and exchange of high-level delegations; making science and high-tech cooperation (semiconductor, artificial intelligence), and high-quality human resource training a strategic breakthrough in the bilateral ties; continue to prioritize cooperation in overcoming the war legacies, contributing to strengthening mutual trust; enhancing dialogues on the basis of straightforward and constructive spirit and legitimate concerns of each other; and strengthening coordination and contributions to peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world.

To Lam once again emphasized that over the past 30 years, both sides have joined hands to create a historical highlight which is a model in international relations, described as a nice picture woven by many people, including outstanding leaders and unsung contributors.

The General Secretary and President took the occasion to express thanks to the Administration and people of the U.S. for their timely assistance to Vietnam in response to the aftermath of typhoon Yagi.

Earlier the same day, General Secretary and President To Lam met with the leadership of the Asia Society and American friends.

HCM City, RoK locality boost cooperation in training high-quality human resources

Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Phan Van Mai hosted a reception for Governor of the Republic of Korea (RoK)'s Chungcheongbuk province Kim Young Hwan on September 23 to discuss ways to expand cooperation between the two localities, especially in training high-quality human resources.

Mai expressed his pleasure in welcoming Kim to the second Ho Chi Minh City Friendship Dialogue and the fifth Ho Chi Minh City Economic Forum, noting that the southern economic hub and Chungcheongbuk province have effectively implemented many cooperation activities. He showed his belief that the partnership between the two localities will achieve positive results in the coming time.

According to Mai, the dialogue and the forum's theme focuses on industrial transformation, while Chungcheongbuk has valuable experience in this field that HCM City can learn from.

He highlighted great potential for the two localities to further promote cooperation in semiconductor industry and high technology as outlined in the memorandum of understanding they have signed.

The HCM City leader said cooperation in high-tech agriculture development is also a promising area for collaboration in the near future, pointing out that HCM City has a large number of students from nearly 100 colleges and universities, and education and training is another cooperation area agreed by both sides, cited VNA.

Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Phan Van Mai hosts Governor of the Republic of Korea (RoK)'s Chungcheongbuk province Kim Young Hwan on September 23. (Photo: VNA)

HCM City hopes to establish a joint task force with Chungcheongbuk to discuss and implement specific cooperation programs in training high-quality human resources and semiconductor technology, Mai stressed, adding that initially, the two localities will begin with training 100 students receiving full scholarships for master's and doctoral programs in mechanical engineering, as proposed by Chungcheongbuk's leaders.

Kim applauded HCM City's efforts in applying AI, high technology, and semiconductor technology for its development, saying that high technology and semiconductors are among the strengths of Chungcheongbuk.

He urged the two localities to focus on training human resources in this field to not only create a workforce for the economic sector but also foster a bridge of friendship between the Vietnamese and Korean people.

He highly valued HCM City 's strengths in high-quality personnel training, expressing a hope for specific cooperation programs with Vietnam's southern metropolis in this regard, and master's and doctoral training programs in areas where the RoK boasts strengths.

Chungcheongbuk is willing to provide 50-100 full scholarships for master's and doctoral programs in mechanical engineering in the RoK to develop a quality workforce that supports HCM City's development, Kim stated.

Nine Vietnamese among world’s top 10,000 most cited scientists

Dutch publisher Elsevier recently named nine Vietnamese scientists among the 100,000 most cited researchers globally.

The list, compiled by a group of researchers led by John P.A. Ioannidis of Stanford University, makes use of citations from Scopus, an international scientific database, to name 100,000 most-cited scientists of 200,409 in its database.

Among Vietnamese scientists currently working in Vietnam, a total of nine made it into the top 10,000 this year, while 60 were listed among the top 100,000 most cited researchers globally.

Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc and Associate Professor Le Hoang Son from Vietnam National University, Hanoi, were both placed among the top 10,000, ranking at 7,704th and 6,436th, respectively.

This marks the sixth consecutive year that two scientists have been honored on the list, following their names announced in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023, VOV reported.

Five out of nine Vietnamese scientists are named among 100,000 most cited researchers globally.

Seven more Vietnamese scientists were also added to the latest list, including Professor Tran Xuan Bach of Hanoi Medical University, Professor Vo Xuan Vinh and Dr. Nguyen Phuc Canh of the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Dr. Tran Nguyen Hai and Dr. Hoang Nhat Duc of Duy Tan University, Associate Professor Hoang Anh Tuan from Dong A University, and Dr. Pham Thai Binh from the University of Transport and Communications.

Meanwhile, a further 60 other Vietnamese scientists were honored among the 100,000 most-cited researchers, 13 more than last year.

The ranking evaluates the scientists based on various factors, including the number of citations (excluding self-citations); the Hirsch h-index; the Schreiber hm-index; and the number of citations for papers where they were either the sole author, the first author, or the corresponding or last author.

Scientists are categorized into 22 scientific fields and 176 subfields, thereby demonstrating the broad scope of expertise included in the evaluation.

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