Presided over by Vietnam's Permanent Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, who is APEC 2017 SOM Chair, the two-day meeting discussed APEC's long-term cooperation orientations and proposals on the reform of APEC apparatus to make it more effective in promoting initiatives benefiting businesses and people. Comprising nearly 50 meetings and workshops, SOM 2 drew about 2,300 delegates from 21 member economies, the business community, scholars as well as representatives from international organizations and ministries and sectors of host Vietnam.  A SOM2 session held at the National Convention Center in Hanoi. Photo: Huu Duong The SOM2 and related meetings played a key role in speeding up the implementation of the theme and four priorities of the APEC Year 2017 that were approved at the SOM1 in NhaTrang in March. Major outcomes of the meeting include member economies' strong support for APEC's role as a motivation for regional economic growth and connection and a cradle of … [Read more...]

The Hanoitimes - The process of Code of Conduct (COC) in South China Sea was mentioned at the 14th Senior Officials’ Meeting of ASEAN – China on the implementation of the Declaration on Conduct of the Parties (DOC) in the South China Sea. On May 18, 2017, ASEAN and China hold the meeting at Guiyang, China; chaired by Singapore’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Chee Wee Kiong and the Chinese counterpart Liú Zhènmín. Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung, Head of Vietnam ASEAN SOM, led the Vietnamese delegation attending the event. At the meeting, two sides discussed about South China Sea situation, DOC operation and path to complete COC. ASEAN and China recalled commitment from Senior Leaders on DOC’s full and effective execution. They also highly valuated the outcome of trust building and diplomat measures, including Hot line between ASEAN and Chinese Foreign Affair Ministry on emergency situation at Sea … [Read more...]

Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI - The Government has issued a decree on aquaculture management, and tra fish products processing and export, the Government Office reported this week. According to the decree, which will be effective on July 1, 2017, activities involving the farming of commercial tra fish must meet four conditions. Individuals and organisations rearing tra fish must have their location and area suitable with land use plans of the provincial People's Committee. They must have infrastructure that meets technical conditions for farming commercial tra fish such as water supply system seperating from waste water system and waste treatment area meeting conditions on protecting environment and veterinary hygiene. Aquaculture facilities must meet regulations on food safety and have certificate on identification number for ponds farming tra fish according to existing regulations. The decree also has regulations on commercial tra fish processing conditions. The individuals and … [Read more...]

At the event (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) has made good progress in the four adopted cooperation priorities in 2017 proposed by Vietnam, said Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat Alan Bollar on the sidelines of the APEC Second Senior Officials’ Meeting underway in Hanoi. Bollar said during the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting 2016 in Peru, APEC leaders delivered a clear message of focusing more on inclusive growth so that a number of initiatives on regional economic integration, trade and investment were raised at this year’s meeting. Alison Mann, Director General of the Asia-Pacific Regional Integration Division under the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said New Zealand highly values Vietnam’s proposals and stands ready to work closely with Vietnam in such efforts along the way. On the prospect of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), Bollar said APEC’s action … [Read more...]

Presided over by Vietnam’s Deputy Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son, who is APEC 2017 SOM Chair, the two-day meeting discussed the APEC’s long-term cooperation orientations and proposals on the reform of APEC apparatus to make it more effective in promoting initiatives benefiting businesses and people. Comprising nearly 50 meetings and workshops, SOM 2 drew about 2,300 delegates from 21 member economies, the business community, scholars as well as representatives from international organisations and ministries and sectors of host Vietnam. The SOM 2 and related meetings played a key role in speeding up the implementation of the theme and four priorities of the APEC Year 2017 that were approved at SOM 1 in NhaTrang last March. Major outcomes of the meeting include member economies’ strong support for APEC’s role as a motivation for regional economic growth and connection and a cradle of cooperation and linkage ideas for common prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region. … [Read more...]

