Secretary General of ASEAN Lim Jock Hoi speaks at the event. (Photo: VNA)Jakarta (VNA) – Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Lim Jock Hoi highlighted the achievements accomplished by a cohesive ASEAN amid the COVID-19 pandemic during the 55th ASEAN Day Celebration on August 8. ASEAN trade volumes have returned to pre-pandemic levels and the bloc’s economy is forecast to grow by 4.9% this year and 5.2% next year. The official underlined the need for ASEAN to accelerate its green agenda in areas such as sustainable climate, biodiversity, livelihoods, circular economy, and energy efficiency with renewable energy. “The past 55 years of ASEAN have shown that only by working together can we effectively deliver economic prosperity, social advancement, and long-lasting peace for our region," he said./.

Over the past more than five decades, ASEAN has become a community and a major economy in the world with extensive security-political and cultural-society cooperation. And Vietnam is always a proud responsible and active member with significant contributions to building an ASEAN Community as it is today.Vietnam officially joined ASEAN on July 28, 1995. on the occasion of the 28th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM-28) in Brunei. In particular, 2020 marks 25 years of its membership in ASEAN, and also its third ASEAN Chairmanship. : Addressing Challenges Together”, Vietnam continues to contribute proactively, behave positively and share the responsibility with other member countries to overcome challenges, maintain solidarity, continue the momentum of the Community building, promote regional connectivity, effectively respond to emerging challenges, and strengthen the central role and position and voice of ASEAN in the international arena.After 27 years, the economic and trade ties between Vietnam and ASEAN have seen outstanding developments. In 1996, when Vietnam joined the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), two-way trade between Vietnam and the other member countries was nearly 6 billion USD, but the figure increases six folds to around 60 billion USD at present.Notably, in the 2010-2021 period, trade between Vietnam and ASEAN has grown tremendously.

That said, at 51.2, down from 54.0 in June, the index signalled a softer improvement.As such, output, new orders and employment all increased at weaker rates than in June. New orders increased for the 10th month running, but the rate of expansion eased to the weakest since April. New export business rose solidly, meanwhile, and at a faster pace than total new orders.The continued growth of new orders encouraged manufacturers to keep expanding production in July. That said, the latest rise was still above the series average amid reports of higher costs for oil, gas and freight. Similarly, output prices continued to rise, but the rate of inflation slowed and was only modest.Suppliers' delivery times neared stabilisation as the rate of lead time lengthening softened for the second month running to the weakest in 22 months.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, revenue of exports was estimated at 32.3 billion USD, up over 12% year-on-year, while imports was estimated at 26 billion USD, up 1.6%. So far this year, Vietnam has enjoyed about 6.3 billion USD in trade surplus in agriculture, forestry and fishery products, nearly doubling that the same period in 2021. There were four items of exports whose value exceeded 2 billion USD, namely coffee, rice, shrimp, and wood products. The US remained Vietnam’s biggest buyer, purchasing nearly 8.7 billion USD worth of the products. It was followed by China with import value of 5.7 billion USD./.

A isolated Monkeypox treatment ward at a hospital in Ahmedabad in India. (Photo: AFP/VNA)Scientists at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)’s National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune are training experts from Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand to tackle monkeypox amidst escalating concerns over the disease.As part of India’s response to protecting its population from the new threat, NIV scientists are training their counterparts in these countries on testing, clinical symptoms, case definitions, sample collection, and equipment required for testing. NIV Pune has been conducting such training programmes for other countries from time to time, like it did during the COVID-19 pandemic and even before for biosafety and bio-risk mitigation, said Dr Pragya Yadav, a senior scientist at NIV Pune.If these countries develop the capacity to diagnose and detect monkeypox cases, that would enhance the screening of the suspected cases and reduce the travel-related importation of cases to other countries, he said.According to the scientist, some 139 participants from various countries participated in the last capacity-building programme which was launched on August 1.The institute does not only offer the capacity-building programme but also provides testing kits, reagents and probes for other countries upon request, said Prof., Dr Priya Abraham, Director of NIV Pune.Last week, the NIV lab isolated the monkeypox virus strain to help pharmaceutical companies to develop monkeypox vaccine and diagnostic kits. Besides this, the institute has been designated as a referral laboratory for testing suspected cases. In addition, 15 other ICMR-VRDL (Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory) network laboratories have been optimised to undertake diagnostic testing for monkeypox disease.According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), as of July 27, around 18,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox globally from 78 countries and five deaths have been reported./.

