BRUSSELS — Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn has expressed Việt Nam's readiness to collaborate closely with the EU in building an exemplary cooperation model for green transformation, aiming to support developing nations, including Việt Nam, in bridging gaps in finance, technology and human resources training. He urged EU countries to assist Việt Nam and other developing nations in adapting by sharing experiences and best practices, and coordinate in building policies and mechanisms on carbon trading and pricing. Participating ministers engaged in a comprehensive exploration of solutions to integrate economic recovery and climate change response into green transformation, ensure energy security and social fairness, and the role of the EU-Indo-Pacific partnership. As an EU initiative since 2022, the IPMF is held annually for foreign ministers from EU and Indo-Pacific countries to share cooperation prospects between the two regions. Priority cooperation areas have so far focused on inclusive and sustainable prosperity, green transformation, ocean governance, partnership relations and digital governance, connectivity, national security, and human security.

He also underscored the importance of fostering new growth drivers such as digital transformation, energy transition, green economy, and circular economy. He proposed that the EU support Việt Nam in implementing its Resource Mobilisation Plan (RMP) for the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). Participating ASEAN FMs considered the EU as one of the bloc’s top strategic partners with positive contributions to the ASEAN Community-building process. ASEAN and the EU agreed to effectively implement the joint statement of the 2022 commemorative summit and the action plan for 2023-27. They emphasised the importance of multilateralism, compliance with international law, dialogue and cooperation promotion, and peaceful handling of disputes and conflicts.

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s index of industrial production (IIP) in January edged up 18.3 per cent compared to the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO). The IIP, however, decreased by 4.4 per cent compared to the previous month. The company's director Nguyễn Trung Thành told baothainguyen.vn that his company aimed to achieve revenue of about VNĐ50 billion in 2024, an increase of 20 per cent compared to the previous year. The number of workers in industrial enterprises as of January 1, 2024, increased by 0.5 per cent month-on-month and by 0.1 per cent year-on-year. Particularly, the number of workers in the State-owned enterprise sector remained unchanged compared to the same time last month and declined by 0.9 per cent year on year.

The Nung Din people in Muong Khuong district in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai highly value their folk music, considering it a distinctive cultural beauty and source of pride. For Mr Hoàng Xín Hòa, Nung Din folk music represents a beautiful and unique cultural feature that he tirelessly works to promote and preserve. With a desire to preserve the folk melodies of his ethnic group, Hòa diligently collects and documents each folk melody. In 2012, he formed the Nung Din Folk Music Club, to collect, create, and continually improve the folk songs to align them with the practicalities of life and to contribute to community education. The folk culture of the Nung ethnic group is rich in content and diverse in genre.

Many OVs and Vietnamese entrepreneurs in the European nation are eager to invest in Vietnam, including Ho Chi Minh City. The Vietnam Trade Office in Australia reports that two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Australia fell by 12% to US$13.75 billion last year due to slow economic recovery, high inflation and exchange rate fluctuations. Of the total trade figure, Vietnam earned US$5.22 billion from exports, representing a year-on-year decrease of 5.3%. The Vietnam Trade Office in Australia says this year it will continue to proactively update market information and deploy trade promotion activities to support firms in taking the full advantage of FTAs to promote exports. The event aimed to remove difficulties and obstacles related to construction investment costs, construction price and construction material price regulations.

HÀ NỘI — The Communist Party of Việt Nam (CPV) is a politically influential force with a distinguished reputation not only in the country but also on the international stage, said Vice President of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) Jesús Faría. This inheritance is reflected through a leadership method that considers democratic centralism as a fundamental organisational principle to consolidate the collective strength and intelligence while maintaining discipline within the Party. Việt Nam is now recognised as an agricultural and industrial manufacturing powerhouse with many spearhead products. Regarding the fight against corruption in Việt Nam, Faría emphasised that the campaign, which launched by General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng, has garnered significant attention and positive international feedback. In his view, corruption poses a danger similar to enemy attacks, constituting a betrayal of the people's trust in the revolutionary cause.

HÀ NỘI To achieve the goal of upgrading the stock market as early as 2025, the Ministry of Finance in 2024 must undertake various tasks in coordination with other ministries and sectors for implementation. According to the deputy finance minister, the Government has set a goal to upgrade the stock market by 2025 from a frontier market to an emerging market. The development process of the Vietnamese stock market has made marked progress, and at the current stage, the market is in great need of new development steps. Specifically, it aims to be upgraded from a frontier market to an emerging market according to the criteria of international stock market rating organisations. The leadership of the Ministry of Finance shared four tasks that the Ministry of Finance, along with other ministries and sectors, must perform well in 2024.