Delegates at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) 2017 were impressed by Vietnam’s preparations for the event, hailing Hanoi as a hospitable city on the sidelines of the APEC Second Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM-2) and related meetings from May 9-21. Assistant Secretary at the Australian Department of Industry and International Strategies Malcolm Greening praised the logistics staff at the National Convention Centre, adding that he was impressed by the professionalism of his Vietnamese colleagues during the SOM-2. Yang Zifeng from the Chinese Academy of Sciences said preparations for APEC 2017 had been thorough and said Vietnam was hosting a successful APEC Year. Director General of the Asia-Pacific Regional Integration Division under the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Alison Mann said she has visited Vietnam several times and is always impressed by the country and people here, especially Hanoi. Meanwhile, head of the Bureau of … [Read more...]

The Hanoitimes - Canada`s Minister of International Trade would come to Vietnam in the framework of his trip to Asia region. Now more than ever, Canada is focused on stimulating economic growth at home by increasing trade with partners in Asia. Fast-growing markets in the region offer enormous potential for Canadian businesses and opportunities to create good-paying jobs for Canada's middle class. Canada's Minister of International Trade Canada Francois Philippe Champagne Speaking to an audience of Canadian business executives in Ottawa, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of International Trade, today reiterated the importance of relations between Canada and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as Canada celebrates 40 years of engagement in the region. The Minister also took the opportunity to announce his upcoming travel to East and Southeast Asia from May 20 to 26, 2017. On May 20 and 21, Minister Champagne will take part in the Asia-Pacific … [Read more...]

Assistant Secretary at the Australian Department of Industry and International Strategies Malcolm Greening praised the logistics staff at the National Convention Centre, adding that he was impressed by the professionalism of his Vietnamese colleagues during the SOM-2. Yang Zifeng from the Chinese Academy of Sciences said preparations for APEC 2017 had been thorough and said Vietnam was hosting a successful APEC Year. Director General of the Asia-Pacific Regional Integration Division under the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Alison Mann said she has visited Vietnam several times and is always impressed by the country and people here, especially Hanoi. Meanwhile, head of the Bureau of International Affairs under the Academy of Sciences of Malaysia Nina Azrah Razali, said it was her first visit to Hanoi and she visited popular tourist attractions such as Sword Lake, Dong Xuan market and the Old Quarter. … [Read more...]

On May 20 and 21, Minister Champagne will take part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, to promote Canada’s progressive trade approach and advance engagement with Asia Pacific. While in Vietnam, Minister Champagne will meet with senior government and business leaders to discuss ways to expand Canada’s trade, including in Canadian forest products, with Vietnam. On May 22 in Singapore, the Minister will meet with representatives of key ministries, to advance trade and investment relations. He will meet with leaders of Singapore’s construction industry to promote innovative Canadian building systems and wood exports. He will speak at Canada’s B2B Networking Marketplace @ CommunicAsia/BroadcastAsia 2017, an event hosted by Canada’s High Commission in Singapore to showcase Canadian information and communication technology companies, and he will meet with members of the Canada-ASEAN Business … [Read more...]

Girl group BeUtiful and the dance troupes Oops Crew; The Heat and Heaven Dance Team beat 16 others to win the awards at the final night held at the Korean Cultural Centre on May 13. From Hanoi, the four-member BeUtiful sing a mashup Don’t Recall and Oh Nana by K.A.R.D. They took the prize for the best singers. Five-member, mixed-gender Oops Crew won the first prize with their dances to songs like OOH - AHH, La chA Ta, Lucifer and I Go Crazy Because of You. Second and third prizes went to The Heat and Heaven Dance Team. "We just aimed to perform our best. The first prize is an unexpected; other troupes were strong contenders," said Ly Phi Long from Oops Crew. "I hope to be the Vietnamese representative attending the K-pop World Festival in Korea". Oops Crew was set up by five members who are second-year and fourth-year students at different colleges in Hanoi. They met together two years ago and bonded over K-pop. "I was really surprised by the performances during the final … [Read more...]