In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency, Dr. Jonathan Choi said Vietnam has made a good decision on the pandemic as the country opened doors right after the situation got better. Therefore, the country has recovered “very quickly” after the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, adding that this is one of the reason many people are interested in investing in Vietnam. Meanwhile, Jesse Choi, the third generation to inherit and lead the group, said Vietnam’s startup ecosystem is one of the most vibrant in Southeast Asia, along with Indonesia and Singapore. Sunwah group has set up a Sunwah Innovation Center in Ho Chi Minh City and another in Hanoi. Jesse Choi noted that he will work more on innovation and continue to seek opportunities to expand the group’s operations in Vietnam./.

breast milk bank , the largest of its kind in Vietnam, is inaugurated at Hung Vuong Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City on August 6. (Photo: VNA)A breast milk bank, the largest of its kind in Vietnam, was inaugurated at Hung Vuong Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City on August 6.The facility with a total investment capital of 6 billion VND (256,500 USD) is able to pasteurise 62 litres of milk per day.This is the second breast milk bank in the South and one of four breast milk banks operating in Vietnam . Breast milk not only helps children grow up quickly and comprehensively, but also strengthens the immune system, especially in the period when the child’s immune system is not yet complete.Passive antibodies passed from mother to baby in breast milk will help the baby fight many infectious diseases in the living environment.Every year, the Neonatal Department of Hung Vuong Hospital takes care of thousands of premature, low birth weight and pathological babies mostly based on formula milk as there is no donated or stored breast milk. The establishment of the breast milk bank is highly appreciated providing milk to these unfortunate children. So far 17 mothers have donated 235 litres of raw milk to the bank.“We hope that many other mothers will know about the breast milk bank and volunteer to donate milk to help save the lives of other unfortunate children,” said Hoang Thi Diem Tuyet, Director of Hung Vuong Hospital ./.

Located about 7 kilometres from Van Ho district, Fairy, or Chieng Khoa, Waterfall is one of the most stunning and famous in the local area. The three-tier falls and calm turquoise water will keep visitors enchanted for a long period. Fairy Waterfall is a highlight of tourism in Van Ho district. It has helped improve local livelihoods and made a contribution to protecting forests. Recognised as a provincial-level relic site thanks to its jaw-dropping landscapes and diverse ecosystem, Fairy Waterfall has become a highlight in Van Ho district’s tourism development plan./.

Dự báo thời tiết ngày 6/8, khu vực miền Bắc vào đến Nghệ An tiếp tục dồn dập những cơn mưa to đến rất to, với lượng mưa cao nhất 100mm. Tây Nguyên và Nam Bộ mưa giông kéo dài.

ASEAN Indonesian economy posts higher growth in Q2 Indonesia’s economy expanded 5.44 % in the second quarter of 2022, up slightly from the 5.01% growth recorded in the first quarter according to Statistics Indonesia. World Malaysia to stop building coal plants from 2040 The Malaysian government will stop building coal power plants starting in 2040, and shift its focus toward clean and renewable energy, according to Minister in the Prime Minister’s department in charge of economy Mustapa Mohamed. World UK police announce identities of Vietnamese citizens reported missing in Manchester fire Greater Manchester Police on August 4 officially announced the identity of four Vietnamese citizens who had been reported missing in a blaze on May 7 in Bismark House Mill, in Oldham, Greater Manchester. ASEAN Malaysia disburses over 4 billion USD under wage subsidy programme Malaysia has disbursed 20.92 billion RM (4.72 billion USD) of wage subsidies through its Wage Subsidy Programme (PSU) to 357,895 employers, Finance Minister Zafrul Aziz said in the 105th People’s Financial Report released on August 4.

A wood product factory in Vietnam (Photo: VNA)– A webinar was held on August 4 to update Vietnamese exporters on the UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) mark, which is mandatory for most of industrial products circulated and used in the UK from next year.The UKCA was created to replace the CE (Conformité Européene - European Conformity) mark of the European Union after the UK left the bloc in 2020.Though the new mark already took effect on January 1, 2021, the UK still accepts the CE mark during the transition process so that businesses can have time to adapt to new requirements. However, the UKCA will be compulsory for most of industrial products exported to the country from January 1, 2023.Addressing the seminar, Vietnam’s Trade Counsellor in the UK Nguyen Canh Cuong said the timely adaptation to the UKCA marking requirements is highly necessary for Vietnamese firms to not miss business chances in the major import market of industrial products.Vietnam has made up just a small part of the UK’s industrial imports, but thanks to the UK - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) and changes in global supply chains, opportunities for Vietnamese companies to expand their market share are considerable, he noted.The UK is one of Vietnam’s leading partners in Europe. Bilateral trade has been growing strongly in recent years, rising by 10.2% from 2020 to over 6.6 billion USD in 2021.Industrial products, mainly mobile phones and components, computers, machinery, equipment, tools and steel, accounted for 44.2%, 2.54 billion USD, of Vietnam’ exports to this market last year, according to Ta Hoang Linh, Director of the European - American Market Department at the Ministry of Industry and Trade.He held that updating enterprises on the UKCA is greatly crucial for capitalising on advantages under the UKVFTA and grasping opportunities generated by the thriving diplomatic and trade ties, as well as the UK’s high import demand.At the event, Emily Beis and Erin Fair, experts from the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, provided information about the UKCA mark and fielded questions from Vietnamese enterprises.Erin Fair said as Vietnam is a major exporter of the UK, the UK Government attaches importance to giving instructions to help Vietnamese companies meet the UKCA marking requirements.The UK side is ready to hold virtual and face-to-face workshops in Vietnam to provide more assistance this November, she added./.

