Anne de Soucy, Director of Partnerships at the French Development Agency ADF, speaks at the event. (Photo: VNA)

Co-operation between Vietnamese and French localities bright spot in joint ties

In the fields of co-operation between the nation and France, links between localities of the two countries has become a bright spot in terms of bilateral ties, Dinh Tien Dung, secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee.

France is the only country in Vietnam that has a mechanism of periodic and rotating local conferences.

At present, over 38 French localities at all levels and 18 Vietnamese provinces and cities have participated in this mechanism, with 240 co-operation projects running between localities of the two countries. These mainly focus on the health sector, education, water and sanitation, heritage conservation, the Francophone community, as well as rural and sustainable development.

Tran Sy Thanh, chairman of the capital People’s Committee, stressed the conference’s large scale in a series of events marking the 50th anniversary of the two nations’ diplomatic ties and a decade of their strategic partnership.

Highlighting local collaboration as a driving force behind sustainable and comprehensive recovery, as well as post-COVID development, the conference is expected to foster ties and seek effective solutions to current global challenges. The number of members participating in the event is at some 800 government officials, business executives, and organisation leaders.

French Ambassador to Vietnam Nicolas Warnery said the event is highly symbolic, and expected to create a fresh impetus for the relationship between the two countries, cited VOV.

The diplomat said he welcomes increasing joint co-operation in areas such as cultural heritage value preservation and promotion, wastewater treatment, and climate change.

On April 14 and April 15, four panel discussions are scheduled to take place, considering the topics of sustainable urban areas; environment, water and waste treatment; culture, heritage, and tourism; and smart city and digitisation.

On the sidelines of the event will be a French festival, a Vietnam-France economic forum, an art programme, and many exhibitions which will put bilateral ties in the spotlight.

Hanoi also plans the organisation of city tours which will take foreign visitors to popular places throughout the capital. Sites include those which have witnessed a long history between the two nations, including Thang Long Imperial Citadel, the Temple of Literature, the Old Quarter, and old French villas.

Co-operation between Vietnamese and French communities dates back to the 1990s.

The conference has been held every two or three years since 1996, with Vietnamese and French localities taking turns to host the event.

It represents a chance for both sides to discuss difficulties, evaluate the results in bilateral ties, and devise feasible solutions aimed at reinforcing their partnerships, thereby boosting diplomatic ties between the two nations.

Vietnam, China conclude joint patrol on Gulf of Tonkin

The coast guard forces of Vietnam and China conducted a joint patrol on the waters adjacent to the two countries’ delimitation line in the Gulf of Tonkin from April 11 – 13.

This is the first joint patrol in those waters this year and the sixth since the Vietnam-China agreement on fishery cooperation in the Gulf of Tonkin expired on June 30, 2020.

Each side dispatched two ships to join in the patrol, which covered waters along 13 points on the delimitation line with a total distance of 255.5 nautical miles from the point 48km northeast of Con Co island to the point 14 miles southeast of Tran island.

During the patrol, the two sides conducted face-to-face talks, monitoring of fishing vesels of both countries operating in the waters adjacent to the delimitation line and communication activities on legal compliance, according to VNA.

The coast guard forces of Vietnam and China hold talks on Vietnam's Coast Guard Vessel 8004 during the joint patrol. (Source: VNA)

On this occasion, the Vietnamese coast guard force set up a working group to inspect Vietnamese fishing ships’ compliance to regulations related to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The force also held a ceremony to pay tribute to fallen soldiers and people who died in the Gulf of Tonkin.

Commander of the Vietnam Coast Guard Major General Le Quang Dao, who led the Vietnamese side in the joint patrol, said the activity is a success in all aspects, contributing to the development of the ties between the two countries in general and the two coast guard forces in particular.

Vietnam highlighted as global economic bright spot for 2023 and beyond

Despite growth rates slowing down, the nation is still growing at a high rate, projected to be at 5.8% this year before reaching 6.9% in 2024, according to Daniel Leigh, head of the World Economic Studies division in the IMF's Research Department which produces the World Economic Outlook.

Leigh is one of the authors of this year's World Economic Outlook Report detailing the global economic situation and the Vietnamese economy following a period of complicated developments internationally over recent years.

He assessed that the world economy is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine. While the recovery was strong at the start of the year, the world continued to endure turmoil in the banking sector in both the United States and Switzerland.

These factors pose many risks to the world economic outlook. As a result, he has forecasted economic growth will slow dropping from 3.4% in 2022 to 2.8% in 2023, before gradually recovering to 3%.

This is a challenging time and one of the main issues is that inflation remains high.

Central banks are trying to raise interest rates in a bid to curb inflation, causing economic growth to slow down.

Assessing Vietnam and most other Asian nations, Leigh said that these represent the bright spots of the world economy this year as the region is developing relatively fast compared to the rest of the world. Of these, the Chinese economy is growing at a range of 3% to 5.2%, India is at around 6%, whilst Vietnam is growing at about 8%.

Inflation in the region is also much lower compared to the rest of the world, while central banks in the region are tightening the monetary policy to bring inflation back to the set target, VOV reported.

