Vietnam News Today (Dec. 3): Vietnam, Singapore Hold 16th Connectivity Ministerial Meeting

Illustrative image. Photo: VNA

Vietnam reports 635 new Covid-19 cases on December 2

The national Covid-19 caseload rose to 11,517,124 with 635 new cases recorded on December 2, according to the Ministry of Health.

With 145 patients given the all-clear during the day, the number of recoveries rose to 10,608,722.

Meanwhile, there are 80 patients needing breathing support, cited VNA.

No death from Covid-19 was recorded in the past 24 hours. The total fatalities stood at 43,176.

With 87,588 doses administered on December 1, the total number of doses of Covid-19 vaccines injected rose to 264,635,919.

NA leader meets Governor of Victoria and Australian Assistant Minister

National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue received Governor of Victoria Linda Dessau, along with Assistant Minister for Trade and Assistant Minister for Manufacturing Tim Ayres, on December 2 within the framework of his official visit to the country.

During the meeting with Governor Dessau, NA Chairman Hue congratulated Victoria for its achievements in controlling and repelling the Covid-19 pandemic, maintaining strong economic growth, as well as successfully organizing elections last November.

Governor Dessau emphasized that the first visit made by a senior Vietnamese leader after the two countries fully resumed activities following the Covid-19 pandemic is of great significance in boosting ties between the two countries, especially among localities, moving forward.

NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (L) meets Governor of Victoria state Linda Dessau. Photo: VOV

The Victoria Dessau said that the Australian state always attaches great importance to its relationship with its Vietnamese partners, with the opening of the Victorian Office of Trade and Investment in Vietnam in 2021 and in 2022 coming after signing a Memorandum of Understanding on trade, investment, education – training, science and technology, and food processing with Ho Chi Minh City.

Furthermore, Victoria boasts several strengths in education and training, agricultural economic development, manufacturing industry, mining, finance, as well as health and sports. Currently, the state is home to RMIT University, which is investing in training facilities in Vietnam with great success, according to VOV.

The Governor wishes that the country will continue to create conditions for the state to further expand ties with Vietnamese localities in other areas of strength and potential. She also highly appreciates the contributions made by the Vietnamese community-based in Victoria.

The top Vietnamese legislator expressed his pleasure at the first official visit to Victoria state in the role of NA Chairman. Indeed, the visit affirms that the two countries’ senior leaders always support strengthening cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, considering this to be an important pillar in the context of both nations preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations ahead in 2023.

NA Chairman Hue thanked and asked the state to continue supporting and creating favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community to enjoy a stable life and maintain their contributions to the host country and bilateral ties.

He therefore applauded the signing of the MoU between the two major economic centres of both countries, Ho Chi Minh City and Victoria, assessing it to be a model in co-operation between their localities in the future. He said that he hopes both sides will expand collaboration in other areas such as urban planning and climate change response.

The NA leader stated he welcomes Victoria’s leaders to visit the country, as well as its investors to the Vietnamese market who wish to explore investment opportunities.

Receiving Assistant Minister Ayres, NA Chairman Hue showed his elation at the strong development of joint bilateral relations across various fields.

This comes as two-way trade for the first time exceeded the US$10-billion mark to reach US$12.4 billion this year, climbing to US$13.4 billion over the past 10 months of this year, up 33% on-year.

However, he noted that economic, trade, and investment ties are not commensurate with both nations’ potential.

He expressed his hope that Assistant Minister Ayres, in his positions, will further accelerate the opening of the market for Vietnamese agricultural products, support the nation to develop hi-tech agriculture, and bolster ties in education-training, culture, tourism, climate change response, and co-operation in the Mekong sub-region.

Both sides, therefore, consented to increase collaboration in responding to regional and international challenges, including climate change and energy security.

Vietnam, Singapore hold 16th connectivity ministerial meeting

The 16th Singapore-Vietnam Connectivity Ministerial Meeting was held in Singapore on December 2 under the chair of Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung and Singaporean Second Minister for Trade and Industry, and Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng.

