Vietnam Today

Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai has signed Decision No. 687/QD-TTg approving a scheme developing the circular economy in Vietnam. It is to contribute to cementing the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions intensity within GDP by at least 15 per cent by 2030 compared to 2014, towards the goal of net zero emissions by 2050.

According to the results of the Open Budget Survey 2021 (OBS2021) announced recently by the International Budget Partnership (IBP), Vietnam’s budget disclosure and transparency score for 2021 ranked it 68 out of 120 countries and territories, up nine places compared to the previous survey in 2019. Its “public participation” index increased 6 points compared to 2019; higher than the global average.

On June 8, speaking online at the 110th Session of the International Labor Conference (ILC 110), Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung said that Vietnam prioritizes promoting sustainable jobs for workers and is currently making efforts to soon ratify Convention No. 87. The government is also studying and amending related laws and has implemented many measures to apply international labor standards in Vietnam.

According to Statista, Vietnam ranks fifth in the world in terms of NFT (non-fungible token) users, with 2.19 million in 2021. It is third in Asia, behind Thailand and China, and ahead of India. The explosion of the NFT market in Southeast Asia is due to many reasons, including the popularity of money-making games such as Axie Infinity from Vietnamese company Sky Mavis and the number of artists featured. Their work on social networking platforms like Discord and Twitter is increasing.

Vietnam’s inflation rate will come in at 2.25 per cent for the opening months of 2022, which is controllable, State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Governor Nguyen Thi Hong told the third session of the 15th National Assembly on June 8. The rise mainly stems from higher prices for goods globally. Therefore, until the end of the year, monetary policy must closely follow the disbursement of recovery packages to avoid an impact on inflation.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) signed an MOU on June 8 on cooperation to reduce pollution and climate change in the Mekong Delta and to help Vietnam accelerate its transition to clean energy. The two sides will pursue common development goals such as reducing plastic waste and other types of pollution, improving solid waste management, reducing emissions in agriculture, and promoting the development and deployment of renewable energy at the central level and in urban areas.