ASEAN member countries and China have reiterated the commitment reached by their high-ranking leaders to fully and effectively effectuating the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC).

 Vietnam hopes to forge stronger cooperation with Belgium in tertiary education, green economy and climate change response, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue told Belgian Ambassador to Vietnam Jehanne Roccas during their meeting in Hanoi on May 18.

 Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court Nguyen Hoa Binh is making a visit to France between May 15 and 19 to discuss bilateral judicial ties and attend the 20th International Judicial Conference in Paris.

 UK military officers have pledged to facilitate the transfer of a level-2 field hospital in South Sudan to Vietnamese control while meeting with Vietnamese officers who are visiting the UK from May 16-20.

 International delegates to the APEC 2017 Second Senior Officials Meeting (SOM2) and related meetings in Hanoi have highlighted progress on the four priorities for APEC 2017 selected by host Vietnam.

 The 10th session of the 14th National Assembly Standing Committee closed in Hanoi on May 17 after completing all preparations for the legislature’s third sitting.

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc hosted a meeting with ministries and sectors to seek ways to address problems facing businesses on May 17.

 Officials from Hanoi Fatherland Front, led by its President Vu Hong Khanh, have studied experience in rallying the mass and raising fund in Switzerland.

 Delegates at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) 2017 were impressed by Vietnam’s preparations for the event, hailing Hanoi as a hospitable city on the sidelines of SOM-2 and related meetings from May 9-21. 

 Party, State and Front leaders paid tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum in Hanoi on May 18 on the occasion of the late leader’s 127th birth anniversary (May 19, 1890).

 An official of the Ministry of Finance has detailed four financial cooperation initiatives proposed by Vietnam in the APEC Year 2017, ahead of the Senior Finance Officials’ Meeting slated for May 18-19 in Ninh Binh province.

 Vietnam-Myanmar traditional friendship and cooperative relations

 The Government will adopt a series of measures, including pumping more oil, to achieve economic growth of as high as 6.7% this year, said Minister and Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung.

 The third session of the National Assembly is scheduled to take place from May 22 to June 21, the NA Standing Committee announced on May 17.

Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, Deputy Minister of National Defence, hosted a reception for Senior Vice President of the US-ASEAN Business Council Michael Michalak in Hanoi on May 17. 

 A delegation of the Vietnam People’s Army is participating in the 14th ASEAN Chiefs of Defence Forces Informal Meeting (ACDFIM-14) in Manila, the Philippines, from May 17-19.

 Top lawmakers have urged for fuller engagement with voters’ opinions in response to a report on voters’ proposals to the 14th National Assembly (NA)’s second session as well as the upcoming third session.

 The APEC 2017 Second Senior Officials Meeting (SOM2) officially opened in Hanoi on May 17.

 Vietnam and Myanmar should step up cooperation in the fields of their strengths for mutual development, said President Tran Dai Quang.

 Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Cao Chinh Thien hailed growing ties between ASEAN and Italy while chairing the 28th session of the ASEAN Committee in Rome (ACR) on May 15.