Hanoi (VNA) - The following is a list of selected news summaries reported last weekend by the Vietnam News Agency.

- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a meeting on Ho Chi Minh City’s socio-economic development and implementation of the National Assembly’s Resolution 98 on piloting some specific mechanisms and policies for the city’s development on August 10 in the southern metropolis.

According to the report, the city’s GRDP in the first half of the year soared by an estimated 6.46% over the same period last year, the highest since 2020, contributing 19.65% to the nation’s growth rate. Read full story

- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired the fourth meeting of the Coordinating Council for the Southeastern Region in Ho Chi Minh City on August 10, sketching out ways for fueling regional development.

During the first seven months of 2024, the southeastern region recorded fair growth but still fell short of expectations for it as a key and leading economic region of the whole country. Its economic growth stood at 5.58% during the period, lower than the national average and only higher than that of the Central Highlands, the council reported. Read full story

- National Assembly (NA) Chairman Tran Thanh Man on August 10 demanded communications about the arrangement of district- and communal-level administrative units be stepped up to ensure the best possible results.

He made the request while attending a conference announcing the NA Standing Committee’s Resolution 1104/NQ-UBTVQH15 on the arrangement of district- and communal-level administrative units for 2023 - 2025 in the northern province of Nam Dinh, which is one of the first three localities nationwide to carry out the task in the period. Read full story

- A high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) led by Vice Chairman Nguyen Khac Dinh had meetings with Sultan of Brunei Haji Hassanal Bolkiah and Speaker of the Legislative Council Abdul Rahman Taib in Bandar Seri Begawan on August 10.

The Sultan and the Speaker of the Legislative Council offered deep condolences on the passing of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong. They also extended congratulations on President To Lam’s election as Party General Secretary. Read full story

- Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang has stressed the need to further perfect, manage, and operate the vessel monitoring system (VMS) smoothly and effectively, according to a notice newly issued by the Government’s Office.

The official called it a key task from now to the end of this year to have the European Commission (EC)’s “yellow card” warning against Vietnamese seafood lifted, according to the August 10 document on his conclusions at a recent meeting on the implementation of solutions to untangle the knots in the system. Read full story

- Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan attended the 16th ASEAN Health Ministers Meeting and related meetings held in Vientiane from August 7-9.

Together with the Health Ministers of other ASEAN countries, Minister Lan attended and addressed sessions on building ASEAN health priorities after 2025. Read full story

- As Vietnam’s chip-semiconductor industry sees bright opportunities to thrive, human resources training is identified as a top priority.

According to the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), the workforce demand for information technology (IT) and digital industry in Vietnam is estimated at 150,000 engineers per year. Read full story

- Vietnam earned 4.29 billion USD from exporting textile and garment products in July, up 12.4% from the same period last year.

This is also the first month in the year the sector’s exports have exceeded the 4 billion USD mark, the highest figure since August, 2022. Read full story

- Combating trafficking in person and supporting victims of human trafficking are among the key tasks that Vietnam and countries around the world are prioritising and actively implementing, including perfecting relevant legal systems.

Lieutenant Colonel Dinh Van Trinh, Deputy Head of Division 5 of the Criminal Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security, said they are enacting the Law on Human Trafficking Prevention and Control and related laws. Vietnam is one of the earliest countries that signed on to the UN’s conventions and protocols, and memoranda of understanding (MoU) of ASEAN and regional countries, as well as cooperation agreements with relevant countries. Read full story

- Sky-watchers in Vietnam have a chance to see the Perseid meteor shower on the night of August 12 and early morning of August 13, according to Vietnam Astronomy and Cosmology Association (VACA).

In 2024, the Perseid meteor shower is active between July 17 and August 24, with the number of meteors increasing every night until it reaches a peak in mid-August, after which it will tail off. This year the peak falls on the night of the 12th and before dawn on August 13./. Read full story