HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính, his spouse, and the high-ranking delegation of Việt Nam arrived back in Hà Nội on Tuesday, concluding a tour of Europe from January 16 to 23 to attend the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos and pay official visits to Hungary and Romania. Việt Nam and the two European countries agreed to augment cooperation in all spheres. Việt Nam and the European countries also agreed to fully implement the EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and persuade the remainders to ratify the EU-Việt Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA). The Government leader also met with the Vietnamese communities in Hungary and Romania. The official visits marked important milestones in the Việt Nam-Hungary comprehensive partnership and the Việt Nam-Romania traditional and friendly partnership.

HÀ NỘI - The retail and consumer industry is poised for a strong recovery in 2024, driven by positive business conditions and encouraging macroeconomic indicators, according to leading securities companies. In their outlook report for the year, these firms assert that the worst challenges faced by the retail industry are now in the past. In their latest report, KB Securities Việt Nam (KBSV) has assessed the prospects of the retail industry in 2024, affirming that clearer signs of recovery are emerging alongside improved macroeconomic indicators. Attractive retail stocksIn terms of attractive retail stocks, several securities companies have identified potential industry groups and provided outlook reports. KB Securities Việt Nam (KBSV) has a positive evaluation of MSN shares as Masan Group is considered a pillar corporation in the retail and consumer industry.

Singapore (VNA) – Hive 2.0, a high-tech retail innovation hub has been launched at Esplanade Xchange underground mall in Singapore. The centre offers 10 unique retail experiences for startups focusing on automation, robotics and gigital retail services. Bot delivery is part of a host of concepts now in operation under Hive 2. At the 7-Eleven Shop & Go, the convenience store chain’s first unmanned and cashier-free store in Singapore, customers can tap into a gantry to pre-authorise their credit cards, pick items off the shelves, and exit. Artificial intelligence (AI) technology and smart cameras track and detect customers’ shopping behaviour in the store, which can currently hold up to five people at a time./.

Videos Bird's nest industry has many opportunities for development Since the first batch of Vietnamese bird's nest products was exported to China in November last year, over 700 kg of bird's nests have been exported to this market. With the effectiveness of the protocol with China, the bird's nest industry has many opportunities for development. Videos Romanian, Vietnamese PMs hold talks Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is on an official visit to Romania. Join us to see his activities in the European country on January 22. Videos Winners of “Women leadership” video contest announced The winners of a video contest highlighting the significance of female engagement in decision-making processes and leadership have been announced by the Embassy of Canada in Vietnam.

At the get-together (Photo: VNA)– A get-together for overseas Vietnamese in Sweden and Latvia to welcome the Lunar New Year 2024 has been held by the Vietnamese Embassy in Sweden.Gathering crowds of representatives from the Vietnamese communities in the two countries, the embassies of other ASEAN member nations in the European nations, and international friends, the event also reviewed the fruitful development of the Vietnam – Sweden relations over the past 55 years.Addressing the event, Ambassador Tran Van Tuan highlighted Vietnam's socio-economic development achievements in 2023, and the country’s practical and effective contributions to international and regional organisations and forums.He appreciated the valuable support and assistance provided by the Swedish government and people for Vietnam in its struggle for national independence and reunification in the past, as well as in Doi moi (renewal) and international integration efforts, and national construction at present.The diplomat asserted a commitment to focus on strengthening the bilateral relations between Vietnam and Sweden in various areas, especially in mitigating climate change, protecting the environment, developing carbon capture technology, managing and treating waste, digital transformation, energy transition, financial management, public health, labour cooperation, trade, and investment.The embassy is actively promoting the establishment of direct flights and maritime transport routes connecting Vietnam and Sweden, he said, adding that the agency is also collaborating with Swedish authorities to propose possibilities for upgrading the partnership between the two countries on par with the bilateral relations and aligning with the demand and practical interests of their people, he said.He highly valued the contributions by nearly the 23,000 Vietnamese expats in those two European countries to the development of Vietnam and the host countries, especially in enhancing trade and investment connections, introducing goods and services, and promoting Vietnamese culture and language there.The ambassador expressed his belief that the Vietnamese community in the two European nations will continue to reap more accomplishments./.

