For his part, the Malaysian PM lauded the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and the Party General Secretary’s contributions to Vietnam's national development. Tran Viet Truong, chairman of the Can Tho People’s Committee, said the city wants to improve its road network. The project uses ODA loans worth US$34.514 million from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund of Korea, including US$25.474 million from the ODA loans of the Korean Government via the Economic Development Cooperation Fund, and the reciprocal capital of US$9.04 million. This handling will complete this month”, stressed Chairman Nguyen Ngoc Thach of Ham Thuan Bac District People’s Committee. Vietnamese, Lao armies boost information, liaison cooperationDeputy Chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army Lieut.

Paul KennedyI don’t think there’s a single Tottenham Hotspur fan who would be surprised if their captain, Harry Kane, left Spurs before the new season begins. Obviously they’d be hurt, and very sad, but surely it’s time for Kane to leave north London for a bigger and better team. But at 29 years old, it’s starting to look like now or never for Kane if he wants to start winning some trophies. With 213 Premier League goals to date, Kane sits second in the list of all-time top scores behind Alan Shearer who has 260. And the time is right for Kane to reign in Spain.— VNS

HÀ NỘI — VinFast, the subsidiary automaker of Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup, has announced it will hold a groundbreaking ceremony of its electric vehicle (EV) factory in North Carolina, the US, on July 28. Covering an area of approximately 1,800 acres, VinFast's factory is designed to reach a capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year in Phase 1. When the manufacturing complex commences operations, VinFast's factory will create an ecosystem of suppliers and help generate thousands of new jobs. Lê Thị Thu Thủy, CEO of VinFast Auto, said that the manufacturing facility in North Carolina is one of VinFast's key projects. In addition to the factory, VinFast is accelerating its business and brand recognition in the US by expanding its retail store and service centre system, organising local test drives and displaying products events throughout California.

Destination for global music starsThe latest event is the South Korean group Blackpink concerts at My Dinh National Stadium, Hanoi, on July 29 and 30. The number of tourists flocking to Hanoi is also expected to soar to join the concerts. The need for a specific music tourism strategyAccording to travel experts, music tourism is a trend among young people. The global music tourism market is estimated to reach US$1.3 billion by 2033, providing opportunities for host countries to earn huge profits through catering and accommodation services. At the same time, a positive image has been created, identifying Hanoi as a culturally vibrant destination for music tourists.

Director of the MARD’s Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department Nguyễn Như Tiệp predicted export growth of fruit and vegetables to be maintained in the second half, assuming firms pay attention to quality, design, packaging and origin tracing to meet market demand. It will also consider working with the Việt Nam Trade Office in China’s Nanning to step up the consumption of farm produce at the expo. An online forum is slated for July 21 to connect production, processing and export of Vietnamese shrimp to the US. Trade promotion activities for fruit products will be also held on the sidelines of events marking the 50th anniversary of Việt Nam-Japan diplomatic ties and the ASEAN-Japan Summit in Tokyo in this December. Every quarter, MARD units update market regulations and consumer preferences through commercial attachés and the Việt Nam business associations in various markets.

Inflation is expected to continue falling, approaching pre-pandemic levels as fuel and food prices decline, according to the ADB’s Asian Development Outlook released on July 19. Meanwhile, the Asia Pacific region is expected to maintain growth of 4.8% this year, driven by domestic demand. Inflation in developing Asia is forecast at 3.6% this year, compared with an April forecast of 4.2%. The Asian Development Bank has also revised its GDP growth forecast for Vietnam down to 5.8% for 2023 and 6.5% for 2024, from 6.5% and 6.8% in April, respectively. Weak external demand continued to put pressure on manufacturing and industrial production, while domestic conditions are expected to improve moving forward, according to the Outlook./.

According to data from Google’s tourism trend monitoring tool, search volumes for travel to Vietnam has been continually on the rise, ranking among the top in the world and jumping from 11th position to 6th now. Vietnam welcomed more than 5.5 million international visitors in the first half of the year, an increase of more than 13-fold over the same period of 2022, and over 64 million domestic tourists, up 5.3%. Total revenue from tourism stood at more than 14.5 billion USD, up 29.4%. This shows that tourism demand in Vietnam is recovering quickly and at a much higher rate than in its regional competitors. The recent decision to extend tourist e-visas from 30 to 90 days, which will officially take effect from August 15, is expected to present a golden opportunity for the sector to continue to make further strides forward./.

HÀ NỘI — The Việt Nam Banks Association (VNBA) has suggested the Government submit a request to the National Assembly for a resolution to support firms and people to overcome difficulties and promote business development like they did during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the Government and the Prime Minister have proposed solutions to remove difficulties for firms and people, the capital absorption capacity of the economy is still low. The Government should also review and evaluate the effectiveness of the Small- and Medium-sized Enterprise Support Fund under the Ministry of Planning and Investment and supplement its capital in order to support firms that have not yet met the conditions for loans at credit institutions. Hùng also suggested that the Government should reduce VAT for commercial banks to ease them in sharply reducing lending interest rates to support firms. The General Department of Civil Judgment Execution should review outstanding judgments related to the handling of collateral for bad debt recovery.

