Vietnam Today

On May 26, at the 27th International Conference on the Future of Asia, held in Tokyo, Standing Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh made five important proposals to strengthen cooperation and promote the role Asia holds. He also said that Vietnam prioritizes rapid and sustainable development based on science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation.

At the 78th Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Session held in Bangkok on May 24, Vietnam’s General Statistics Office (GSO) was elected to the Executive Council of the Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP). This is a good opportunity for the country to strengthen cooperation and demonstrate its commitment to the statistical field in the region.

The government’s Administrative Reform Steering Committee held a conference on May 25 to announce the Satisfaction Index of Public Administration Services (SIPAS) and the Public Administration Reform (PAR) Index of ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and localities in 2021. Northern Quang Ninh province, Hai Phong city, and Hung Yen, Hai Duong, Ha Tinh, Son La, Bac Ninh and Bac Giang provinces led in SIPAS. Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, and the central city of Da Nang together with three ministries and agencies - the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance, and the State Bank of Vietnam - led in the PAR Index. Hanoi ranked 30th out of the country’s 63 cities and provinces in SIPAS and tenth in the PAR Index.

On May 23, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a ¥18.871 billion ($148.17 million) ODA loan with the government for the “Disaster Prevention and Control and Climate Change Using Earth Observation Satellites, Phase II” project. The project will apply high-performance Japanese synthetic aperture radar satellite technology.

The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee has asked the legislature to agree to a delay in the submission of the revised Land Law, from the 3rd session to the 4th session. According to the Chairman of the NA’s Law Committee, Hoang Thanh Tung, the NA Standing Committee recognizes that the amendments to the Land Law are urgently needed to remove obstacles, but this is a major endeavor with a host of complex matters and specific studies are needed.

Loans for consumption, real estate, and build-operate-transfer (BOT) and build-transfer (BT) projects in transport have bad debt ratios higher than overall ratios, according to the Economic Committee of the National Assembly (NA). As bad debt pressure is predicted to increase, the Economic Committee has asked the government and the State Bank of Vietnam to offer guidance on credit flows.