They have broken down stereotypes that exist within families, schools and society to become female STEM leaders. Many surveys in Việt Nam have shown that there is a lack of female participation in STEM. Without strong connections between female students and successful female experts, female students lack personal confidence and motivation to boldly develop their STEM careers. Nguyễn Thị Huyền said life challenges sometimes make sensitive female engineers change their mindset in STEM jobs. The Việt Nam Energy Efficiency Network has recently launched the She4Future project which aims to promote a generation of confident and talented women in STEM in Việt Nam.

He stressed that with the consensus and joint efforts of the entire nation, including overseas Vietnamese, Vietnam achieved great achievements in 2023 in spite of numerous many difficulties and challenges. 05 of the Secretariat on strengthening the Party's leadership for sustainable poverty reduction until 2030, fine-tuning poverty reduction mechanisms and policies, and promoting the internal strength of people and communities to escape poverty. This also includes the full and timely implementation of current poverty reduction policies and the National Poverty Reduction Target Program for the 2021 to 2025 period. In 2018, Vietnam and Canada signed a Memorandum of Understanding on military training cooperation. The scope of training cooperation between Canada and Vietnam has been expanded from language training and logistics to security training courses.

Videos Winners of “Women leadership” video contest announced The winners of a video contest highlighting the significance of female engagement in decision-making processes and leadership have been announced by the Embassy of Canada in Vietnam. Videos Nang Tien Waterfall splendid amid Northwest forests A splendid waterfall amid immense mountains and forests has been bestowed upon Van Ho district in Son La province. Videos Unique oil lamp tour on Ho riverine island “No electricity, no schools and no stations” are what travellers say about Ho riverine island in Cang Long district in the Mekong Delta’s Tra Vinh province. Nighttime tours without electricity use have become a unique and attractive offering, giving tourists an experience not easily found elsewhere. Videos New strategy shapes plant cultivation growth to 2030 Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang has signed a decision approving a strategy to develop plant cultivation until 2030 with a vision to 2050.

The highest interest rate at the bank is 4.7 per cent per year when customers deposit for 12 months or more. Agribank follows with the latest deposit interest rates at the bank down by 0.2 per cent - 0.4 per cent per annum for terms under 12 months. Its interest rate for a 3-6-month term experienced the most significant decrease, falling to 2.1 per cent from 2.5 per cent. BIDV and VietinBank have also simultaneously cut deposit interest rates by 0.3 per cent per annum for terms under 12 months. Since the beginning of January, many commercial banks have cut their deposit interest rates, including Techcombank, KienLongBank, PVCombank and SCB.

BUCHAREST — Romanian Prime Minister Ion-Marcel Ciolacu said his country aspires to be the 'main partner' of Việt Nam bringing Vietnamese goods and products into Europe with its uncontestable advantages, including the strategic position to access the entire European continent. Both parties agreed on the positive evaluation of the traditional friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Việt Nam and Romania over nearly 75 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations (1950-2024). On behalf of the Party and the people of Việt Nam, PM Chính expressed gratitude for Romania's precious support over the past nearly 75 years, standing by Việt Nam in difficult times. Regarding economic-trade-investment, both parties need to further leverage bilateral cooperation mechanisms, especially the Inter-Governmental Committee on Economic Cooperation between Việt Nam and Romania. Việt Nam and Romania also concurred to enhance effective collaboration in various fields such as digital transformation, green transition, circular economy, labour and cooperation between localities.

BUCHAREST– The Vietnamese Government always accompanies and supports foreign enterprises, including those from Romania, so that they can make long-term, effective and sustainable investment in Việt Nam in the spirit of “harmonising benefits and sharing risks”, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính said on January 22. PM Chính made the statement while attending the Việt Nam – Romania Business Forum co-organised by the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Vietnamese Embassy in Romania and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania. Việt Nam prioritised investments in digital economy, green economy, circular economy and knowledge-based economy, with projects in the areas of high technologies, electronics, semiconductor, innovation, renewable energy, and infrastructure development, among others, he stressed. At the forum, participants were introduced to investment potential, climate and opportunities in Việt Nam and Romania. Businesses had the chance to get a deeper insight into the economic development strategies in each nation as well as their business procedures, infrastructure and human resources.

