Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh (L) and UN Secretary-General Antonió Guterres. Photo: VGP

UN backs Vietnam’s development priorities: Secretary-General

The United Nations (UN) will continue paying attention to and support Vietnam's development priorities towards green and sustainable orientations, and just transition, especially in terms of financial access, UN Secretary-General Antonió Guterres told Vietnamese Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh on September 23.

During their meeting on the sidelines of the high-level week of the 77th UN General Assembly (UNGA 77) in New York, Guterres appreciated Vietnam's active and responsible contributions to the common affairs of the largest global organization in recent years, hoping that the country will promote its role and contribute more to addressing global issues.

Minh, for his part, emphasized that Vietnam always backs multilateralism and the central role of the United Nations in global governance and coordination of efforts to address common challenges.

More efforts should be made to help the UN operate more effectively and with sufficient resources to best meet the needs and expectations of member states, he said.

The Deputy PM reaffirmed Vietnam's commitment to working with member countries and UN leaders to advance important common agendas, from the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals to peacekeeping operations in different regions of the world.

Vietnam is actively implementing its commitments at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) to net zero emissions by 2050, Minh stated, proposing the UN actively support the process of building the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP).

At a meeting with President of UNGA 77 Csaba Korosi, Minh appreciated Korosi's selection of the topic and priorities, affirming that Vietnam, as Vice President of the UNGA, will actively support and contribute to the success of the session.

Korosi asserted that the UN appreciates Vietnam's contributions and thanks the country for its active role in the implementation of the SDGs. Vietnam is a role model of economic growth associated with environmental protection, he stressed.

He also shared his priority on water resource management and wished to cooperate with Vietnam in this field, as it is necessary to promote measures to prevent water crises, build a water-related database at regional and global levels, and connect national policies on water and climate change.

The UNGA President showed his hope that Vietnam will actively participate in and share its experience at the UN Water Conference in March 2023, cited VNA.

Agreeing with the UNGA President’s initiatives and proposals, and sharing his special concern over water management, Minh said that Vietnam always considers water an important security issue due to many impacts of droughts, floods, sea level rise and the development and over-exploitation of water resources.

Vietnam is determined not to sacrifice the environment in exchange for economic growth, but there should be a balance between economic development and environmental protection, he stressed.

Typhoon Noru heads toward central Vietnam

Central provinces of Vietnam are expected to endure a big spell of rain in a couple of days as typhoon Noru is moving fast toward the central region, according to the National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting.

At 13.00 on September 24, Noru was swirling around the area about 660km east of the Philippines’ Luzon island, packing winds of 113kph near its center.

Typhoon Noru is forecast to pound the central region of Vietnam on September 28.

In the next 24 hours, the typhoon is forecast to move west at a speed of 20kph and is likely to gain strength.

On September 26, the typhoon is anticipated to move into the South China Sea and head for the central coast of Vietnam.

The typhoon is likely to further strengthen with winds gusting approximately 150kph near its eye on September 27 before pounding the central coast of Vietnam the following day, according to VOV.

It will dump heavy rain on localities along the central coast from Thanh Hoa to Quang Binh.

Weather experts warned about possible severe flooding in low-lying areas, and possible landslides and flashfloods in mountainous areas.

Vietnam maintains efforts to fight IUU fishing

Vietnam is striving to prevent, reduce and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in an effort to remove the European Commission (EC)’s ‘yellow card’ warning as part of a scheme on IUU fishing prevention and control by 2025.

The scheme, approved recently by Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh, aims to monitor fishing activities, protect marine resources and ecosystems, and develop Vietnam's fisheries towards sustainability, responsibility and international integration, thus contributing to improving people's lives, ensuring national security and defense, and protecting the country's sovereignty.

Vietnamese fishing vessels. Photo: VNA

By 2025, all fishing vessels with a length of 15m or more will be inspected before leaving port to ensure all documents and equipment are completed as prescribed; 100% of fishing vessels of 15m or more must be monitored through the Fishing Vessel Journey Monitoring System when at sea and will be inspected when entering port; 100% of aquatic output from domestic fishing must be inspected and supervised when loading and unloading at fishing ports according to regulations; and 100% of seafood from foreign catches arriving at Vietnam's seaports must be inspected and monitored in accordance with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s 2009 Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA).

To that end, Vietnam will focus on intensifying communications on IUU fishing prevention and control; completing a legal framework, mechanisms and policies; investing in upgrading and completing fisheries infrastructure and consolidating organisational apparatus; and enhancing the capacity of fishing ports.

Attention will be paid to improving the capacity and efficiency of patrols, inspections and controls at sea, promoting law enforcement, tracing the origins of aquatic products, and realising international treaties and agreements, and enhancing international cooperation, VNA reported.

In October 2017, the EC issued a "yellow card" warning against Vietnamese seafood exports after Vietnamese fishermen violated IUU regulations.

Three Vietnamese airlines named among world’s best air services

Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, and Bamboo Airways have been honoured in different categories by Skytrax, a UK-based site which ranks airlines and airports.

Vietnam Airlines ranked 48th among the top 100 best airlines, as compiled by Skytrax.

Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, and Bamboo Airways are honoured in different categories by Skytrax. Photo: aivivu.com

Meanwhile, Bamboo Airways finished second in the Best Regional Airline in Asia category, and 15th in in the World's Best Regional Airline category.

Vietjet Air was named as the Best Low-Cost Airline in Vietnam, cited VOV.

Elsewhere, the world's top 20 airlines in 2022 included Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, ANA (All Nippon Airways), Qantas Airways, Japan Airlines,Turkish Airlines, Air France, Korean Air, and Swiss International Air Lines.

Skytrax has conducted more than 14 million customer surveys in over 100 countries from September 2021 to August 2022 in order to find out the world's favourite airline.

The awards ceremony was held at Langham hotel in London, the UK, on September 23.

Gov’t warns of overload at Noi Bai airport

The Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi may be overwhelmed due to fast-growing passenger traffic, according to Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh.

During a working session at the airport on September 21, Thanh urged speeding up the planning process so that construction of a new runway and passenger terminal can begin between 2024 and 2025.

The airport is forecast to handle 50 million passengers by 2030, well above the current passenger handling capacity of 25 million.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh during a working visit to the Noi Bai International Airport. Photo: VGP

Noi Bai will be the country’s main cargo transshipment and passenger transit hub, along with the under-construction Long Thanh International Airport, according to Dinh Viet Thang, director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam.

By 2030, the airport will have three passenger terminals, T1, T2, and the planned T3, with a combined annual capacity of 60-70 million passengers per year.

Its handling capacity will reach 100 million people per year with four passenger terminals by 2050, according to a plan by ADP Ingénierie, a French engineering company, SGT reported.

Still, concerns with land clearance have remained arduous challenges in the project’s implementation process.

The airport now has two passenger terminals, with a capacity of 25 million passengers per year, as well as a cargo terminal, with a capacity of 400,000 tons per year.

In 2019, the airport served over 29 million passengers and 695,000 tons of cargo.

Between 2010 and 2019, the average growth rate for passenger transport was around 13%, compared to 14.5% for freight transport.

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