Vietnam’s participation in the UN’s peacekeeping mission is a breakthrough in implementing the Party’s consistent foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, cooperation and development.

In an article issued on the first day of 2019, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc laid out six major tasks that ministries, agencies, sectors and localities must focus on throughout the year.

 The Government on January 1 issued a resolution setting targets for improving the business environment and national competitiveness for 2019 through to 2021.

 Frigate H.T.M.S. TACHIN (FFG 471) of the Royal Thai Navy arrived at Da Nang port in the central city of Da Nang on December 31, starting a four-day visit to Vietnam.

 Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith will lead a delegation to Vietnam to attend and co-chair the 41st meeting of the Vietnam-Laos Inter-Governmental Committee from January 5-6, 2019, the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry announced. 

  In 2018, Vietnam welcomed 33 high-level leaders who came to Vietnam for state/official visits or attending international events meanwhile Vietnamese leaders conducted 28 foreign tours to countries around the globe.

 The Law on Denunciation supplements regulations on anonymous denunciation, cuts down the denunciation settlement process from five steps to four steps.

 Many countries have condemned a bombing attack on a bus carrying Vietnamese tourists in the Egyptian province of Giza that killed four persons, including three Vietnamese on December 28 (Egypt time). 

Defence cooperation is seen as one of the important pillars in the relationship between Vietnam and Cambodia, said Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen. 

 Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has requested the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to investigate the disappearance of 152 Vietnamese in Taiwan and strictly punish anyone involved in the case.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc chaired the Government’s regular meeting on December 27, during which he shared that Vietnam’s GDP growth rate rose 7.08 percent in 2018 – the highest ever in the past 11 years.

 The Communist Party of Viet Nam Central Committee (CPVCC) on Wednesday decided to remove Tat Thanh Cang – Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City's Party Committee – from all his positions.

 The year 2018 has witnessed impressive progress in the Russia-Vietnam cooperation in various fields, and 2019 promises to be an eventful year in the bilateral relations, said Russian Consul General to Ho Chi Minh City Alexey Popov on December 26.

 The 9th plenary meeting of the 12th Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee wrapped up in Hanoi on December 26 after two days of sitting. 

 The Law on Cyber Security, the Law on Denunciation, the Law on Planning, and the Law on Defence are among the 10 laws which will take effect since January 1, 2019.

 The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said on December 26 that it is working to clarify details on the case of 152 missing Vietnamese tourists who were suspected of fleeing in Taiwan.

 Vietnam closes the year 2018 with many political, diplomatic and socio-economic events and hallmarks which have drawn special international attention. The following are 10 prominent external relations events selected by VNA.

 The 12th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) discussed in groups reports on the leadership and instruction work of the CPV Politburo and Secretariat in 2018 during the first day of the committee’s 9th session on December 25.

 Mobilising officers to take part in peacekeeping missions and deploying field hospitals in South Sudan in recent years have contributed to affirming Vietnam’s role in the activities of the United Nations.

Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Viktorovich Volodin concluded his two-day official visit to Vietnam on December 24.