Press digest – June 23

DPM receives PCA Secretary General

Deputy PM, FM Pham Binh Minh on June 23 received Secretary-General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Hugo Hans Siblesz.

The Deputy PM expected that Viet Nam’s signing an agreement recognizing the court’s legal status and exchange letters on cooperation will boost up the cooperation of the two sides, expressing his hope that the PCA will help train and enhance the capacity of Vietnamese legal staff.

Earlier, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ho Xuan Son and Secretary-General of the CPA signed the Host Country Agreement and the Exchange Letter on Cooperation.

Chinese ships ram, damage VN vessel

A Viet Nam Fishing Surveillance Department ship was deliberately rammed and seriously damaged by two Chinese ships illegally operating in Vietnamese waters.

The Chinese fleet, including about 44 coast guard ships, 15 cargo ships, 19 tugboats, 35 fishing vessels and five battleships continued defending the drilling rig Haiyang Shiyou-981 that has been illegally positioned in Viet Nam’s waters since the beginning of May.

The Chinese ships kept up their aggression even after the latest ramming incident, coming threateningly close to Vietnamese vessels.

Trang An complex receives UNESCO title

The UNESCO Heritage Committee has recognized Viet Nam’s Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex in Ninh Binh province as a World Heritage Site.

The site was honored at the 38th meeting of the UNESCO Heritage Committee in Doha, Qatar.

Overseas remittances, FDI flow in HCM City soar

Overseas remittances to Ho Chi Minh City over the past six months of the year are estimated to reach US$2 billion, equaling the figure of the same period last year.

The sum is mainly coming from the EU and the America, and channeled into production and business (70%) and to the real estate (21%).

As many as 169 projects with a total registered capital of US$967 million were licensed by the city over the past five months, equal to 423% of the same period last year.

Meanwhile, 53 projects were allowed to increase their capital by US$110 million. The total FDI flow in the city is estimated around US$1.08 billion, equal to 202% of the same period last year.

RoK helps build vocational school in Quang Ninh

The construction of a vocational school in northern Quang Ninh province began under a cooperation agreement between the Governments of Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK).

Costing around VND326 billion that are sourced from the RoK Government’s Official Development Assistance and the local budget, the school is expected to become operational in June, 2015.

Van Phong Thermal Power Plant 1 taking shape

Japan’s Sumitomo group anticipates obtaining its investment license, signaling the green light to proceed with the construction of a thermal power plant in central Khanh Hoa province, in July 2014.

The 2,640MW Van Phong Thermal Power Plant 1 will span more than 350 ha in Ninh Phuoc commune at an estimated price tag of US$3.8 billion.

VN, Mozambique renew education cooperation

Viet Nam and Mozambique signed a new protocol in Ha Noi to expand education cooperation and expertise exchanges.

The document, to replace a similar protocol signed in 2008, was penned after talks between Vietnamese Minister of Education and Training Pham Vu Luan and visiting Mozambique Minister of Education Angusto Jone Luis.

Every year Viet Nam sent five students to study Portuguese for 9 months in Mozambique. So far 25 Vietnamese students have been sent to the African nation for the language course.

By Thuy Dung