– India hopes to further expand partnerships with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said at the ASEAN-India Foreign Ministerial Meeting that took place in Phnom Penh on August 4.He said that at the meeting, participants agreed on the viewpoint on connectivity projects and the response to COVID-19 pandemic, as well as issues related to cyber security.Writing on Twitter, Jaishankar held that the ASEAN- India Foreign Ministers’ Meeting was effective, and thanked his counterparts from the ASEAN for the active discussions.He clarified that the two sides agreed to promote their partnerships in the fields of digital, health, agriculture, education and green growth.The ministers also discussed the overall situation in the Indo-Pacific region, and sought measures to further expand their relations amid complicated developments in the geopolitical situation.The ASEAN-India partnership was established in 1992 before being elevated to a comprehensive dialogue relationship in December 1995 and a high-level partnership in 2002. The relationship continued to be lifted to a strategic partnership in 2012.ASEAN has been the centre of India’s Act East Policy and its Indo-Pacific vision.Meanwhile, at the ASEAN-Australia Foreign Ministerial Meeting that took place the same day, Australian foreign minister Penny Wong affirmed that Australia wants to cooperate with ASEAN for a region that is stable, prosperous and respectful of sovereignty.Speaking to the media earlier, Wong reaffirmed that Australia hopes to collaborate with the 10-member ASEAN to form an area that benefits all parties./.

Illustrative photo (Source: VNA)- The Ministry of Health has asked localities nationwide to monitor foreign arrivals from countries with monkeypox as an early response after infections were spotted in the region.Thailand, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, China and Japan are some of the countries where monkeypox has been detected.Per the latest decision, foreign arrivals from countries with monkeypox will have their body temperatures checked and be subject to other monitoring measures. Those suspected to be infected with the condition will be isolated and have their biological samples taken for testing.The ministry is yet to issue specific instructions on how foreign entrants from countries with monkeypox should be monitored, or when exactly these measures are to be applied. Seven people have died. Typical symptoms of the disease include fever, headache, muscle pain, skin lesions and rashes. It is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids or lesion material./.

Vo Huynh Anh Khoa surpassed his opponents to win gold in the men's 50m butterfly - S8 with a time of 30:47 seconds. This marked the third gold medal won by the Ho Chi Minh City-born swimmer at the Games. The other gold medalists are Trinh Thi Bich Nhu, Do Thanh Hai, Nguyen Thanh Trung, and Vi Thi Hang. This is the sixth time the Vietnamese swimmers' team has broken the records at the 11th ASEAN Para Games. As of the morning of August 4, the Vietnamese team had claimed a total of 23 gold, 19 silver, and eight bronze medals at the Games, impressively exceeding the target of 13 gold medals./.

Lao officials are introduced about the operation of Vietnam’s Son La hydroelectric power plant . (Photo: VNA)Officials from the Department of Energy Safety Management (DESM) under the Lao Ministry of Energy and Mines made a working visit to Vietnam’s Son La hydroelectric power plant on August 3 and 4 to study the plant’s operation.The Son La hydroelectric power plant is the biggest of its kind in Southeast Asia, with six turbines having a combined capacity of 2,400 MW. The plant generates over 10 billion kWh of electricity a year.The operation of the plant has ensured absolute safety since it was commissioned nearly 10 years ago. Besides electricity generation, the plant plays an important role in preventing floods in the rainy season and supplying water in the dry season for the Red River Delta , while creating an impetus for socio-economic development in the northwestern region.The Lao delegation has made a field trip and studied the operation of the plant with a focus on the safety of the dam and reservoir in the rainy season.DESM Deputy Director Phoukhong Sengvilay said he is impressed by the plant, and particularly the fact that it was entirely designed and built by Vietnamese engineers.He asked Vietnamese ministries, sectors and the Son La hydropower company to help Laos build regulations on dam safety and reservoir operation for hydropower plants in Laos./.