US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the press briefing in Hanoi on April 15. (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam, US develop dynamic, effective ties: US Secretary of State

After 10 years since the establishment of the comprehensive partnership and almost 28 years since the normalisation of diplomatic ties, Vietnam and the US have built relations of dynamic and effective development, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Talking to the press on April 15, Blinken, who has been on an official visit to Vietnam from April 14 to 16, said that he was in Vietnam at the behest of President Joe Biden to further broaden and deepen that partnership following the President’s phone talks with Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong last month and building on earlier high-level visits, including from Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, USAID Administrator Samantha Power, and recently members of the Congress.

Throughout his engagements on April 15, he focused on how the US can continue to support Vietnam’s success – which is good for the Vietnamese people, Americans, and the entire region, cited VNA.

He stressed the two countries are cooperating for common interests, and that the US believes by supporting Vietnam’s wishes, it can promote its own goals, from creating jobs for people and enhancing the strength of US enterprises to making more strides to resolve the climate crisis and prevent pandemics.

The two sides also discussed mutual respect for the centrality of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the close partnership via regional economic frameworks, including the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) that the US hosts this year and the Mekong - US partnership.

The US highly valued Vietnam’s indispensable role in the settlement of development challenges in the Mekong River region, Blinken went on, noting that his country is developing the bilateral economic partnership to help Vietnam boost important reforms in the fields of labour, intellectual property, and trade fairness, thus turning the Southeast Asian country into one of the fast-growing economies in the world.

The US believes that Vietnam can achieve its goal of becoming a connected and high-income country by 2045 by pursuing growth that lifts all communities while building resilience to adapt to climate change, according to the diplomat.

He added the US is activating the new bilateral climate initiatives that Vice President Harris announced during her visit to Vietnam in August 2021. It is capitalising on such regional frameworks as the Just Energy Transition Partnership that Vietnam recently joined, in which it will invest 15.5 billion USD in helping Vietnam achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and carry out the Japan - US - Mekong Power Partnership.

The US is also cooperating in assisting Vietnam to build the public health capacity, including the establishment of a CDC Vietnam country office, the Secretary of State said, describing the close and fruitful cooperation amid the COVID-19 pandemic as a vivid demonstration of their ties in the period needing mutual assistance most.

He reaffirmed the US’s respect to Vietnam’s political institutions, independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, as well as support for a strong, independent, resilient, and prosperous Vietnam.

The diplomat also underscored the US’s commitment to address war consequences, including joint works to clear unexploded ordnance and the new 73 million USD contract to treat contaminated soil and sediment at Bien Hoa Air Base.

Blinken held that the two countries have made another step forwards to strengthen relations by breaking ground for the new US embassy campus, which once completed, will match the vision for the future of the bilateral partnership.

The official expressed his belief that the Vietnam - US ties will develop more strongly in the coming decades.

Top Vietnameselegislator to pay official visits to Cuba, Argentina, Uruguay

Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue will pay official visits to Cuba, Argentina and Uruguay from April 18-28, the NA Committee for Foreign Affairs has announced.

The visits will be made at the invitation of President of the National Assembly of People's Power of Cuba Esteban Lazo Hernandez, President of the Chamber of Deputies of Argentina Cecilia Moreau, and Speaker of the Senate of Uruguay Beatriz Argimon Cedeira.

Vietnam and Cuba officially set up diplomatic relations on December 2, 1960. The strong, trusted political ties have facilitated effective economic and trade cooperation. Bilateral trade hit US$262 million in 2021, up 46.6 per cent from the year before, even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts.

Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue. Photo: VNA

NA Chairman Hue will be the first foreign leader to visit Cuba after the country's parliamentary elections in 2023. The trip reaffirms the importance that Vietnam attaches to consolidating and strengthening the special friendship and solidarity between the two Parties and nations.

For Vietnam and Argentina, the two countries celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties (1973–2023) with a series of activities, according to VNS.

In a decade, two-way trade has increased from $875 million in 2011 to $4.5 billion in 2021. In the first 11 months of 2022, the figure was $4.52 billion, up 6.9 per cent annually.

NA Chairman Hue’s visit to Argentina – the first of a Vietnamese top leader to the country in the last 13 years – aims to bolster the friendship and traditional solidarity between the two nations as well as between Vietnam and Latin American countries.

The Vietnamese top legislator’s official visit to Uruguay takes place on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

The visit demonstrates Vietnam’s appreciation towards the partnership and the wish to step up economic and trade relations and development cooperation with nations in Latin America, including Uruguay.

This will be Vietnam's first high-ranking visit to Uruguay since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1993.

Quang Binh set to become adventure tourism center of Asia

The central province of Quang Binh is oriented to become an adventure tourism center of Asia, with the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park playing the central role in the province’s tourism development.

This orientation was included in the provincial master plan for 2021-2030, with a vision toward 2050 signed by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha on April 12.

Tourism, seen as the spearhead for economic growth, will has its development centering on nature exploration, especially its system of caves, alongside culture and history, sports, sea and luxury resorts, Saigon Times reported.

The magnificent beauty of the cave system at the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park. Photo: Nguyen Khai Trung

The key tourist areas comprise Phong Nha-Ke Bang, and Dong Hoi City and its surrounding coastal areas; tourist, cultural and historical centers, resorts and nature tourism in the south of the province; northern Quang Binh, and the Vung Chua-Dao Yen tourist site.

