Real world issues with groundwater

More than 160 young people, representing the 26 million children of Vietnam, gathered in Hanoi this week to express their concern over child-related issues and propose recommendations to State officials. State officials talk to children at the forum. — VNA/VNS Photo Anh Tuan The national forum on children, held for the sixth time, presented an opportunity for children to engage on issues that affect them. “Children’s engagement on their own issues has been regulated in the international convention on children’s rights, the Vietnamese Constitution 2013 and the Child Law 2016,” said Nguyen Thi Ha, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, at the forum’s opening ceremony on Thursday. The participating children come from 41 cities and provinces, children’s councils, a disabled centre and SOS Children’s Village. In June and July, children nationwide took part in dialogues with authorities at local forums and raised a … [Read more...] about VN children raise their voices on important issues

Market of 3.5 billion consumers RCEP, launched in 2012, includes the 10 ASEAN members, as well as China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Vietnam’s Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said the conclusion of negotiations marks a very important milestone in the country’s process of international economic integration in particular and of all countries participating in RCEP in general, given increasing trade protectionism around the globe. According to Tran Tuan Anh, RCEP, with a market of around 3.5 billion consumers and total gross domestic product (GDP) of approximately US$49 trillion that accounts for about 39 percent of global GDP, will form the largest free trade area in the world. Member countries are to join the open market for goods and services, investment opportunities, facilitated trade and simplified customs procedures. The trade deal is expected to strongly promote the development of regional and global value chains, helping … [Read more...] about Breakthrough in RCEP negotiations on world’s largest free trade area

  A child gets vaccinated at a centre in HCM City. — VNA/VNS Photo Phương Vy HCM CITY — A combination of various public health and preventive medicine specialties should be paid attention to at the domestic and international levels to protect people’s health amid emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases globally, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyễn Trường Sơn told a recent conference at the Pasteur Institute in HCM City. Problems in one country could affect other countries easier than in the past since pathogens and vectors now move further and faster than ever before through the global transportation network, he pointed out. The incidence of non-communicable diseases too has increased, including in Việt Nam where they cause 70 per cent of deaths, he said. “So the health sector in the country has expanded co-operation with other countries and adopted global scientific advances for the prevention and … [Read more...] about Domestic, global focus needed to address public health issues: conference

Professor, Dr. Pankaj Jha (R) in an interview with the Vietnam News Agency correspondent. (Source: VNA)  New Delhi (VNA) – An Indian scholar has hailed Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang's upcoming visit to India as a significant event given the fact that the Vietnamese President has a very positive attitude towards the bilateral ties and has a fair knowledge about the status of the relationship between the two countries. In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency ahead of President Tran Dai Quang’s visit to India (March 2-4), Professor, Dr. Pankaj Jha, a senior faculty member with Jindal School of International Affairs (JSIA) and is also Editor-in- Chief of the JSIA Journal, said in the last three years, the hyper activism in India-Vietnam relations has manifested itself into opening of new vistas of cooperation between the two sides. This includes areas such as political understanding on areas of critical interest, defence and strategic areas, … [Read more...] about Indian scholar hails Vietnamese President’s upcoming visit

Illustrative photo (Source: internet) Hanoi (VNA) – Member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) have pledged to boost their cooperation at the APEC Concluding Senior Officials' Meeting (CSOM) held in Singapore on December 7. Convened by Chile, the host of APEC 2019, the CSOM summarised achievements of APEC Chile year in 2019 and rolled out orientations for APEC’s operation in the time to come. During the CSOM, Chile issued the 2019 APEC Host Economy Leader's Statement, which officially marks the end of the APEC Chile year. The statement highlighted the achievements that APEC has made over the past 30 years since its establishment. It also reiterated that APEC member economies are committed to promoting free and open trade and investment, strengthening multilateral cooperation and rules-based international trade, and continuously advancing cooperation on connectivity, digital economy, regional economic integration, and the Free Trade Area of the … [Read more...] about APEC member economies pledge to enhance cooperation