The forecast is highlighted in the bank’s global research report on Vietnam, which was recently published with the title “Vietnam – stronger but not easier”. The report cited Tim Leelahaphan, Economist for Thailand and Vietnam, Standard Chartered, as saying that, Vietnam continues to offer a promising medium-term outlook. To maintain rapid growth and competitiveness, the country needs to upgrade infrastructure and prepare to lower carbon emissions, he suggested. Given re-emerging inflation concerns, inflation is anticipated to pick up to 5.5% in 2024 from 3.3% in 2023. Forex reserves are forecasted to be rebuilt when US dollar strength abates, the Standard Chartered economist noted./.

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam's domestic insurance market managed to pull through a difficult time in 2023 but it will take time for the market to rebuild trust among consumers, according to policymakers and industry insiders. Since the crisis, regulatory agencies and insurance companies have taken measures to reassess the situation, considering it an opportunity to cleanse and readjust the market after a period of rapid growth. Solutions have been proposed by the ministry and its sub-department overseeing the industry, the Insurance Management and Supervision Bureau, to enhance market transparency and safeguard the rights of insurance participants. Under the 2022 Insurance Business Law, businesses will have to publicly disclose information such as decisions on penalties for violations in insurance business activities, court judgments and decisions regarding the company's insurance activities, and decisions to prosecute companies, managers, and controllers of insurance companies. The ministry has stated that it will continue to direct the improvement of insurance business laws, enhance management, supervision, inspection, and checks, and increase communication to disseminate information about insurance contract laws.

The conference, held by the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Internal Affairs, was connected with 63 provinces and cities across the country. President Nyusi affirmed Mozambique’s policy of highly valuing the traditional friendship with Vietnam, and said he would soon arrange an official visit to Vietnam in 2024. He at the same time proposed that Vietnamese businesses directly exploit and process minerals in Mozambique for export to Vietnam. At the reception, Vice Chairman of the provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Liet wished that the fine neighbourliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive, sustainable and long-term cooperation between Vietnam and Cambodia will keep growing. Overseas Vietnamese are a very important bridge in the friendship between Vietnam and other countries, stressed the official.

HÀ NỘI — It is anticipated that there will be significant changes in the scale of the banking sector's charter capital this year as several joint-stock commercial banks have announced their plans to raise capital. NCB on January 2 said that the SBV allowed it to increase its charter capital to over VNĐ11.8 trillion (US$484.5 million). The lender will issue 620 million shares at VNĐ10,000 per share, bringing its charter capital from VNĐ5.6 trillion to VNĐ11.8 trillion. With the increased charter capital, LPBank continues to rank among the top private joint-stock commercial banks with the largest charter capital in the banking system. Charter capital plays a crucial role in measuring the Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) and determining the credit ratings of financial institutions.

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam applies itself to ensure human rights and religious freedom for the people, the foreign ministry has underscored in its response to queries about the country's approach to the issue. Questioned about reports, initially posted on the website of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, that Việt Nam pledged to complete a number of human rights reforms by the deadline of 2099, the spokeswoman refuted the accuracy of this information, and said Việt Nam has asked the office to issue a correction. "Việt Nam's commitments to ensure and promote human rights are made on a continuous and regular basis. "Việt Nam finds the US' decision regrettable, and requests that the US refrain from placing Việt Nam on its special watch list regarding freedom of religion. There needs to be objective assessments based on accurate and comprehensive information on the religious freedom of Việt Nam."

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, his spouse, and a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation will attend the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland and pay official visits to Hungary and Romania from January 16-23, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on January 11. The working trip and visits will be made at the invitations of WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and Prime Minister of Romania Ion-Marcel Ciolacu./.

Politics Vietnam strengthens ties with India’s Gujarat state Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang on January 11 received Chief Minister of India’s Gujarat state Bhupendra Patel, on the occasion of his attendance at the 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit held from January 9-12. Politics Five Vietnamese officers assigned to join UN peacekeeping mission The Ministry of National Defence held a ceremony in Hanoi on January 12 to announce and present the President's Decision approving the sending of five officers to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic and South Sudan. Politics PM to highlight Vietnam’s ideas, commitments in sustainable development at WEF-54: Ambassador Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s participation at the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF-54) in Davos, Switzerland from January 16-18 will provide a chance for Vietnam to highlight ideas, commitment and solutions to realise the country’s strategy on sustainable socio-economic development and international integration, according to Ambassador Le Thi Tuyet Mai, head of the Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the United Nations, WTO and other international organisations in Geneva.

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) Office for UN Peacekeeping Operations held an inauguration ceremony for the Việt Nam Police Peacekeeping Unit No.1 in Hà Nội on Thursday. "The establishment of this unit is a historic milestone and a testament to Việt Nam’s growing role and contribution to regional and global peace and security. According to Shahkar, formed police units (FPUs) now represent around 75 per cent of the UN police personnel deployed in peacekeeping operations. So far, Việt Nam has deployed seven police officers to UN peacekeeping operations, including six to the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and one to the UN headquarters. Following the Party and State’s orientations, Việt Nam has sent personnel to UN peacekeeping missions, realising the country’s foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development.