Illustrative image (Source: VNA)– Along with completing its transport infrastructure system Ho Chi Minh City is building a smart traffic management and operation system using high technologies to deal with traffic congestion and reduce accidents.The southern economic hub is the first locality to build a smart traffic operation centre, which has been put into operations in 2019, helping enhance the efficiency of traffic monitoring and regulation in the city.Doan Van Tan, Director of the Urban Traffic Management and Operations Centre under the HCM City Department of Transport, said that the city is investing in completing the system of transport system and major transport works with the application of the TOD (Transit Oriented Development) model, enabling the implementation of traffic management and regulation on digital platforms.He revealed that the department plans to build a complete traffic management and operation centre having all functions following traffic development orientations of the city.Experts held that on the foundation of the underway smart traffic operation centre, HCM City should continue to make a breakthrough in the application of new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) in traffic management.The city should increase data connections and sharing and expanding reaction and connectivity with public transportation service suppliers and transport work management agencies to enhance the efficiency of traffic regulation and operation, serving research and assessment of urban traffic situation and solving traffic congestion , they said.The synchronous implementation of these solutions in particular periods will contribute to perfecting the city’s smart traffic system in the future, they added./.

Although the Ho Chi Minh City - Hanoi route is gradually filling up, there are still ample tickets available. Flights from various locations to Ho Chi Minh City also show high booking rates, with the Quy Nhon and Chu Lai routes to Ho Chi Minh City achieving a 100 percent booking rate on certain days. The funtional forces regularly check passengers entering Ho Chi Minh City via Tan Son Nhat International Airport to prevent spread of epidemics. Associate Professor Dr. Tang Chi Thuong, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health said that since the beginning of the year, hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City have not recorded any new severe Covid-19 cases. In 2023, the Representative Office of the Vietnam Association for Clean Water and Environment in Ho Chi Minh City coordinated with authorities in districts in Ho Chi Minh City and many provinces and cities in the Southern region to organize a program monthly.

Hosted by the Embassy of Canada in Vietnam, the contest, entitled “The Ambassador for a Day”, invited participants to create videos addressing the theme “Women and girls’ engagement and participation in decision-making processes and leadership”. Open to young Vietnamese aged 16 to 25, the contest received hundreds of entries. After a month-long period, the best five were selected for recognition. The first prize winner was given the opportunity to shadow a Canadian diplomat from the embassy in Vietnam, gaining firsthand experience of their day-to-day responsibilities. The initiative is part of the Canadian Embassy’s ongoing efforts to engage with local partners and communities./.

Illustrative image (Source: VNA)– The Vietnam Report JSC has released a white book on the Vietnamese economy in 2023, highlighting the country’s economic achievements last year and giving forecast for 2024 as well as a number of policy recommendations.According to Vietnam Report General Director Vu Dang Vinh, last year, despite impacts from the world economic crisis and domestic difficulties, Vietnam has still been a bright spot with GDP growth of 5.05% and the recovery of many areas such as export and industrial production.In its recent report on Vietnam’s top 500 biggest businesses in Vietnam, Vietnam Report underlined that growth was recorded in revenue of all three major areas of industry-construction, service and agro-forestry-fisheries in 2023.The report also showed a year-on-year rise of 0.2% and 4.1% in the average return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE), respectively. On the contrary, a downturn of 0.4% was seen in the average return on sales (ROS).Meanwhile, the production and business situation of a number of large enterprises in key economic sectors such as pharmacy, logistics, tourism, hotels - resorts, animal feed were also improved despite many difficulties.Except for the logistics industry, which is heavily impacted by the global economic downturn, all the remaining sectors enjoyed growth.Particularly, Vietnam just witnessed a year with boom in the domestic and international tourist market, and the growing demand for meat products, leading to a higher demand for animal feed.The Vietnam Report held that if they overcome the current difficulties, businesses will reap great opportunities to become the main driving force for the economy, enhancing their position in the domestic and foreign supply chains Vinh underlined that flexible adaptation efforts in production and business activities as well as governance strategies of enterprises will be a premise for a more positive year in 2024 when the economic situation gradually improves.He also underscored the need to build a strong trademark as a way for domestic firms to recover and thrive in the future./.