HÀ NỘI — The Vietnamese stock market settled lower on Wednesday, ending its two-day gaining streak due to the slump of heavy-weight stocks. Liquidity declined compared to the previous session, with more than 897 million shares traded on HoSE, worth nearly VNĐ17.7 trillion (US$748.6 million). Securities stocks decreased towards the end of the session. The VN-Index's loss was significantly broadened as securities stocks declined strongly, such as VNDirect Securities Corporation (VND), Saigon-Hanoi Securities JSC (SHS), Việt Capital Incorporation (VCI), Agribank Securities Corporation (AGR) and APG Securities Joint Stock Company (APG). During the session, VNĐ1.6 trillion worth of shares, equivalent to a trading volume of nearly 91.3 million shares, was traded on the northern market.

Also on July 19, the VFF Central Committee delegation had a working session with head of the Beijing CPPCC Committee Wei Xiaodong and visited the CPC Museum. The Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee held a get-together in Hanoi on July 19 for overseas Vietnamese youths attending the 2023 Summer Camp. In their first participation, 32 Vietnamese students all won awards in the final round which took place in Fukuoka, Japan. Perfect scores triple in 2023 National High School ExaminationThe Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) on Tuesday morning announced the results of the nine subjects in the 2023 National High School Examination, with an explosion of perfect scores in citizenship education. Vĩnh Phúc Province has the highest average score in the 2023 National High School Examination while Hà Giang recorded the lowest average score.

(Photo: VFF)Hanoi (VNA) - The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) has announced that Huynh Nguyen Thanh officially became Asian Football Confederation (AFC) senior futsal referee. This is the second AFC senior futsal referee of Vietnam, after Truong Quoc Dung from Ho Chi Minh City. Thus, the country currently has 50 futsal referees, including three FIFA-level and two AFC senior referees. To become a qualified AFC senior futsal referee, Thanh has undergone several assessments by officials from the organisation. He has participated in managing many international tournaments, including the Southeast Asian Club Championships 2018 and 2019, the qualifying round of the Asian – Southeast Asian futsal championship 2022 in Thailand, and the 2023 Southeast Asian Club Futsal Championship./.

HÀ NỘI — Exports of cement and clinker products reached 14 million tonnes in the first six months of this year, a year-on-year decline of 15 per cent. Lương Đức Long, Vice Chairman and General Secretary of the Việt Nam National Cement Association said that cement production and consumption decreased last year compared to 2021. However, the country's cement export market was also not positive in the first six months of the year. Việt Nam's second-largest cement export market is the Philippines, but recently this country has officially announced the imposition of a temporary anti-dumping tax on cement products from Việt Nam, causing difficulties for cement exports to the market. The increase in export tax and the price of export clinker not rising has made the difficulties even worse.

Hanoi (VNA) - The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency. At the talks between Minister of Public Security General To Lam and Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi. VinFast will hold a groundbreaking ceremony of its electric vehicle (EV) factory in North Carolina, the US, on July 28. The overall objective of the planning project is to develop an infrastructure system for the reserves, including strategic reserves, production reserves, commercial reserves, transport, and distribution. However, this is also a great opportunity for Vietnam to expand export markets if it is well prepared and satisfy the new rules.

HÀ NỘI — The trading platform for privately placed corporate bonds (PPBs) will make medium- and long-term finance more accessible to businesses and lessen their reliance on bank credits. That was the message from Minister of Finance Hồ Đức Phớc speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the PPB trading platform on Wednesday. Economist Đinh Thế Hiển said the launch of the trading platform would be a life-saver to bond issuers because they could leverage the platform to service their bonds that were coming due. A representative from VNDirect said real estate would be the sector with the largest volume of bonds coming due in Q3, accounting for 43.6 per cent of the total volume of bonds coming due in the country. Meanwhile, around VNĐ159 trillion ($6.7 billion) of bonds, including publicly-offered bonds, would reach maturity in the second half of the year.

She also commended Vietnam for its active engagement in future health care programmes and projects, as well as its climate commitments. The two sides vowed to focus on preparing well for the upcoming high-level visits, especially Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s official visit to Vietnam. The event was attended by representatives of localities in the southern region, leaders of Korean corporations operating in Vietnam, and leaders of the Vietnam National University Hanoi (VNU-Hanoi) and the Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM City). A representative of the Korean Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (KOCHAM) said that businesses are always looking for high-quality human resources of Vietnam to serve production and development requirements. In 2023, Vietnam continues to offer Laos 1,100 scholarships to help Lao students pursue their study in Vietnam, while Laos offers Vietnam 60 scholarships.