STOCKHOLM — There is plenty of room for Việt Nam and Sweden to boost cooperation in many areas, especially those of each other’s strength and demand, stated Vietnamese Ambassador to Sweden Trần Văn Tuấn. Tuấn said he believes that with high mutual political trust, Việt Nam and Sweden will continue to effectively coordinate at multilateral forums, especially in coping with global issues. Along with strong political trust and friendship, Sweden and Việt Nam have shared sound economic cooperation, he said, noting that Sweden was the biggest North European provider of non-refundable aid to Việt Nam in the 1967-2013 period. Data from Statistics Sweden (SCB) released in December 2023 showed that Sweden was Việt Nam’s largest trading partner in North Europe and Việt Nam Sweden's largest import partner in Southeast Asia. However, Ambassador Tuấn held that the partnership between Việt Nam and Sweden in some areas have been modest, noting that as of June 2023, Swedish firms had invested $680.49 million in Việt Nam.

The Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit was conceptualised in 2003 under the visionary leadership of Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India (the then Chief Minister of Gujarat). This year’s biennial event drew the attendance of Indian leaders and businesspeople, and guests from more than 100 countries. Deputy Prime Minister Quang stressed the importance of topics discussed at the summit focusing on the theme of “Gateway to the future”, such as green economy, circular economy, digital economy, e-commerce and smart city, which are also Vietnam’s priorities during its development and international integration. He also shared Vietnam’s long-term strategies and plans in these spheres and the target of raising the digital economy’s contribution to national GDP to 20% by 2025 and 30% by 2030. Later the same day, Quang delivered a speech at the Vietnam-India Business Forum, in which he emphasised that the bilateral economic cooperation has yet to match the political ties between the two countries, as well as their potential and strengths./.

The bilateral friendship has been continuously nurtured by generations of leaders and peoples. The visit to Vietnam from January 11-13 by Indonesian President Joko Widodo is expected to deepen Vietnam-Indonesia cooperation. Two-way trade increased from 8.2 billion USD in 2020 to 14.1 billion USD in 2022, and was estimated at over 12 billion USD last year. The two countries are striving for 15 billion USD in two-way trade by 2028. The traditional and trusted friendship is a solid foundation for the Vietnam-Indonesia strategic partnership to look toward the future, and become more substantive and effective in all fields.

NEW DELHI — Việt Nam wishes to foster cooperation with India and its Gujarat state in particular in the areas of the Indian side’s strengths and Việt Nam's priorities, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Trần Lưu Quang affirmed while addressing the 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit on Wednesday. The summit was conceptualised in 2003 under the visionary leadership of Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India (the then Chief Minister of Gujarat). He thanked India for its support to Việt Nam in personnel training, science-technology, energy transition and digital transformation, and affirmed that Việt Nam stands ready to create favourable conditions for Indian big groups to invest in and set up long-term cooperation with Việt Nam. Ample room remains for Việt Nam and India to boost their collaboration in the time ahead, particularly in such emerging areas as green economy, circular economy, digital transformation, software, semiconductors and AI, he noted. Also on Wednesday, Deputy PM Quang had meetings with foreign leaders and businesspeople attending the summit.

HÀ NỘI The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) aims to enhance trade and export promotion with key markets, maximising export opportunities and leveraging the effectiveness of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Trade promotion activities in 2023 achieved remarkable success by effectively leveraging opportunities presented by trade agreements. Trade promotion, through the National Trade Promotion Programme, has been carried out effectively with a focus on diversifying markets and export products, as well as maximising opportunities from free trade agreements (FTAs) and fostering regional and inter-regional trade. We will also work towards signing memorandums of understanding (MOUs) in trade promotion with foreign trade promotion agencies that are currently under negotiation or have agreed upon content, such as Australia and Chile. The rise in export trade fraud cases and the increasing imposition of trade barriers by countries pose challenges for businesses.

Organisers will present awards for fair-play, best scorer, best goalkeeper, best coach, most favourite player of each match, and most favourite player of the tournament. Việt Nam was among the first countries to successfully control newly emerging dangerous infectious diseases like SARS and avian flu A/H7N9. We believe that in the near future this special kind of football will grow strongly in Việt Nam, Southeast Asia and Asia. Việt Nam first came to Olympics at the 2020 Tokyo Games when Nguyễn Hoàng Phi Vũ and Nguyệt took their official slots. The state budget’s spending on education and health care for children has been rising over years, statistics show.

HÀ NỘI — The Government targets to create a favourable business environment to facilitate new business initiatives and innovations and to reduce costs and risks for businesses. 02 on major tasks and solutions to improve Việt Nam's business environment and competitiveness in 2024. This favourable business environment will boost development of businesses with innovation, green transformation, and digital transformation activities. It will lower input and regulatory compliance costs in investment and business activities, reduce policy risks, and enhance business resilience. It will also improve the quality of conditions for conditional investment and business industries and the quality of enterprise development services.