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The Hanoitimes – The two sides consider inter-parliamentary cooperation an important component of the strategic partnership between the two countries.

The first Vietnam-Russia inter-parliament meeting has opened up new areas of cooperation that are poised to foster the comprehensive strategic partnership.

Vietnam’s National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and Chairman of the State Duma of Russia Vyacheslav V. Volodin. Photo: VNA

Vietnam’s National Assembly (NA) Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and Chairman of the State Duma of Russia Vyacheslav V. Volodin co-chaired the meeting in Moscow last week.

“It would be right for us to work more intensively in the economic sphere, developing both foreign economic relations and goods circulation. It is clearly insufficient for the level of our relations. […] For our part, we must do everything to develop cooperation more effectively than today,” the State Duma quoted Viacheslav Volodin.

“When we talk about the work of our inter-parliament commission, it should do everything to ensure more dynamical development of foreign economic relations,” he said at the meeting.

Viacheslav Volodin supported the idea of creating working groups and said that the adoption of legislative decisions would entail a more active development of relations.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said “We will do our best to develop cooperation between our countries, trade and economic relations better. To ensure that these results correspond to good political relations between our countries.”

Vietnam’s National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and Chairman of the State Duma of Russia Vyacheslav V. Volodin at the first inter-parliament meeting in Moscow. Photo: Duma.org.ru

Economic in focus, oil and gas remain among key pillars

Both sides agreed to focus on economic ties.

Ngan said that it is necessary to discuss issues of cooperation in the oil and gas sector, agriculture, and tourism. She proposed having separate working groups for each field.

Vietnam expected to continue cooperation with Russia in power projects, especially one in the Center for Nuclear Science and Technology.

Viacheslav Volodin said the two countries need to do everything to develop more actively foreign economic relations and goods circulation so that Russian companies can more actively participate in the development of these relations, implementing investment projects.

He noted “It is extremely important to create all conditions for business development and implementation of investment projects both in Russia and Vietnam on the principles of developing bilateral cooperation.”

“If we reach US$10 billion (turnover), this will give an additional impetus to our countries. This will develop the economies of our countries and increase their prosperity,” said the chairman of the State Duma.

The leaders stressed the importance of more than 70 years of diplomatic relations and 25 years since the signing of the treaty on the principles of friendly relations between Vietnam and Russia, and the two parties.

They affirmed the parliament’s significant role in strengthening the legal basis for the bilateral relations and close coordination between the two sides at international parliamentary organizations, such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum, meetings with dialogue partners at the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, the Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments, and the International Forum “Development of Parliamentarism”.

TH Group on February 27 commenced the construction of its high-tech concentrated dairy and fresh milk production project, representing a total investment capital of more than VND2.66 trillion($115.65 million), in Tri Ton district of the southwestern province of An Giang, with a processing capacity of 135 tonnes of fresh milk per day.

TH Group aims to foster the development of An with its milk project

Stretching across the two communes of Vinh Gia and Vinh Phuoc, the project is expected to be the first of its kind in the Mekong Delta region, with a total number of 10,000 dairy cows raised in a concentrated area at the group’s farm, and another 20,000 cattle raised by local farmers in cooperation with TH Group. The project will apply modern technologies to ensure safety and efficiency.

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh stated at the project’s ground-breaking ceremony that the event “demonstrates a new milestone for high-tech agricultural development in An Giang and in the whole Mekong Delta region.”

“This is also a new, firm step by TH Group in its development strategy to foster the health of the community. TH’s project will become a role model for the region. I do believe that it will be successful, contributing to the government’s efforts to accomplish the national target of having 500,000 dairy cows nationwide five years earlier than the master plan on agricultural development to 2020 with a vision to 2030,” Binh said.

According to Thai Huong, founder and chairwoman of TH Group’s Strategy Council, in addition to developing this large-scale dairy milk project, the group also wants to implement safe vegetable farming under organic and Global GAP standards, and also construct resorts and rest-homes.

“This beautiful land of An Giang will be fuelled by our projects, improving livelihoods,” Huong stressed.

An Giang boasts big land areas for agricultural development, with a long tradition in raising cattle and oxen and with several cultural activities related to these animals including the Bay Nui Ox Racing Festival in Tri Ton district.

The province’s authorities in 2017 approved an initiative on developing dairy cows with the application of high technology and a series of investment incentives. TH Group has been selected for participating in this initiative.

On February 27, TH Group also joined the province’s tree plantation ceremony as part of the government’s plan to plant one billion trees until 2025.

At present, in addition to operating a $1.2 billion large-scale concentrated dairy cow project in the central province of Nghe An, TH Group has also been developing similar ventures producing safe farm produce in many localities nationwide.

Hanoi (VNA) – State budget collection from import-export activities reached 54.76 trillion VND (2.37 billion USD) in the first two months, or 17.38 percent of the estimate and a year-on-year rise of 7.53 percent, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

In February alone, the collection was 23.66 trillion VND. As Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays fell in the month, the customs department worked together with relevant agencies to combat smuggling and trade frauds while increasing inspections.

The customs force detected 967 cases in total from January 16 to February 15, seizing goods of 258.67 billion VND and contributing 8.6 billion VND to the State budget.

State budget collection was estimated at 220.5 trillion VND in total in the first two months of 2021, equivalent to 16.4 percent of the year’s estimate./.

VNA

The CPI increased by a whopping 1.52 per cent on-month in February

According to the latest data published by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, the CPI in February increased by 1.52 per cent on-month, the highest rate over the last eight years. The authority stated that the growth figure stemmed from the Electricity of Vietnam ending its power-price assistance programme and also the rising price of food, catering, and transport services during the Lunar New Year holiday.

Meanwhile, last month, the CPI only rose by 0.7 per cent on-year – the lowest rate since 2016. Thus, over the first two months of 2021, the index declined by an average 0.14 per cent on-year while inflation rose by 0.64 per cent on-year.

In February, the price index of about 10 goods and service categories rose while one category remained stable. Specifically, housing and building materials grew by 4 per cent, resulting in a 0.75 per cent rise in the CPI while power prices increased by 20.06 per cent (contributing 0.66 per cent). In addition, house maintenance, gas, and petroleum prices went up by 1.31, 6.74, and 4.35 per cent, respectively.

The catering service has also increased by 1.61 per cent due to the high consumption demand during the Lunar New Year holiday. Of this, foodstuff and food products increased by 1.77 and 1.82 per cent, respectively, adding 0.39 per cent to the CPI growth.

Transport services rose by 1.55 per cent, fuelled by a 3.28 per cent increase in gasoline prices.

Otherwise, categories like garment and footwear, tourism, and healthcare services saw the lowest increases by 0.25, 0.2, and 0.01 per cent, respectively.