Hanoi (VNA) - The following is a brief review of the day’s events as reported by the Vietnam News Agency.

- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) need to work together to shape a new-generation model of inter-regional cooperation, based on sincerity, substance, comprehensiveness, cohesion, and greater effectiveness, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said at the second ASEAN-GCC Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 27.

This move will generate strong momentum for development cooperation, enhance the harmonisation of interests between the two sides, and contribute to peace, stability, and shared prosperity in both regions and the world, he stressed. Read full story

- Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had a meeting with Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam on May 27 on the sidelines of the 46th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits in Kuala Lumpur.

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah opened the meeting by extending his deepest condolences to the Vietnamese State, Government and people over the passing of former State President Tran Duc Luong. Read full story

- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had a meeting with his Timor-Leste counterpart Xanana Gusmao in Kuala Lumpur on May 27, within the framework of his official visit to Malaysia and his attendance at the 46th ASEAN Summit and related Summits.

During the meeting, PM Chinh congratulated Timor-Leste on receiving unanimous support from ASEAN leaders for its admission as a new member of the bloc at the 47th ASEAN Summit, scheduled for October. Read full story

- French President Emmanuel Macron on May 27 delivered a keynote speech at a meeting with Vietnamese students and young intellectuals at the University of Science and Technology of Hanoi (USTH) – a flagship institution founded under bilateral agreements signed between the Vietnamese and French governments in 2009 and 2018.

The French President, who is paying a state visit to Vietnam from 25-27, underlined the central role of education in the France–Vietnam partnership, which he described as one of the most enduring pillars of bilateral cooperation. Read full story

- Vietnamese industrial conglomerate Truong Hai Group Corporation (Truong Hai Group) has submitted a formal proposal to the Prime Minister to invest more than 1.56 trillion VND (some 61.35 billion USD) in the country’s high-speed railway linking Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

As part of the proposal, it suggested that land clearance should be treated as a separate, state-led project and therefore excluded from the overall investment cost of the railway scheme. Read full story

- Vietnam Vaccine JSC (VNVC) and French pharmaceutical group Sanofi on May 26 exchanged an agreement to initiate the transfer of Sanofi’s technology for vaccine production at VNVC’s vaccine and biologicals plant.

The partnership marks a significant milestone in enhancing bilateral cooperation in key sectors amid globalisation, especially in healthcare. It also represents a strategic step for Vietnam’s health sector to expand international collaboration in high-tech science, aiming to reinforce national health security and boost its preparedness for future disease outbreaks. Read full story

- Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto has welcomed Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea’s wish to join the ASEAN as member states.

“We support Timor-Leste’s becoming a full ASEAN member as soon as possible—if possible, this year,” he said at the plenary session of the 46th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 26, as quoted by Indonesia's national news agency Antara. Read full story

- Thailand recorded 53,563 COVID-19 cases with five deaths from May 18 to 24, according the Department of Disease Control under the Thai Ministry of Public Health.

Of the total cases, 2,827 were inpatients and 50,736 were outpatients. The largest group of patients was aged 30–39 (10,740 cases), followed by those aged 20–29 (9,527), 60 and over (8,107), and young children aged up to four years (4,117)./. Read full story