Vietnam Today

The General Statistics Office has reported that the price of essential consumer goods and services increased in line with the price of raw materials, pushing up the CPI in September by 0.4 per cent compared to August. Core inflation in September increased 0.4 per cent over August and 3.82 per cent year-on-year. On average, core inflation increased 1.88 per cent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2022; lower than the overall average CPI.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) held a seminar in Hanoi on September 28 on the results of the Public Administration Reform (PAR) Index 2021 and announced a decision to establish a Steering Committee for the PAR at the Ministry, led by Minister Le Thanh Long. MoJ topped 17 ministries in the PAR Index last year, and continues to identify administrative reform as a routine task.

On September 28 at Government Headquarters, Standing Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh received State Secretary of the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development Jochen Flasbarth, who is on a visit to Vietnam. Mr. Flasbarth affirmed that Germany wishes to strengthen cooperation with Vietnam and is willing to share its experience in clean energy transition to help it fulfil its COP26 commitments.

With the potential to develop into a trading and manufacturing hub of the world, Vietnam continues to attract foreign investors, analysts have said. Factors that make Vietnam attractive to foreign investors include strong GDP growth, of 7 per cent a year for two decades prior to Covid-19 and forecast at 7.5 per cent in 2022, and a young workforce fluent in English and possessing other skills.

According to the GSMA’s Digital Society Index released in August, Vietnam ranks seventh among countries in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of digital society, after Australia, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia. It also ranked fifth in terms of digital commerce pillars and seventh in terms of digital lifestyles. The Ministry of Information and Communications has said that the total number of users on Vietnamese digital platforms reached over 494 million in August, an increase of 23.56 per cent year-on-year.

The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee launched its supervisory program for 2023 at its September 27 meeting, chaired by NA Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue. The Standing Committee will supervise many issues of special concern for the people, such as the mobilization, management, and use of resources for the prevention and control of Covid-19; the renovation of general education curricula and textbooks; and the implementation of policies and laws on energy development.