The four priorities are Promoting Sustainable, Innovative and Inclusive Growth; Deepening Regional Economic Integration; Strengthening MSMEs’ Competitiveness and Innovation in the Digital Age; and Enhancing Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture in Response to Climate Change. According to Alan Bollard, Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat, APEC is making good progress on Vietnam’s four priorities for the year. “We have agreed on these priorities and are now hearing all other initiatives from other economies,” he said, adding that “We got the clear massage from the leaders at the last year meeting of the forum to focus much more on inclusion, so we do a lot of initiatives that focus on regional economic integration, trade and investment”. APEC has a work programme on free trade in the Asia-Pacific and is also continuing to work on regional trade agreements, he said. Alison Mann, Director General of the Asia-Pacific Regional Integration … [Read more...]

Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI - The outlook for Asia Pacific remains the strongest globally, but its prospects in the near future are weighed down by challenges and uncertainties, hence economies must promote multilateral co-operation. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn made this comment in Hà Nội on Tuesday during his speech at the official opening of the APEC 2017 Second Senior Officials Meeting (SOM2), which he is presiding. Sơn, who was citing the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s latest World Economic Outlook, pointed out that since the first Senior Officials Meeting (SOM1) and other related meetings, both the regional and global economies have shown positive signs. According to the IMF, the world economy is achieving the desired growth rate, and this growth will be sustained, owing to the strong recovery of developed economies, and the significant growth in emerging markets and developing economies. The report supports growth while promoting structural reforms, … [Read more...]

New policies will soon be announced by the Vietnamese government to provide more support for domestic and foreign businesses in Vietnam. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's meeting with the business community to help solve their prevailing problems, thus creating a more conducive business climate, said Le Manh Ha, Deputy Chairman of the Government Office at last week’s press briefing. Themed “Walking in step with businesses”, the meeting attracted around 2,000 direct participants, quadrupling that of the 2016 event, including 1,500 private enterprises, 200 representatives from foreign investors, diplomatic organisations and influential financial institutions and 100 state-owned enterprises, he added. Additionally, the event was broadcast live to enable leaders of 63 cities and provinces nationwide, as well as businesses, to join in. The meeting focused on assessment of the performance of Resolution 35 issued in May 2016 after the first meeting between the government … [Read more...]

The Hanoitimes - The APEC 2017 Second Senior Officials Meeting (SOM2) officially opened in Hanoi on May 17. Opening the meeting, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, who is APEC 2017 SOM Chair, said the outlook for the Asia-Pacific remains the strongest in the world, with momentum picking up, as showed in the latest IMF World Economic Outlook. However, the report also pointed out that near-term outlook is clouded with significant uncertainties and challenges, which call for individual economy actions to be supported by multilateral cooperation, as well as policies to support growth while boosting structural reforms, resilience and inclusiveness. “Therefore, the cluster of SOM2 and related meetings, especially our meeting today and tomorrow is critical to executing the adopted priorities, advancing new initiatives, preparing for the Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade, and starting to shape the agenda and identify possible deliverables for the … [Read more...]

The Republic of Korea has surpassed China, becoming Vietnam’s biggest import market. According to statistics recently released by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, in the first four months of this year, Vietnam’s trade deficit towards China totalled at $9 billion, while it was $9.3 billion towards Korea. Hence, the Republic of Korea (ROK) is the new champion trading partner of Vietnam, taking over China, despite the fact that the largest portion of Vietnamese imports is still sourced from the latter. Specifically, in the first four months of the year, Vietnam imported $17.6 billion worth of products from China, an increase of 19.4 per cent, while the import turnover from ROK was $13.7 billion, up 45.3 per cent in comparison with the same period last year. In fact, warnings about Vietnam’s growing trade deficit towards ROK have been souding for about a dozen years now, probably since Samsung started investing a large amount in manufacturing complexes in … [Read more...]

