Weekly review
The past week was marked by reciprocal visits by Vietnamese and foreign leaders, a government conference on development tasks for 2012, an announcement of the 2011 inflation rate and Christmas celebrations across the country.
Toward a prosperous Mekong Subregion
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung attended the fourth summit of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) and paid an official visit to Myanmar from December 19-21.
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Prime Minister nguyen Tan Dung (second from right) attended the GMS summit in Myanmar |
The summit adopted a joint statement, affirming the GMS countries’ determination to surmount difficulties and look toward a deeply integrated and prosperous Mekong region with sustainable and harmonious development.
9 percent inflation set for 2012
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It was reported that in 2011 Vietnam has made every effort to bring inflation down to 18.12 percent, stabilize the macroeconomy, maintain a reasonable growth rate and ensure social welfare.
PM Nguyen Tan Dung, who chaired the conference, outlined major tasks for Vietnam in 2012, with priority given to sustaining macoeconomic stability, reducing inflation to 9 percent and ironing out snags for businesses in order to achieve GDP growth of 6-6.5 percent.
He said Vietnam will pool resources to restructure its economy, renew the growth model, speed up administrative reform, address social issues and firmly defend its national sovereignty and territories.
Chinese and Thai leaders visit Vietnam
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High-leval talks between Vietnam and China in Hanoi |
The visit aimed to realize agreements reached during Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s visit to China in October 2011 as well as in recent meetings between the two countries’ top leaders.
The two countries signed 8 key cooperative documents including those on health care and preferential credit.
The President of the Thai National Assembly, Teeradej Meepien, also made an official visit to Vietnam on December 23 to foster the neighbourly relationship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries.
During their talks, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung and his guest underlined the need to increase exchanges of delegations between the two legislatures to share experience in legislation and decision making.
WB approves Vietnam Country Partnership Strategy
The World Bank (WB) approved the first three operations of Vietnam’s new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for 2011-2016 to back its bid to become a middle income nation.
The CPS focuses on maintaining high growth rates, strengthening economic competitiveness, managing the environment and natural resources and reducing poverty in remote communities.
The World Bank has provided nearly US$14 billion in credit, loans and grants to help Vietnam maintain growth rates and reduce poverty since 1993.
The International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's concessional arm, will allocate about US$4.2 billion to support Vietnam during the new CPS period.
Electricity prices up 5 percent
The Ministry of Industry and Trade announced that the price of electricity will increase by 5 percent on average to VND1,304/kWh as of December 20.
According to the new escalation chart, the highest price will be VND2,060/kWh. Poor families using less than 50kWhs per month will continue to receive VND30,000 in support from the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) Group.
The decision will drive up market prices which often increase during the Lunar New Year holiday and may cause difficulties for consumers.
Vietnamese people will welcome the upcoming the lunar New Year festival in less than a month.
The Ministry of Finance also announced the results of its inspections of four leading petrol businesses that claimed losses in their operations. The Ministry concluded that these businesses suffered such losses because of fluctuations in the foreign exchange rate, investments in non-core areas, and high commissions paid to agents.
Jubilant Christmas celebrations
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Shopping centres in Hanoi were packed with revellers |
Tens of thousands of revellers took to the streets in Vietnam on the evening of December 24 to celebrate Christmas Eve along with Catholics and Protestants.
There was traffic congestion in Hanoi, Danang and HCM City as crows of young people flocked to the city centres, and traffic police and security forces spent a sleepless night trying to clear up the traffic.
Many foreigners joined the crowds celebrating the holiday and wishing everyone a merry Christmas and a happy New Year 2012.
Senior Vietnamese leaders also visited and presented Christmas gifts to Catholic and Protestant dignitaries and followers.