Photo: VOV

According to the IMF expert, amid most economies slowing down, Asia, especially emerging markets, are growing quite fast.

This partly reflects China's recovery, whilst India serves as a typical example, growing at around 6%, much faster than other emerging markets and developing economies.

Another notable point Leigh mentioned is that in developed economies the labour market is still lacking in human resources. In the US, although the unemployment rate stands at only 3.5%, the economic outlook remains bleak.

Talking about how Southeast Asia and Vietnam will contribute to the global economic growth in the year ahead and over the next five years, Leigh said that for Vietnam, a growth rate of about 8% in 2022 would be a bright spot in the region.

The IMF has moved to adjust its growth forecast for Vietnam in a direction better than previous expectations. This is partly due to the post-COVID recovery and trade diversion.

Some investment is therefore moving to the Vietnamese market, with this being a good incentive.

Inflation in the nation is relatively low, 3.15% in 2022 and rising, in part due to a dynamic economy, although the IMF thinks inflation will return to its target level, at around 4.3% by 2024.

The expert has made some recommendations for Vietnam to continue to grow strongly over the remaining quarters of this year and in the next five years, which is that monetary policy should continue to focus on reducing inflation to a level that is reasonable. If this happens, then the fiscal policy should continue to target vulnerable households.

Regarding financial stability, the country should prioritise supporting the stabilisation of the real estate market and corporate bond market with specific tools, although this should not distract from the overall policy towards the goal of keeping inflation in check in a stable manner.

Over the next five years, Leigh expects the global economy to gradually recover from the lows seen this year, returning to an interest rate of about 3%; 3.2%; 3.1%, and then 3% in the medium term.

The global economy is still recovering, although not as strongly. Several factors such as geopolitical fragmentation have restricted foreign direct investment in some countries.

Another hindering factor is rising trade barriers. The IMF therefore hopes for more reforms to encourage supply, labour force participation to fill the shortage of manpower, as well as an increase in education and training to improve quality and labour productivity as a contribution to faster economic growth.

He stressed that the most important thing is to improve co-operation between countries to limit the negative impact of fragmentation caused by trade reform.

Vietnam attractive to foreign investors: Austrian newspaper

Die Presse - a German-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vienna, Austria, on April 14 ran an article highlighting favourable conditions that make Vietnam more attractive to foreign investors.

The newspaper also emphasised that the official visit to Vietnam by Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs Alexander Schallenberg from April 16-18 will help promote Austria's cooperation with Vietnam and the region.

According to the article, thanks to solid growth, trade agreements, and favourable investment conditions, Vietnam is increasingly attractive to foreign businesses who are looking to diversify their supply chains.

As a regional growth engine, since the beginning of this millennium, Vietnam has consistently achieved an average Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 6.2%, one of the highest growth rates in Asia. Vietnam has also overcome the COVID-19 pandemic without a recession, even last year, it recorded growth of over 8% - the highest growth rate in more than ten years.

Die Presse - a German-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vienna, Austria (Photo: VNA)

The article cited a report from the Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC), which said that Vietnam's market has recently become increasingly attractive to foreign investors as companies move their production to the country.

The newspaper also emphasised that the official visit to Vietnam by Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs Alexander Schallenberg from April 16-18 will help promote Austria's cooperation with Vietnam and the region.

According to the article, thanks to solid growth, trade agreements, and favourable investment conditions, Vietnam is increasingly attractive to foreign businesses who are looking to diversify their supply chains.

As a regional growth engine, since the beginning of this millennium, Vietnam has consistently achieved an average Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 6.2%, one of the highest growth rates in Asia. Vietnam has also overcome the COVID-19 pandemic without a recession, even last year, it recorded growth of over 8% - the highest growth rate in more than ten years.

The article cited a report from the Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC), which said that Vietnam's market has recently become increasingly attractive to foreign investors as companies move their production to the country.

UK, Vietnam coordinate to protect wildlife

The UK has committed to coordinate with Vietnam to protect endangered wild animals and global biodiversity, according to the UK Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Thérèse Coffey.

As part of her visit to Vietnam, the secretary on April 13 paid a visit to the Cuc Phuong National Park in the southern province of Ninh Binh, where the Save Vietnam’s Wildlife – SVW, a Vietnamese non-profitable organization conducting programs to save the lives of and protect endangered wild animals, is headquartered.

Director of the Save Vietnam's Wildlife Nguyen Van Thai (R) talks to UK Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Thérèse Coffey during her visit to Cuc Phuong National Park. Photo: Dau Tien Dat

The UK Government also gave SVW one million pounds to combat the illegal trade of pangolins in Vietnam.

Coffey sought to know the challenges and opportunities of handling wildlife trafficking in Vietnam, including law enforcement, the decline of consumption demand and changes in behavior, cited Saigon Times.

She underlined the important role of non-governmental organizations in the conservation of wildlife and the combat of trafficking pangolins, asserting the UK’s commitment in cooperation with Vietnam to preserve endangered wild animals and global biodiversity.

Earlier, the two countries signed a memorandum to deploy programs under the UK’s Biodiverse Landscapes Fund in Vietnam, which focus on encouraging livelihood models and sustainable agriculture, green infrastructure, boosting eco-tourism and combatting wildlife trafficking.

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