Vietnam News Today (Nov. 13): US Removes Vietnam from Monetary Manipulation Monitoring List

Covid-19: additional 277 cases confirmed on November 12

The national Covid-19 caseload rose to 11,508,447 with 227 new cases recorded on November 12, according to the Ministry of Health.

With 198 patients given the all-clear during the day, the number of recoveries rose to 10,605,867.

Meanwhile, there are 68 patients needing breathing support.

No death from Covid-19 was recorded in the past 24 hours. The total fatalities stood at 43,166.

As many as 63,818 doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered so far.

Photo: VGP

PM attends ASEAN summits with partners in Phnom Penh

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh joined leaders of other ASEAN countries and partners at the 25th ASEAN+3 (China, the Republic of Korea, Japan) Summit and other summits with India and Australia in Phnom Penh on November 12.

At the ASEAN+3 Summit, PM Chinh underscored that in the current context, the ASEAN and the three partners should take the leading role and stay persistent to multilateralism, trade facilitation and the opening of doors for all chances.

He lauded the cooperation of the ASEAN and partners in the pandemic fight over the past two years, especially the provision of vaccines and medical equipment by China, Japan and the RoK to ASEAN countries.

Regarding future cooperation orientations, PM Chinh stressed the need to give top priority to safe trade resumption and the reopening of economies, and showed support to the establishment of an ASEAN+3 green growth cooperation mechanism.

He pledged that Vietnam will do its best for peace, stability and prosperity of ASEAN+3 countries, and proposed the countries to continue to promote the spirit of straightforward dialogue, friendly neighbourliness, harmonised interest and shared risk, contributing to creating healthy, rules-based competition, minimising conflicts, and preventing conflicts.

At the summit, participants underlined the need to continue to work closely together to effectively control the Covid-19. They agreed on the necessity to promote the opening of markets and the resumption of trade activities as well as trade facilitation.

At the 19th ASEAN-India Summit, the leaders agreed to ensure the continuity of trade and investment flows, give priority to speeding up recovery, support each other to improve healthcare capacity, and promote sustainable maritime cooperation.

In his remarks, PM Chinh underlined that the ASEAN always attaches great importance to promoting relations with India in all fields, suggesting that ASEAN and India coordinate and contribute more responsibly and effectively to peace, security, stability and prosperity in the region, ensuring regional law-based order, equal behaviors, mutual respect and cooperation for common development.

Photo: VGP

The Vietnamese leader emphasised that the two sides should give high priority to sustainable maritime cooperation, and suggested that India continue to open its door wider for agricultural products of Vietnam and other ASEAN countries.

At the second ASEAN-Australia Summit, the leaders of ASEAN and Australian PM Anthony Albanese highlighted the significance of the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership that was set up in late 2021, and highly valued progress in the ties over the years.

ASEAN countries highly appreciated Australia’s active contributions and effective support to the ASEAN Community building process. They thanked Australia for its helpful assistance in controlling and stamping out the Covid-19, as well as the recent 124-million-AUD “Australia for ASEAN Futures” initiative to help regional countries in responding to challenges and boosting recovery development in a sustainable manner.

Leaders of both sides agreed on the need to continue to strengthen the exchange of trade and investment, market access support and the fostering of economic connections as well as the promotion of trade facilitation in the region.

Addressing the event, PM Chinh thanked Australia for the effective cooperation and support that the country has given to ASEAN members in the Covid-19 response over the past time. He affirmed Vietnam’s support for Australia’s proposal to hold the ASEAN-Australia Summit to commemorate the 50th anniversary of bilateral relations in 2024 in Australia.

He held that in the coming time, the two sides need to work closely together to fully restore and promote trade and investment soon.

The Vietnamese leader suggested that Australia provide technical support and open up its market for ASEAN’s agricultural products. He asked for Australia’s assistance in boosting strategic infrastructure development, and active implementation of the Mekong-Australia Partnership framework, and support to efforts to promote the growth of the Mekong sub-region, including Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region.

Concluding the summit, leaders of ASEAN and Australia adopted a cooperation declaration on the basis of the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP).

Regarding regional and international issues of shared concern, at the summits, leaders of the ASEAN and partners stressed that all states should show the responsibility and share common interest in efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region.

Staying persistent to its stance on the East Sea, ASEAN asked the partners to continue to support efforts to build an effective and substantial Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) in line with international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982, heading to the building of an South China Sea of peace, stability, cooperation and sustainable development.

The partners affirmed their support to the role and efforts by the ASEAN in promoting the effective implementation of the Five-Point Consensus as well as support to Myanmar to seek sustainable and feasible solutions to overcome difficulties and stabilise its situation.

They showed deep concern over the recent developments in the Korean Peninsula and supported efforts to promote peace, stability and complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

Photo: VOV

China officially imports sweet potatoes and salangane nests from Vietnam

The General Department of Customs China (GACC) has signed a protocol allowing the official import of sweet potatoes and salangane nests from Vietnam into the neighbouring country.

The move comes after the Vietnamese Embassy in China has received a protocol on November 9 signed by the Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the GACC regarding phytosanitary requirements for Vietnam’s salangane and sweet potato exports to Chinese market.

Accordingly, since the beginning of the year, the MARD and the Vietnamese Embassy in China have intensified numerous activities to accelerate the export of Vietnamese agricultural products to China.

Up to now, both sides have finalized the opening of the market for durian and are conducting a pilot export of passion fruit to the Chinese market.

Most recently, China signed a protocol on phytosanitary requirements for fresh bananas, thereby creating favorable conditions for Vietnamese fresh bananas to be officially exported to the northern neighbour market.

According to information from the MARD’s Plant Protection Department, sweet potato and salangane nests will be Vietnam’s 12th and 13th agricultural products to be officially exported to the Chinese market.

Earlier, 11 local fresh fruit have entered the market including dragon fruit, longan, rambutan, mango, jackfruit, watermelon, banana, mangosteen, lychee and durian.

With regard to passion fruit, the GACC has agreed upon the pilot import of Vietnamese passion fruit starting in July via China’s Guangxi border gate.

After sweet potatoes and salangane nests, the Plant Protection Department will continue speeding up the procedures regarding the export of fresh pomelos and coconuts to the Chinese market in the time ahead.

Photo: VnEconomy

US removes Vietnam from monetary manipulation monitoring list

Vietnam has been removed from the US’s monetary manipulation monitoring list, according to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).

The bank said that the decision was announced in the US Department of the Treasury’s Report to Congress on Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the US, which was released on November 10.

Vietnam had previously surpassed the thresholds for all three criteria as noted in the December 2021, April 2021, and December 2020 Reports, in each of which the US Treasury conducted enhanced analysis of Vietnam.

The US Treasury continues to engage closely with the SBV to monitor Vietnam’s progress in addressing its concerns and remains satisfied with the progress made by Vietnam.

According to the SBV, from the beginning of 2021, the US Department of Treasury has conducted enhanced bilateral contact with Vietnam and reached a general agreement in July 2021 to address the US side’s concerns about the issues related to currency and exchange rate.

In this report, the US Department of Treasury continues to recognise the progress of Vietnam. At the department’s delegation visit to Vietnam on October 3, 2022, the US side highly valued the SBV’s management of monetary and exchange rate policies amid many difficulties and challenges in the global economy.

In the report, the US department identifies its trade partners basing on signs of a significant bilateral trade surplus with the US, a material current account surplus, and engaged in persistent one-sided intervention in the foreign exchange market.