The Phong Nha–Ke Bang National Park, having been twice recognized by UNESCO as a world natural heritage, will offer specialized tourism products such as cave discovery, nature conservation, community-based tourism, biodiversity study, and archeology. It will be developed into a quality tourist center in Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, luxury tourism with seaside resorts, golf courses and amusement centers will be developed in Dong Hoi City and the surrounding coastal areas.

According to the master plan, by 2030, three urban centers of the province, Dong Ha, Ba Don and Kien Giang, will take shape, and by 2050, Quang Binh Province will play an important role in connecting the economic crossroads of the North-South and the East- West corridors.

Vietnam-France decentralised cooperation conference wraps up

The 12th Vietnam-France cooperation conference with the theme "The driving force for sustainable and comprehensive recovery and development after the COVID-19 pandemic" wrapped up successfully in Hanoi on April 15.

Taking place at a time when Vietnam and France are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of their strategic partnership, the conference showed the role and prestige of this cooperation mechanism with the participation of 50 localities of Vietnam and 12 localities of France, and many state and private organisations of the two sides.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Tran Sy Thanh affirmed that after the three-day conference, more discussions and exchanges will be continued on other forums to realise the conference’s goals of creating new connections, new partners, and new successes.

Participants at the conference are told about Vietnamese localities. (Photo: VNA)

The joint statement issued at the conference pointed out that environmental and climate changes are caused by human activities, reaffirming the determination to cooperate, based on the potential of experience exchanges in sustainable development, especially effective water management.

Participants at the conference agreed that environmental protection is a solid basis for sustainable socio-economic development, cited VNA.

There is a need to quickly adapt to digital transformation, which is now becoming a big challenge for socio-economic transformation, affirming that the cooperation between Vietnamese and French localities can offer new effective actions and solutions to successfully lead the transformation, through sharing common perceptions, policies, and experiences of success and failure in the development of a digital ecosystem, digital economy, digital society, and smart city. In this process, the priority is to improve the quality of public services and the business environment.

Challenges of urbanisation for the sustainable development of cities and people's lives give people no choice but to develop sustainably.

Therefore, it is necessary to promote projects based on a holistic approach and adapt to local conditions to ensure harmony and balance between modernity and tradition, heritage preservation, economic development, environmental protection, integration, and preservation of cultural identity. This not only requires a long-term vision of urban planning and management but also solutions to encourage and mobilise different stakeholders, especially urban residents, to participate in the transition towards a greener, more sustainable stage.

According to the joint statement, through discussions on forms of heritage conservation, cultural promotion, and tourism development, the localities of Vietnam and France, with diversity and richness in culture and heritage, have common interests and strengthen cooperation in formulating strategies for socio-economic development, green growth, and cultural industries associated with the conservation of tangible and intangible heritage.

The local-level cooperation is essential and indispensable for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals under the 2030 Agenda. The conference called for the development of this form of cooperation and committed to implementing the recommendations of the conference, with the support of all stakeholders.

On this occasion, localities including Hanoi and Toulouse, Yen Bai and Val-de-Marne; Thua Thien - Hue and Grand Poitiers signed cooperation agreements.

Blockchain technology market to expand in 2023

Blockchain is increasingly influential in all aspects of life in Vietnam and is expected to play an important role in the digital economy.

Leaving 2022’s difficulties behind, the year 2023 is expected to be the time for the blockchain market to expand.

The World Trade Organization believes that blockchain could create a revolution in global trade. The organization points out that the technology can reduce trade costs thanks to the automation of manual processes.

Blockchain is also tamper-proof as all modifications are publicly and transparently recorded.

Photo: VNN

Hoang Van Huay, chair of the Vietnam Blockchain Association and former Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, said at a seminar that blockchain acts as a decentralized electronic ledger that stores information in a transparent way between parties, so the information cannot be tampered with. It is an effective tool for the development of the digital economy.

Do Ngoc Minh from the Hanoi National University said Visa has used blockchain to develop a digital economy since 2019, while French Carrefour Massy supermarket chain has used it to monitor the supply chain. Products such as chicken eggs from farms and Norway salmon have QR codes for easy traceability.

Similarly, Walmart, the giant US retail chain, has used the technology to supervise nearly 500 products, including seafood, meat and coffee.

Nguyen Quang Thong from Nam A Bank said the appearance of smart contracts and loyalty point systems using blockchain will create considerable changes in banks’ ways of caring for customers.

Blockchain has been used in many fields in Vietnam for a few years, VNN reported.

The Vietnamese startup Moonka once offered to sell some houses in Can Gio, HCM City and Bao Loc in Lam Dong using the technology. This was the first time that real estate in Vietnam was offered under a completely new method.

The difference of utilizing blockchain in the real estate sector is that one house or one land plot now can be divided into small pieces. Investors can possess parts of real estates with just $100, or even smaller value.

The organizers of Miss Charm 2022 beauty contest used blockchain in the voting process to ensure the accuracy.

Phan Duc Nhat, CEO of BHO Network, said that blockchain allows Genetica to provide GeneNFT service, helping Vietnamese people possess their gene decoding under the form of digital assets.

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