Vietnam

Boasting a tech-savvy population with 70% of its citizens under the age of 35, Vietnam is an attractive market for social media platforms such as TikTok, Meta Platforms Inc’s Facebook and Alphabet Inc’s YouTube and Google.

Swimmer Pham Thanh Bao (centre) stands on the podium (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam had claimed 125 gold, 76 silver and 74 bronze medals as of May 18 evening, the sixth official competition day of the ongoing SEA Games 31 , retaining the top position in the medal table.

The host country is getting closer to its set target of 140 golds.

Thailand ranked second with 53 golds, followed by the Philippines with 37.

On the day, the Vietnamese athletics team won three more gold medals in the women’s javelin throw, women’s 10,000m and women’s 4x400m, raising the number in the sport to 19 and surpassing the target of 15-17.

Runner Nguyen Thi Oanh obtained triple golds in the women’s 1,000m; 5,000m and 3,000m steeplechase, in which she broke her own record set in the previous SEA Games.

Swimmers continued to excite home fans as Ben Tre-born Pham Thanh Bao won the eighth gold for Vietnam in the men’s 50m breaststroke, beating strong rivals from Indonesia and Singapore. It was also his second gold at this year’s Games.

Previously, Nguyen Huy Hoang bagged a gold in the 1,500m freestyle, and triumphed and set a new SEA Games record in the men’s 400m freestyle.

Tran Huy Nguyen did the same in the men’s 400m individual medley.

Vietnamese wrestlers have clinched 12 gold medals so far.

On May 18 afternoon, Nguyen Thi Phuong secured a gold in the women’s individual kata in karate. Of note, it was the 1,000th gold medal for the Vietnamese delegation at the regional sporting events.

SEA Games 31, themed “For a Stronger South East Asia”, is being held in Hanoi and 11 neighbouring provinces and cities until May 23.

It features 40 sports with 523 events, attracting around 10,000 participants. The biennial event was initially slated for late 2021 but delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic./.

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou left Ho Chi Minh City on May 19, concluding her five-day official visit to Vietnam .

During her stay in Vietnam, President Sakellaropoulou paid tribute to late President Ho Chi Minh at his Mausoleum, laid a wreath at the Heroic Martyrs’ Monument, held talks with President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, paid a courtesy visit to Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, met with National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, witnessed the signing of important documents, and joined a tea party chaired by Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan.

Welcoming the Greek President, Party General Secretary Trong affirmed that Vietnam attaches much importance to its traditional friendship with Greece and is delighted at the important progress in their bilateral ties. He gave a number of proposals to promote the partnership in all fields, and suggested Greece continue to support the Vietnam ese community in the country.

During talks between the two presidents, they shared delight that despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, trade between the two countries still increased to 447 million USD in 2021, up 33 percent year on year, and two times higher than the 15 percent growth in Vietnam-EU trade.

The presidents agreed to promote a win-win partnership, while encouraging and creating favourable conditions for businesses from both nations to strengthen exchanges focusing on areas of Vietnam’s demand and Greece’s strengths, such as shipbuilding, maritime logistics, energy and agriculture. In order to create a framework for bilateral economic cooperation, they agreed to increase negotiations for a double tax avoidance agreement and another on maritime transport.

In her meeting with the Vietnamese top legislator, President Sakellaropoulou pointed to the potential for bilateral cooperation in history and culture.

Within the framework of her visit, the Greek leader also visited Hanoi’s traditional craft villages, and Quang Ninh province and Ho Chi Minh City.

Her official visit took place in the context that the traditional friendship between the two countries is developing well. It is expected to contribute to strengthening political trust, and deepening multi-faceted cooperation in the fields of politics-diplomacy, economics, culture and tourism./.

An overview of the event to launch the report (Photo: WB)

Hanoi (VNA) – For Vietnam to realise its aspiration for reaching high income status by 2045, the country will need to shift its economic growth model and sharply improve the government’s capacity to coordinate and implement economic policy reforms and public investments, a World Bank Group report says.

The World Bank Group ’s Systematic Country Diagnostic Update , entitled “How Will Vietnam Blossom? Reforming Institutions for Effective Implementation”, emphasises that Vietnam’s traditional growth model faces major challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, slowing globalisation, and the country’s increasing vulnerability to external shocks, especially climate risks.

After identifying a series of policy responses and reform priorities, many of which are not new, the report argues that adapting institutions will be the key to success.

Vietnam’s GDP per capita has increased five fold over the past three decades, while its institutions have not adapted at the same speed since the Doi Moi (Renewal) of the late 1980s,” said World Bank Country Director for Vietnam Carolyn Turk.

“A series of institutional reforms can help the country avoid the middle-income trap by increasing its efficiency to respond to new and complex global and domestic challenges,” stated Turk.

Vietnam has implemented its development priorities unevenly over the past 35 years. It has exceeded expectations in trade openness and social inclusion but lagged considerably in promoting green growth and upgrading national core infrastructure. Such variability is explained by its institutions that have not been always well prepared to address increasingly complex, often cross-cutting development priorities, or to facilitate the transition to a higher-income society. Adapting and modernising existing institutions is a key priority of the socio-economic development strategy adopted by the Party Congress in February 2021.

Improving Vietnam’s implementation performance will require five institutional reforms, the report says. Vietnam will need to create a solid institutional anchor that will transform development priorities into concrete actions; streamline administrative processes to increase the effectiveness of government at all levels; use market-based instruments to motivate public and private stakeholders; enforce rules and regulations to enhance motivation, trust, and fairness; and engage in participatory processes to secure greater transparency and accountability.

Vietnam has already transformed itself from one of the most closed economies in the world to one of the most open economies during the 1990s and 2000s. But the road from lower middle income to high income will be far more challenging. By adopting these institutional reforms more systematically, Vietnam will underpin its vision for economic development, strengthen its capacity to implement national strategies, and boost its motivation to produce results in several key areas – green growth, digital transformation, financial inclusion, social protection and infrastructure upgrading – that will help it achieve its development goals./.