HÀ NỘI — Students these days tend to exhaust themselves with extra projects and activities simply to add more lines to their résumés. She is so occupied with projects and extracurricular activities that she often skips breakfast and gets just five hours of sleep a day. She has participated in two clubs and engaged in lots of extracurricular activities since her first year at university. Diving into lots of extracurricular activities only to find oneself overwhelmed with work is common among Generation Z. Chi, an undergraduate at the University of Social Science and Humanities, believes that CV polishing is not the only reason behind the obsession with extracurricular activities.

Videos Australian paper introduces best things for tourists in Vietnam Herald Sun - one of the oldest and most widely read newspapers in Australia, has ran an article listing the nine best things for tourists to do when visiting Vietnam, attached with many impressive images of tourist attractive destinations in the Southeast Asian country. Videos Vietnam wins contracts to export rice to Indonesia Indonesia has concluded its bidding process for 17 rice packages with a total volume of 500,000 tons. It is a good news that Vietnam has won 8 out of the 17 packages. Videos Retail sales of goods, services up 8.1% in January Total retail sales of goods and revenue from consumer services in January were estimated at 21.5 billion USD, up 8.1% year-on-year, as consumers have been on the mood to shop for the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year) Festival. Videos Vietnamese families worship Kitchen’s Gods The 23rd day of the last month of every lunar year is when the Kitchen Gods return to Heaven to report to the Jade Emperor what happened on earth during the year.

As per the Indonesian National Logistics Agency (Bulog), Vietnam has won 8 out of 17 bidding packages, with a focus on 5 businesses. Among these, three major enterprises - the Loc Troi Group Joint Stock Company (LTG), the Vietnam Northern Food Corporation (Vinafood 1), and the Vietnam Southern Food Corporation (Vinafood 2) - each won two lots. Vietnam stands out as the only country with multiple businesses participating and securing a substantial number of bids. According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, Indonesia surpassed China to become Vietnam’s second-largest market for rice exports in 2023, with total export volumes reaching 1.16 million tons, amounting to 640 million USD./.

Bilingual school in Laos celebrates Vietnamese Tet festivalThe Nguyen Du Lao-Vietnamese bilingual school in Vientiane on February 1 held a programme to celebrate the Vietnamese Lunar New Year (Tet) Festival 2024. Vietnamese Tet traditional dishes and musical performances were introduced at the event. Comprehensive results were achieved at both central and local levels, contributing significantly to Party building and rectification, political stability, socio-economic development, and strengthening public trust. Vietnam, Singapore step up population database connectionA delegation from the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security (MoPS) led by Deputy Minister Sen. Lieut. The Party Building magazine, the standing agency of this year’s awards, said the organising board had received 2,216 entries, up 184 against the previous one.

According to the World Bank, without adequate mitigation measures, Việt Nam could face significant economic losses due to climate change. Through IPEF, Việt Nam can gain access to expertise, technology, training, and legal frameworks, which will contribute to the enhancement of labour skills and technological capabilities. In fact, Việt Nam has made significant progress in anti-corruption thanks to strong political determination. It will also be difficult to reach consensus with the IPEF partners if Việt Nam sets low standards for environment and labour issues. She recommends Việt Nam opt out of the trade pillar but join the other three, or consider higher labour and environment standards required under the trade pillar as a way to attract future investment and join the framework fully.

HÀ NỘI In line with the 2024 plan, Indonesia was reportedly set to import approximately three million tonnes of rice, nearly matching the Philippines' planned import of Vietnamese rice, which will make Indonesia one of the world's largest rice importers and a key customer for the Vietnamese rice industry. At this price, Việt Nam's 5% broken rice is currently around $13/tonne lower than the equivalent grade from Thailand (according to the Thai Rice Exporters Association - TREA, Thailand's standard 5% broken rice is priced at $655/tonne). In comparison to Pakistan, Việt Nam's 5% broken rice is approximately $4/tonne higher, with the current price in Pakistan at $638/tonne. Industry insiders said the current export prices of Vietnamese rice aren't high due to limited available stock, with transactions expected to resume at the end of February or early March. Updates on domestic rice prices on February 1 in various locations in the Mekong Delta region reveal that rice prices have been maintaining elevated levels.

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The decrease is an initial result of the measures that agencies and units have taken to enhance cyber safety and security, with more investment to monitoring systems, problem-detecting systems and warnings. However, information security experts also noted that agencies, organisations and businesses still need to pay special attention to ensuring information security because cyber attackers are usually more active before and during the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival. Before the Tet holidays, agencies, organisations, and businesses are recommended to review, examine, and identify signs of attack on sensitive server devices and remove malicious code if any. In addition, units should also comprehensively evaluate and test intrusions on server systems and applications to detect security loopholes that exist on systems and applications./.