Also attending the conference were representatives of the two nations’ ministries and sectors related to economic cooperation activities under the pillars of investment, trade and services, digital economy, energy, innovation, sustainability, transport, education, and finance.

At the signing ceremony of an MoU on innovation collaboration between the Vietnam National Innovation Centre and the Southeast Asia and Oceania Division under Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry after the meeting. Photo: VNA

At the event, the two sides discussed cooperation since the 15th meeting was held in Hanoi in November last year. They also tabled orientations to expand cooperation in the fields of renewable energy and innovation, which were agreed between senior Vietnamese and Singaporean leaders during recent high-level visits.

Vietnam affirmed its views and interests in economic cooperation with Singapore in order to further deepen the two nations’ strategic partnership, requesting the Singaporean side to make efforts to coordinate in the implementation of new initiatives within the framework of the Vietnam-Singapore economic connectivity agreement signed in 2005.

Vietnam welcomed Singaporean businesses to come up with new cooperation proposals and increase investment in the country, VNA reported.

After the meeting, Dung and Tan witnessed the signing ceremony of an MoU on innovation collaboration between the Vietnam National Innovation Centre and Southeast Asia and Oceania Division under Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry.

While in Singapore, the Vietnamese minister also co-chaired a Vietnam-US-Singapore business connection seminar and had working sessions with a number of large US and Singaporean corporations, and with Vietnamese start-ups in Singapore.

Meteor shower to light up Vietnamese skies on December 13

Local sky gazers will have a rare opportunity to witness the peak of the Geminids meteor shower, with the astronomical event set to occur between midnight on December 13 and the morning of December 14.

The Geminids are widely considered to be one of the best meteor showers every year as the individual meteors are bright and they travel with both speed and fury.

Photo: VOV

According to details given by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Geminids are largely associated with near-Earth object 3200 Phaethon, an asteroid that may have undergone a collision with another object in the distant past in order to produce the stream of particles that Earth runs into, thereby creating the meteor shower.

The Geminids meteor shower occurs between November 19 to December 24 and will peak on December 13 and December 14., reported VOV.

The American Meteor Society has predicted that skywatchers can see up to 150 meteors per hour at the shower’s peak when there is no interference coming from moonlight.

In order to witness the Geminids meteor shower, observers in the country don’t require special equipment. Indeed, it is suggested that they head to places that have an unobstructed view of the sky.

Newly established, re-operating enterprises up over 33% in 11 months

Vietnam saw nearly 194,700 newly established and re-operating enterprises in the first 11 months of 2022, up 33.2% over the same period in 2021, a 1.3 times higher than the average rate in the January – November period from 2017 – 2021, according to the Business Registration Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).

In November alone, the country counted 11,943 new enterprises with a total registered capital of VND 104.49 trillion (over USD 4.27 billion) and 73,988 laborers.

The figures represented a 0.3% increase in the number of firms, and decreases of 30.3% in capital and 3.4% in the workforce compared with the same period last year.

Illustrative image. Photo: VNA

Meanwhile, as many as 6,267 enterprises resumed their operation in the month, up 26.4% year-on-year.

On the opposite side, there were 132,339 enterprises withdrawing from the market in the last 11 months, an increase of 24.3% year-on-year.

A total of 70,220 enterprises temporarily ceased operations, a yearly hike of 34.8%. Another 45,271 were in the dissolution process, and 16,848 completed dissolution procedures, year-on-year rises of 14.7% and 13.3%, respectively.

The agency said the total registered capital of enterprises tends to decrease, and the average amount of registered capital of newly-established firms is expected not to rise in the remaining months of this year, cited VNA.

In January – November, the total registered capital added to the economy rose by 21.5% over the same period in 2021, it noted.

To support businesses, General Director of the General Statistics Office (GSO) Nguyen Thi Huong urged ministries and sectors to ensure adequate supply of raw materials and energy to meet the demand for production and business recovery and socio-economic development; and work hard to remove difficulties and obstacles for important industrial projects.

She also underlined the need to strengthen support for export enterprises to effectively respond to trade remedies, saying that the work plays an important role in maintaining and expanding Vietnam’s export markets.