The APEC 2017 Second Senior Officials Meeting (SOM2) officially opened in Hanoi on May 17. Opening the meeting, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son, who is APEC 2017 SOM Chair, said the outlook for the Asia-Pacific remains the strongest in the world, with momentum picking up, as showed in the latest IMF World Economic Outlook. However, the report also pointed out that near-term outlook is clouded with significant uncertainties and challenges, which call for individual economy actions to be supported by multilateral cooperation, as well as policies to support growth while boosting structural reforms, resilience and inclusiveness. “Therefore, the cluster of SOM2 and related meetings, especially our meeting today and tomorrow is critical to executing the adopted priorities, advancing new initiatives, preparing for the Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade, and starting to shape the agenda and identify possible deliverables for the Leaders’ Week,” he … [Read more...]

The four priorities include Promoting Sustainable, Innovative and Inclusive Growth; Deepening Regional Economic Integration; Strengthening MSMEs’ Competitiveness and Innovation in the Digital Age; and Enhancing Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture in Response to Climate Change. According to Alan Bollard, Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat, APEC is making good progress on Vietnam’s four priorities for the year. “We have agreed on these priorities and are now hearing all other initiatives from other economies,” he said, adding, “We got a clear message from the leaders at the last year’s meeting of the forum to focus more on inclusion, so we do a lot of initiatives that focus on regional economic integration, trade and investment”. APEC has a work programme on free trade in the Asia-Pacific and is also continuing to work on regional trade agreements, he said. Alison Mann, Director General of the Asia-Pacific Regional Integration … [Read more...]

Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI - Delegates attending the Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue on APEC Toward 2020 and Beyond agreed that APEC should promote its strengths including flexible, voluntary, and non-compulsory co-operation mechanisms to accelerate trade and investment. In today's context, APEC co-operation must focus on sustainable and inclusive development and benefits gained from such co-operation must be better spread. The one-day dialogue discussed various issues related to APEC's accelerated efforts to achieve the Bogor Goals; a revised Bogor, Bogor Plus, or new set of goals; the pillars of co-operation and the role of APEC in the post-2020 era; and stakeholders' contribution to developing the vision. The dialogue put forward numerous ideas for directing APEC co-operation in the future, a press release said. The outcomes will be reported to APEC senior officials during the SOM2 today and tomorrow before they are submitted to APEC ministers and leaders later this year in Đà Nẵng. Over … [Read more...]

In his keynote address at the opening session of the Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue on APEC Toward 2020 and Beyond in Hanoi on May 16, President Quang said, over the course of 28 years of development and 23 years of realization of the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment, APEC has recorded numerous important economic achievements. President Tran Dai Quang delivering his keynote speech at the event. Photo: Huu Duong  He cited the fact that from 2000 to 2015, APEC's trade grew by 2.5 folds, from USD 6.4 trillion to USD 16.5 trillion, while tariff on average has been slashed by half, from 11 percent in 1996 to just 5 percent in 2015, saying these are animated statistics that attest to the success and important role played by APEC over the past 30 years to help millions out of poverty. However, the President also stressed that APEC is facing new challenges posed by profound, rapid changes in the world, the fourth industrial revolution, extensive economic integration and … [Read more...]

The program, delivered by RMIT University Vietnam for 50 participants from Da Nang, kick-started on 15 May 2017. This training program has been designed to meet diverse needs of participants at different English levels and with work schedules.  Mr. Nguyen Cong Tien, Deputy Director of the Da Nang Department of Foreign Affairs delivering lecture Mr. Nguyen Cong Tien, Deputy Director of the Da Nang Department of Foreign Affairs said, "Education is considered the most active cooperative area in the relations between Da Nang and Australia. This training  course will contribute to not only  the preparation for the 2017 APEC Economic Leaders' Week and Da Nang's foreign relations but also enhancing and deepening the cooperation between Da Nang in particular, Viet Nam in general with Australia." "I am proud that Australia has very good relations with Da Nang, a beautiful and dynamic city. Education is a cornerstone in our bilateral relationship and a major focus of Australian … [Read more...]